Today's busses do indeed indicate when a passenger is pushing a signal
upstairs; It is normally a shrill tone along with the standard beep that is
heard when somebody presses the button on the lower deck.

When the disabled button is pushed RT busses give a small siren sound in
addition to the beep. I don't think that there is any particular sound on
the bendibusses, as the driver's dashboard shows a disabled sign.

"Ivor Jones" wrote in message
...
I always thought that the use of a buzzer for the upstairs pushbutton on
RT's/RM's was a good idea, so the driver knew a passenger was upstairs if
pushed to stop, or the conductor was up there if it was a start signal.

Why can't they do that now, so when a buzzer sounds the driver knows it's
come from upstairs..?

Ivor

wrote in message
. uk...
Today's busses do indeed indicate when a passenger is pushing a signal
upstairs; It is normally a shrill tone along with the standard beep that
is heard when somebody presses the button on the lower deck.

When the disabled button is pushed RT busses give a small siren sound in
addition to the beep. I don't think that there is any particular sound
on the bendibusses, as the driver's dashboard shows a disabled sign.

Maybe in London and maybe on *some* buses, but it is by no means
universal. As I said, I've not come across it since the RT/RM days and
none of our fleet have the facility.

BTW please don't top post, thanks.

Ivor
--
A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing on Usenet and in e-mail?

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 16:08:34 +0100, thoss
wrote:

That's exactly how it worked on the bendy I rode on today.

Yep, I pushed one as well. Did the job nicely and saved me standing
up until we stopped.

Quite surprised to note that it had the raised symbol for "open doors"
on it, though ( ).

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

On Jul 17, 7:50 am, "ian henden" wrote:
"Offramp" wrote in message

ps.com...



On Jul 16, 10:27 pm, "Chris Read" wrote:
"MIG" wrote:

On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

I assumed that this was to stop people finding one by their seat and
being tempted to stay there, ie force them to already be on their way
out rather than delay the bus at the stop.

In RM days, this was often inconvenient for conductors, stuck issuing
tickets at the front of the top deck. They sometimes resorted to two loud
taps, with metal clippers, on a suitable surface above the driver, as an
improvised 'ding ding'.

How much of a view they had of the platform from that position is a
matter
of conjecture........

Which gives another answer as to why there was only one bell, and that
near the stairs: so that the conductor gad to be in view of the
platform in order to be able to give the genuine starting signal.
Quite a clever safety device.

The buses I first drove had three or four bell pushes upstairs and also
down. They all operated a buzzer, except the one at the top of the stairs,
which operated a bell.

On a "buzz-buzz", driver did extra-special checks on mirrors before pulling
away. You could see inside the lower saloon using the offside mirror, and
the platform using the nearside one.

On a "ding-ding" you knew the conductor was on the platform or at the top of
the stairs.

Nowadays, of course, bells/ buzzers are merely provided as a source of
amusement to keep the passengers happy, and serve no useful purpose.

"Press Once" says the notice.
So Wally does.
Once.....

....With each finger.

There is not now anyone on a bus capable of ringing a bell responsibly,
apart from the driver, and he can't reach them.....-


The reason for this is that, in London at least, drivers don't stop at
bus stops any more. This may not be their fault, in that instructions
not to stop are probablly the only way that the bus operators can
interpret TfL's timing regime.

However, until drivers can be relied on to stop at bus stops, they are
going to hear a lot of bells ringing.

(And in another thread, I reported that I stood up to get off at a
compulsory stop in Trafalgar Square in the rush hour, but the driver
apparently deemed this to be too minor a place to stop and whisked me
off down Whitehall. This is not an isolated incident, so I have
learned by experience and always ring.)

Mojo wrote:
I've noticed by the "bay" of 4 seats near the front of the bus on
Mercedes Articulated buses there is a button which reminds me of the
door open buttons on mainline trains. They only seem to light up when
the bell has been pressed.

I can't help thinking it should be the other way around... they should be
lit when you need to press them, and they should go unlit after someone has
rung the bell.

On Jul 16, 9:41 pm, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:35:01 -0700, MIG
wrote:

On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

Some buses used to have a strip on each side reachable from every
seat. In that regard we've gone backwards...

Neil

--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Bring back the bell cord that used to hang from the roof along the
whole deck.

Francis

On Mon, 16 Jul 2007 13:35:01 -0700, MIG
wrote:



On the top deck of double deckers there used to only be one bell push,
at the top of the stairs.

I'd heard this was for safety, as was the idea that the upstairs push
sounder a buzzer rather than a bell. It was so that the conductor
could only ring away from the top of the staors (and so could see the
platform) and the driver knew that he was upstairs.

Every condyctor I ever knew either stamped on the floor to give the
starting signal or tapped with a T-key.

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Mojo wrote:
I've noticed by the "bay" of 4 seats near the front of the bus on
Mercedes Articulated buses there is a button which reminds me of the
door open buttons on mainline trains. They only seem to light up when
the bell has been pressed.

I can't help thinking it should be the other way around... they should
be lit when you need to press them, and they should go unlit after
someone has rung the bell.

Hmm. Lit buttons. More complications, do we need them..? There are already
signs in the bus saying "Stopping" or similar when the bell has been
pressed, do we really need illuminated buttons as well..? I hope they're
high-brightness LED's, 'cos sure as eggs are eggs if they're filament
bulbs, once they've blown that'll be it..!

Ivor

On Tue, 17 Jul 2007 23:55:57 -0700, MIG
wrote:

The reason for this is that, in London at least, drivers don't stop at
bus stops any more. This may not be their fault, in that instructions
not to stop are probablly the only way that the bus operators can
interpret TfL's timing regime.

However, until drivers can be relied on to stop at bus stops, they are
going to hear a lot of bells ringing.

(And in another thread, I reported that I stood up to get off at a
compulsory stop in Trafalgar Square in the rush hour, but the driver
apparently deemed this to be too minor a place to stop and whisked me
off down Whitehall. This is not an isolated incident, so I have
learned by experience and always ring.)

In the light of your comments you might be interested to read the
proposals here

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/proj...ions/5003.aspx

and perhaps send in some comments to TfL. Closing date 20 July 2007.

--
Paul C

Ivor Jones wrote:
"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
Mojo wrote:
I've noticed by the "bay" of 4 seats near the front of the bus on
Mercedes Articulated buses there is a button which reminds me of the
door open buttons on mainline trains. They only seem to light up when
the bell has been pressed.
I can't help thinking it should be the other way around... they should
be lit when you need to press them, and they should go unlit after
someone has rung the bell.

Hmm. Lit buttons. More complications, do we need them..? There are already
signs in the bus saying "Stopping" or similar when the bell has been
pressed, do we really need illuminated buttons as well..? I hope they're
high-brightness LED's, 'cos sure as eggs are eggs if they're filament
bulbs, once they've blown that'll be it..!

Ivor


What would be really nice, from the drivers point of view, would be a
bell that once rung would not ring again until after the doors have been
opened and closed.
We are nearly there with Lothians' new buses, once rung the bell doesn't
ring again on the bottom deck just the top. So if some ass-h*le drunk
wants to play a tune it doesn't crack open the drivers scull.
They do though have the stupid 'nuclear meltdown' alarm in the
wheelchair bay. Is this really necessary?
Kevin