On Oct 3, 12:46 pm, MIG wrote:


In general, buses could be a slower but more pleasant alternative to
the Underground, instead of which the slower alternative now has the
ambience of the Underground (standing in a long thing).


And in particular, the lack of any view. On a double-decker, there
are loads of seats with a decent view; on a bendy, only one (on the
left at the front). IMO the view from the top deck of a bus is one of
the three best things about not just London, but England in general.

Neil Williams wrote:

3) The constantly block pedestrian crossings.

Only due to poor driving.

Yes but multiple experiences suggest that in general either the buses are
difficult to drive for the standard bus driver in London or that they are
often assigned the worst drivers - hence the problems with overheating
amongst others. Drivers on the 25 have an annoying tendency to stop the bus
at a middle of nowhere spot between Bow and Stratford and not tell the
passengers that they'll have to wait ages for a driver changeover - the very
opposite of customer service.

Time to bring up this again...

http://groups.google.co.uk/group/uk....c06815ab7786b6

On Wed, 3 Oct 2007, brixtonite wrote:

On Oct 3, 12:46 pm, MIG wrote:

In general, buses could be a slower but more pleasant alternative to
the Underground, instead of which the slower alternative now has the
ambience of the Underground (standing in a long thing).

And in particular, the lack of any view. On a double-decker, there are
loads of seats with a decent view; on a bendy, only one (on the left at
the front). IMO the view from the top deck of a bus is one of the three
best things about not just London, but England in general.

May i ask what the other two are?

tom

--
Also giving up smoking (cigarettes) today so apologies if it reads wierd
or I trail off into maddness at any point!! -- Agent D, 20051129

Tom Anderson wrote:
On Wed, 3 Oct 2007, brixtonite wrote:

On Oct 3, 12:46 pm, MIG wrote:

In general, buses could be a slower but more pleasant alternative to
the Underground, instead of which the slower alternative now has the
ambience of the Underground (standing in a long thing).

And in particular, the lack of any view. On a double-decker, there
are loads of seats with a decent view; on a bendy, only one (on the
left at the front). IMO the view from the top deck of a bus is one
of the three best things about not just London, but England in
general.

May i ask what the other two are?

You and me, Tom, you and me.

On Oct 3, 7:46 pm, " wrote:
A better question would be - who the hell thought double deckers were
ever a good idea? Apart from taking up less roadspace

And you don't think in a heavily crowded city like London that this
one factor alone makes double-deckers eminently suitable and
sensible??

That would be a fair point except that bendy buses carry a damn site
more people than a double decker.

I am just waiting for a University rag committee to suggest a new
sport of bus-roof-hopping down Oxford Street - easily achievable, and
far quicker than actually travelling IN one of those red things!

More likely the local chavs. We've already had train surfing so
perhaps this would be the next thrill for potential darwin award
nominees.

B2003

Boltar wrote:
More likely the local chavs. We've already had train surfing so
perhaps this would be the next thrill for potential darwin award
nominees.

I was always given to understand that 'bus surfing' predated 'train
surfing' but either way, it's old hat these days. These guys didn't use
the roof so maybe 'surfing' is a bit of a stretch;

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/1033878.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/c...re/5042184.stm

ESB

On Wed, Oct 03, 2007 at 06:13:24AM -0700, Mr Thant wrote:

The reason you normally have to stand on a bendy is that they've only
been deployed on the busiest routes where you'd be standing regardless
of what bus they use - bendies only have a fraction fewer seats.

********. Bendies seat IIRC 50 but carry 150 max. The routemasters
they replaced could carry 60 to 70-ish with *5* standing. So, assuming
that each bendy replaced two routemasters, which judging by service
frequency is about right, then you were three times more likely to get a
seat on route 38 (the one I use the most) before it went bendy.
Assuming the buses are full, which they normally are when I travel.

However, the biggest problem I have as a passenger with bendy buses is
that they cause all the traffic to stop on New Oxford St because they
have so much trouble getting round the corners at the junction with
Bloomsbury Street and TCR. They also sometimes have trouble at
Picadilly Circus, and the entrance to Victoria bus station, because they
need too much space on the road.

--
David Cantrell | London Perl Mongers Deputy Chief Heretic

Please stop rolling your Jargon Dice and explain the problem
you are having to me in plain English, using small words.
-- John Hardin, in the Monastery

In article ,
(David Cantrell) wrote:

********. Bendies seat IIRC 50 but carry 150 max. The routemasters
they replaced could carry 60 to 70-ish with *5* standing. So, assuming
that each bendy replaced two routemasters, which judging by service
frequency is about right, then you were three times more likely to get
a
seat on route 38 (the one I use the most) before it went bendy.
Assuming the buses are full, which they normally are when I travel.

Another important factor debunking the claim that bendies have greater
capacity. Routemasters have 64 or 72 (RMLs) seats.

However, the biggest problem I have as a passenger with bendy buses
is that they cause all the traffic to stop on New Oxford St because
they
have so much trouble getting round the corners at the junction with
Bloomsbury Street and TCR. They also sometimes have trouble at
Picadilly Circus, and the entrance to Victoria bus station, because
they
need too much space on the road.

I cycle straight ahead from Bloomsbury St on my way from king's Cross to
the office and can confirm the bendy problem at that junction.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Thu, 4 Oct 2007 21:18 +0100 (BST), (Colin
Rosenstiel) wrote:

Another important factor debunking the claim that bendies have greater
capacity. Routemasters have 64 or 72 (RMLs) seats.

If you could call them that, as they were very narrow and to a very
tight pitch.

Neil

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