On Tue, 25 Nov 2008 22:59:06 -0000, "Andrew Heenan"
wrote:

Of course there's a chance of the Gemini - door speed and reliability
somewhere in between.

The Gemini is a very good bus. It wouldn't upset me at all if TfL
were to specify it as the only double decker to be used in London.

Neil

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

Tom Barry wrote:

One of the things I like about bendies is that I can touch in at my
leisure once I'm on the bus, which is good if you run to catch one, as you
don't then stand panting in the front doorway trying to remember which
pocket the Oyster is in while people grumble behind you.

I don't doubt there are some advantages. But there are many drawbacks and
what the balance is is pivotal here.

Along with the astonishingly fast loading* and boarding passengers not
getting mixed up with people coming down the stairs to disembark, of
course.

Try the scrum when a packed bendy reaches a busy stop and people are
clambering over each other to get on or off...

Even a relatively empty double decker suffers from that, so heaven knows
what the 38 will be like on the first week after debendification. It's
high time a realistic look was taken at this subject, particularly if you
ever believed anything Andrew Gilligan wrote on the subject.

I have never read much by Gilligan on this issue. I base my own opinions on
experience of the 25 before and after bendification, and on the local
reaction, especially on the section where a double-decker is also available.

Try a bendy bus on a diversion into a residential side-street and you'll see
the chaos up close.

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 03:40:14PM -0600, wrote:

I also noticed signs about road works to improve the route 38. Perhaps
it's related to them?

Oh god, I was going to post about those too. Let me guess, the road
works will be re-designing the roads to better fit the length and
turning circle of bendies, which will, shortly after the road works are
finished, be taken out of service.

Brilliant!

--
David Cantrell | A machine for turning tea into grumpiness

Aluminum makes a nice hat.
All paranoids will tell you that.
But what most do not know
Is reflections will show
On the CIA's evil landsat.

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 06:41:47PM -0600, wrote:
In article , (Andrew
Heenan) wrote:
Has Boris canned this, either because of cost, or because it was
'bendy related'?
Apparently not, if the signs are to be believed. I've not seen any signs
of work near the Shaftesbury Avenue/New Oxford St junction.

I've only just noticed the signs, so I assume they've only gone up in
the past few days. They're warning of work that will be starting
shortly.

--
David Cantrell | Reality Engineer, Ministry of Information

comparative and superlative explained:

Huhn worse, worser, worsest, worsted, wasted

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 10:59:06PM -0000, Andrew Heenan wrote:

Luckily for the Good Folk of North East London, Routemaster2 won't be ready
to be forced upon them. In fact, it won't be ready until after the next
Mayoral election ... so we might all be spared the indignity of the
BorisBlunderBus.

Betcha the contracts are signed within the next 3.5 years.

--
David Cantrell | Reality Engineer, Ministry of Information

comparative and superlative explained:

Huhn worse, worser, worsest, worsted, wasted

In article ,
(David Cantrell) wrote:

On Tue, Nov 25, 2008 at 06:41:47PM -0600,
wrote:
In article ,
(Andrew Heenan) wrote:
Has Boris canned this, either because of cost, or because it was
'bendy related'?
Apparently not, if the signs are to be believed. I've not seen
any signs of work near the Shaftesbury Avenue/New Oxford St junction.

I've only just noticed the signs, so I assume they've only gone up in
the past few days. They're warning of work that will be starting
shortly.

They were there signs at the junction I mentioned last week. And they say
work starts in November so, if they haven't started, they'd better get a
move on!

--
Colin Rosenstiel