On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:41:13 -0700 (PDT), Martin Deutsch
wrote:

On Jul 26, 11:34*pm, Andy wrote:
On Jul 26, 11:06*pm, "Ian F." wrote:

"Bruce" wrote in message

.. .

I admit to having an inbuilt patholgocial hatred of cyclists who
disobey the rules of the road, so I'm as guilty as anyone. *But I do
think that the bendy buses have been vilified for a lot of problems
that they don't cause.

I hate them for the one major problem they *do* cause - fare-dodging!

Well, they don't cause the fare-dodging. Facilitate it maybe, but the
it is the fare-dodgers that cause the fare-dodging.

Pedantry aside, surely the solution to discouraging fare-dodging is to
increase inspections, not to change the bus?


Not if your mind is rigidly set against the bendy bus, and you are
simply looking for excuses to get rid of it. ;-)

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:03:50 -0700 (PDT)
MIG wrote:
HGVs and bendy buses are intended for different types of road. HGVs

Really? What types of roads would these be?

aren't allowed in all the places that bendy buses are, and I don't see
many bendy buses at Felixtowe.

I've seen HGVs in my narrow local high street trying to reverse into the
supermarket to do a delivery , but I've never seen a bendy bus there.

Point is , if a cyclist can't cope with a bendy bus they obviously can't
cope with HGVs either so perhaps they should leave their bike for w/e rides
in the park and find another way to commute.

B2003

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:08:42 -0700 (PDT)
"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:
I have never seen a bendy bus on Victoria Embankment. I have seen one
around London Wall. I do not ride along Oxford Street at all, it is
impassable. I did see a bendy bus today as I was riding round Hyde
Park Corner - hard to avoid seeing it in fact as it pulled onto the
roundabout straight into my path. And with 18m of bus that left no
option at all but to stop in the middle of a busy roundabout.

So let me get this straight - you didn't see an 18m bus coming until
it was almost on top of you and then (surprise!) it went to pass you?

I'm sure they are fine in their place, but central London is not it.

Perhaps its not your place either as it appears you have tunnel vision.

B2003

On Jul 28, 12:48*pm, wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:08:42 -0700 (PDT)
"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:

I have never seen a bendy bus on Victoria Embankment. *I have seen one
around London Wall. *I do not ride along Oxford Street at all, it is
impassable. *I did see a bendy bus today as I was riding round Hyde
Park Corner - hard to avoid seeing it in fact as it pulled onto the
roundabout straight into my path. *And with 18m of bus that left no
option at all but to stop in the middle of a busy roundabout.

So let me get this straight - you didn't see an 18m bus coming until
it was almost on top of you and then (surprise!) it went to pass you?

Wrong. I was cycling round the roundabout, the bus driver entered the
roundabout in conflict with traffic already on the roundabout, he was
in the wrong not me.

I'm sure they are fine in their place, but central London is not it.
Perhaps its not your place either as it appears you have tunnel vision.

See above: your base premise is in error. Do you cycle much in
central London? I'm not the only cyclist to find bendy buses to be
disproportionately problematic.
--
Guy

On Mon, 27 Jul 2009 14:52:14 +0100, Tom Anderson
wrote:
On Sun, 26 Jul 2009, MIG wrote:

Never mind class or party politics; what about "I don't like to have a
totally unsuitable vehicle blocking the pedestrian crossings, forcing me
to risk my life to get across the road"?

That's a problem with the drivers, not the buses, and is not restricted to
bendies, although of course it's worse with them.


There is obviously a greater chance that an individual bendy bus will
block a pedestrian crossing because of its greater length, but surely
there is also a lesser frequency of blocking because there are fewer
bendy buses needed for the same route capacity?

I suspect that the second at least partially compensates for the
first, and that the overall daily instances of blocking could well be
about the same.


Are there any real
problems with the bendies which are intrinsic to the bus itself?


Of course, the greater length, articulation and the rear section's
self-steering system make it different, but those differences are
amerliorated to a great extent by there being fewer buses needed for
the same capacity.

wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:16:34 -0700 (PDT)
"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:
I suggest you try riding a bike round some European city centres some
time. The bus routes in major European cities where bendy buses are
common typically run along broad boulevards which are straight or
have wide, sweeping bends. The narrow, twisty streets of London are
one of the main reasons the late lamented Routemaster was originally
developed.

What exactly is narrow and twisty about victoria embankment or oxford
street or the strand or 101 other roads I could mention? All cities
have wide roads and all cities have narrow roads. If you don't think
there are narrow and twisty roads in Paris or Madrid or wherever
you've obviously never been there.

Maybe the bendy routes in London should have been introduced as new routes
constrained to follow the wider roads, instead of taking over existing
routes like the 73 and expecting bendies to turn from Stoke Newington Church
St to Albion Road without causing problems.

On Jul 28, 1:15*pm, "Basil Jet"
wrote:

Maybe the bendy routes in London should have been introduced as new routes
constrained to follow the wider roads, instead of taking over existing
routes like the 73 and expecting bendies to turn from Stoke Newington Church
St to Albion Road without causing problems.

Yes, that would have been a good idea.

I think that getting rid of them all just because they are used badly
is every bot as foolish as introducing them into routes where they
cause problems.

I still don' t like sharing the road with them, though.
--
Guy

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:59:59 -0700 (PDT), "Just zis Guy, you know?"
wrote:
Do you cycle much in
central London? I'm not the only cyclist to find bendy buses to be
disproportionately problematic.


I'm sure I'm not the only London road user to find cyclists to be
disproportionately problematic.

It is difficult to imagine a group of road users who are more
anti-social, showing, as so many do, scant regard for the Highway Code
and complete contempt for other road users, especially pedestrians.

If you don't like bendy buses - tough!

"Bruce" wrote in message
...

Not if your mind is rigidly set against the bendy bus, and you are
simply looking for excuses to get rid of it. ;-)

People who like BoJo hate the bendy bus.
People who hate BoJo like the bendy bus.
Simples.

Ian

On Tue, 28 Jul 2009 04:59:59 -0700 (PDT)
"Just zis Guy, you know?" wrote:
So let me get this straight - you didn't see an 18m bus coming until
it was almost on top of you and then (surprise!) it went to pass you?

Wrong. I was cycling round the roundabout, the bus driver entered the
roundabout in conflict with traffic already on the roundabout, he was
in the wrong not me.

Obviously the buses fault, nothing to do with the driver. Must be something
psychotic about the bendy part of it.

See above: your base premise is in error. Do you cycle much in
central London?

Why would I? I'm not an idiot. There are these things known as buses and
tubes.

I'm not the only cyclist to find bendy buses to be
disproportionately problematic.

If you can deal with a large bus then you can't deal with HGVs either so
therefor you should leave your bike at home, accept you're not competant
on the road and stop whining.

B2003