If we've all had enough of bendy ranting, try reading this, the KPMG Bus
Service Review, aka Let's Make London's Buses Cost Less To Run.
Apparently Steve Norris isn't happy with it. Shame.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...iew-July09.pdf

Not read it in its entirety, but since the New Bus For London,
debendification and scrapping the WEZ all make the bus network less
affordable, perhaps we should examine it closely?

Tom

In article ,
Tom Barry wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ent-Bus-Review
-July09.pdf

I see that Copenhagen uses these performance indicators for bus
contracts:

€ Driver service and behaviour;
€ Driver¹s driving style;
€ Compliance with scheduled timetable;
€ Temperature;
€ Interior cleanliness;
€ Interior maintenance;
€ Exterior cleanliness and maintenance;
€ Noise limitations; and
€ Vehicle hours operated against schedule

Oh but we had the same applied rigorously here.

E.

On Wed, 29 Jul 2009 17:26:34 +0100, eastender
wrote:

In article ,
Tom Barry wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ent-Bus-Review
-July09.pdf

I see that Copenhagen uses these performance indicators for bus
contracts:

€ Driver service and behaviour;
€ Driver¹s driving style;
€ Compliance with scheduled timetable;
€ Temperature;
€ Interior cleanliness;
€ Interior maintenance;
€ Exterior cleanliness and maintenance;
€ Noise limitations; and
€ Vehicle hours operated against schedule

Oh but we had the same applied rigorously here.


Interesting that most of Copehagen's buses, presumably complying with
the above specifications, are operated by none other than Arriva. ;-)

eastender wrote:
In article ,
Tom Barry wrote:

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...ent-Bus-Review
-July09.pdf

I see that Copenhagen uses these performance indicators for bus
contracts:

€ Driver service and behaviour;
€ Driver¹s driving style;
€ Compliance with scheduled timetable;
€ Temperature;
€ Interior cleanliness;
€ Interior maintenance;
€ Exterior cleanliness and maintenance;
€ Noise limitations; and
€ Vehicle hours operated against schedule

Oh but we had the same applied rigorously here.

Did you read the definition of London's QIC 1 and QIC 2 contracts in the
report, by the way? They would appear to include waiting time,
reliability (1) with things like driving style and behaviour and bus
cleanliness (2) just coming into operation now as TfL think reliability
is difficult to improve much further. Also that the bus companies think
buses are over-specified for London and are really unhappy about being
forced to buy hybrids and Boris's New Bus For London. TfL don't want to
buy them either...

Tom

On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 11:59:12 +0100, Tom Barry
wrote:
Did you read the definition of London's QIC 1 and QIC 2 contracts in the
report, by the way? They would appear to include waiting time,
reliability (1) with things like driving style and behaviour and bus
cleanliness (2) just coming into operation now as TfL think reliability
is difficult to improve much further.

I think that's a good idea, but I don't think we'll get much better
driver "behaviour" until the passengers improve!

Also that the bus companies think
buses are over-specified for London and are really unhappy about being
forced to buy hybrids and Boris's New Bus For London. TfL don't want to
buy them either...

London's new buses are certainly at least acceptable, but where is
this extra quality the operators are complaining about? Some form of
cooling upstairs, and centre doors at least, both mentioned in the
report, would seem to be essential. Maybe leasing the buses off TfL
would give more consistency and remove this problem?

Richard.

Paul Corfield wrote:


I did like the fact that KPMG offered up the enhanced air cooling
systems for sacrifice - now which politician would be crazy enough to
kill off that feature given the annual furore about buses being too hot
and cooking people alive? Nice bit of tactical report writing there ;-)


The whole thing does make one (and Nozza, too, no doubt) suspect that
the bus companies and TfL both know the existing system works well for
both of them and are careful to ensure that there's a smoking gun
available if the new masters try anything too radical.

For my money, I'd expect buses to stay in service longer (particularly
with the debendifications taking some ridiculous proportion of the new
buses in 2011), fares to rise above inflation (justified by comparison
with the rest of the UK, so hello to the £1.50 bus fare), routes to be
cut back in some areas and frequency enhancements put on hold with the
hope that the increasing fares, bike hire scheme etc. will take the
overspill. One thing that *might* help in some areas is when the first
Tube lines get a big boost in capacity, since the justification for the
massive increase in bus capacity was that the Tube couldn't cope without
new signalling.

Tom

Tom Barry wrote:

For my money, I'd expect buses to stay in service longer (particularly
with the debendifications taking some ridiculous proportion of the new
buses in 2011), fares to rise above inflation (justified by comparison
with the rest of the UK, so hello to the £1.50 bus fare), routes to be
cut back in some areas

Cut-backs seem to have started. The Sutton - Croydon night bus service
went this month, which is a pain.

OK, you know you've been in London too long when you get annoyed at not
having buses at 01.30 or at "get to the airport"-o'clock in the morning,
instead of simply being grateful that there is any kind of service after
22.00 or a non-distress-purchase service on Sundays...

--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Arthur Figgis wrote:
Tom Barry wrote:

For my money, I'd expect buses to stay in service longer (particularly
with the debendifications taking some ridiculous proportion of the new
buses in 2011), fares to rise above inflation (justified by comparison
with the rest of the UK, so hello to the £1.50 bus fare), routes to be
cut back in some areas

Cut-backs seem to have started. The Sutton - Croydon night bus service
went this month, which is a pain.

OK, you know you've been in London too long when you get annoyed at not
having buses at 01.30 or at "get to the airport"-o'clock in the morning,
instead of simply being grateful that there is any kind of service after
22.00 or a non-distress-purchase service on Sundays...


In fairly typical Boris fashion, the N213 cutback got an instant
reaction when some public spirited Croydon youth got a Facebook campaign
together and lobbied the Mayor when he came to town last week. The
result, after some rabbit, was a promise to look at it.

The problem for the cutters is that this thing will happen again and
again - Boris isn't ruthless enough to say 'sorry, chaps, we can't
afford it', and tries to please everyone, and is aware that he's
promised things around looking after the outer boroughs that are
difficult to reconcile with cutting their bus services. Unfortunately,
these are just the services likely to be running at low densities.

Tom

Tom Barry wrote:
Arthur Figgis wrote:
Tom Barry wrote:

For my money, I'd expect buses to stay in service longer
(particularly with the debendifications taking some ridiculous
proportion of the new buses in 2011), fares to rise above inflation
(justified by comparison with the rest of the UK, so hello to the
£1.50 bus fare), routes to be cut back in some areas

Cut-backs seem to have started. The Sutton - Croydon night bus service
went this month, which is a pain.

OK, you know you've been in London too long when you get annoyed at
not having buses at 01.30 or at "get to the airport"-o'clock in the
morning, instead of simply being grateful that there is any kind of
service after 22.00 or a non-distress-purchase service on Sundays...


In fairly typical Boris fashion, the N213 cutback got an instant
reaction when some public spirited Croydon youth got a Facebook campaign

Sutton youth, I think.

I even went to their demonstration - though I suspect the MP may have
more to do with organising it than is being said - and Boris hasn't
resigned yet. Huh.

together and lobbied the Mayor when he came to town last week. The
result, after some rabbit, was a promise to look at it.

The problem for the cutters is that this thing will happen again and
again - Boris isn't ruthless enough to say 'sorry, chaps, we can't
afford it', and tries to please everyone,

I guess that simply comes with the territory of being a politician, at
least in places without "democratic republic" in their names.

and is aware that he's
promised things around looking after the outer boroughs that are
difficult to reconcile with cutting their bus services. Unfortunately,
these are just the services likely to be running at low densities.



--
Arthur Figgis Surrey, UK

Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:16:14 +0100, Arthur Figgis
wrote:

The Sutton - Croydon night bus
service went this month, which is a pain.

It was not an intentional cut back so it is actually unfair to suggest
this is as a result of a directive from City Hall to save money or the
result of a TfL directed cut. I broadly know what happened and what
was intended and "cock up" is the best explanation of where we have
got to.

http://www.suttonguardian.co.uk/news...aceb ook_plea
More than a hundred young people and parents converged on Wallington town
centre last night to protest against the axing of the N213 night-bus
service.
The campaign to reinstate the bus began on Facebook, with the online group
approaching 3,000 members.
Liberal Democrat MP, Tom Brake, who has been banned from Facebook after
publicising the demonstration [snip]

Why would someone be banned from Facebook for publicising a demo?