Also Available In Red
I took this picture on Piccadilly after leaving the Royal Academy.
Also Available In Red
As I passed the bus, the tail-gunner recognised me and wished me well, probably because I travel on a 38 up to four times a day and usually sit downstairs.
All very uplifting!
I do wonder though, if new Routemasters do create their own little communities as they cruise around London, which all helps the city run smoothly.
Should Every Train Have A Clock?
Every London bus shows a clock on the stop display and because of this, I rarely wear a watch these days.
Some trains now show a clock on their destination displays too!
I hope this is going to be universal.
An Unnecessary Good Deed
I like to think that I can be a gentleman some of the time.
When I was going home this afternoon from London Bridge, I took the Northern Line to Old Street with the intention of getting a 141 bus from Provost Street opposite Moorfields Eye Hospital.
To get from the station to the stop I first had to cross East Road, walk past the stop for the southbound 43 bus and then cross Provost Street itself.
As I started to cross Provost Street, I noticed a classic little old lady with a white stick, who seemed rather feared to cross the other way. So I crossed over and asked if I could help. She told me that she needed to get a 21 bus south towards Lewisham. I should say that I did do a bit of training with Guide Dogs for the Blind on how to lead people, so after telling her that the stop was behind the building on our left, I guided her across the road, past the 43 bus stop and then across East Road to walk back to the step for the 21.
What was a bit frustrating was that as we crossed East Road, a 21 bus disappeared on its way south.
A few minutes later and with a bit of help from a fellow passenger, who told us a 21 was due in three minutes, I put the lady on the bus to New Cross and her home.
I used the word unnecessary in the title of this post. for two reasons.
I said the lady was a classic little old lady in the mould of Louisa Wilberforce in The Ladykillers or Mrs. Ross in The Whisperers, but she certainly was totally on the ball and without any eccentricities. She was also proud too, that she’d got the bus so easily northwards from New Cross. She also thought it a good idea to try my route next time, of a 43 to say Finsbury Square and then get the 21 from the same stop.
But the main reason, all of my guiding was unnecessary is that if there had been some clear large print signs, she would with her mental and physical faculties managed the walk without any passing assistance. Although, she thanked me profusely, she was a very independent soul, and she would probably have felt really satisfied to have been able to manage the walk unaided.
Surely outside an eye hospital, there will be quite a few people walking around, whose eyesight isn’t 20/20.
As I indicated in Is Silicon Roundabout Going To Become Silicon Peninsular, Transport for London are rethinking the Old Street Roundabout.
They have a unique opportunity to sort out the area for the visually impaired.
My Personal Big Red Taxi To Waterloo
I went to Waterloo on a 76 bus from near my house. It wasn’t busy and I was the only passenger at Waterloo.
Hackney to Waterloo is not the easiest journey unless you take a roundabout route via the East London and Jubilee Lines, changing at Canada Water. The alternative better route via the Waterloo and City Line is not available at the weekends. One of the things that would encourage me to vote for a Mayoral candidate, is if they backed longer opening hours for London’s forgotten line.
Also Available In Red
I saw this New Routemaster on Bishopsgate.
Also Available In Red
It must be a nightmare to keep clean.
Is Silicon Roundabout Going To Become Silicon Peninsular?
Silicon Roundabout or the Old Street Roundabout is well known as the centre of a high-tech area of the UK.
But is that all going to change as part of the de-roundabouting of London by Transport for London, the roundabout will be simplified. The full plan is here. It includes this map.
Note how in TfL’s words in the full plan, it has been turned into a peninsular. Hence the title of this post.
I think car, truck and van drivers will hate it, taxi drivers will do what they always do and adapt and joke, cyclists will love it and pedestrians will probably find it better.
For myself, I would like the bus stops placed so that I could get on a 21/141 bus going northward with only a short walk from the station. Coming from Kings Cross or Euston, I might take the Northern line to Old Street station and then get the most convenient of the number of buses that serve my house. I probably wouldn’t go the other way very often, as getting a 38 to the Angel will probably be slightly quickly.
Whatever you say about the plan, it has been very well explained on a good map.
A Pocket Dog
I saw this little puppy on a 56 bus.
A Pocket Dog
Her name was Bella and I think she was a Cavalier cross poodle.
She didn’t seem to mind being on a bus.
But then one of my bassets didn’t mind flying in my aircraft. She just wedged herself between the seats and went to sleep.
Chaos At The Angel
I went to the Angel this morning to get some shopping and the jams were so bad, I actually got off the bus and walked.
I sometimes think that not driving a car any more sometimes is an advantage.
The cause of all the problems was roadworks.
But luckily it didn’t affect my journey home as my 38 bus was able to sneak through.
Bus Art
This is the first I’ve seen, but there are several over London.
This one was by the Bank of England
There is more about the sculpture trails here.
It’s Not About The Wheelchairs
First Bus are probably delighted that they have won the court case about whether wheelchair users have priority over babies in buggies. This is the first paragraph in the BBC web report.
Bus companies are not required by law to force parents with buggies to make way for wheelchair users in designated bays on vehicles, senior judges ruled.
I travel regularly on London’s extensive bus network. A couple of years ago, there was a wheelchair bay full of buggies and a lady in a wheelchair wanted to board. On London buses, the wheelchair bay is opposite the middle door, which is the one with the automatic ramp. So the driver asked if the bay could be cleared, as he lowered the ramp. One lady took her buggy down the ramp and another folded hers and passengers made sure they had one of the spacious double seats by the middle door. The lady in the wheelchair then pushed herself into the space and as there was enough space the first buggy was able to be squeezed in too!
It had all been a sensible dance up and down the ramp and the bus was fairly quickly on its way, after an amicable confrontation.
On new Routemasters, with their bigger space by the door, better layout and completely flat floor, I’ve never seen anything other than minor problems.
Compare London with what happened at Reading when I went to see Ipswich play in August.
Returning from the Madejsky stadium after the match, there was a long queue for the buses. In front of me in the queue was a guy in a wheelchair. As the downstairs of the almost brand-new double-decker was full, with at least ten standing in the wheelchair space, to get the wheelchair rider on the bus, meant virtually unloading the bus and starting again. A lot of fans were not happy.
If the bus had had a central door and wheelchair ramp, what took perhaps well over five minutes, would have been much easier and probably a lot quicker.
Given all the other advantages with two or more entrance buses, like faster loading and unloading and a possible reduction in the number of attacks on staff, isn’t it about time that all the city bus services of the UK, were made to follow London.
How about adding talking buses, bus maps understandable to everybody and cash ticketing to bring the rest of the country into the twenty-first century?
The Anonymous Widower 