Manchester In The Slow Lane
An article published in The Times today says that a survey has shown that Coventry is the speediest city in the UK.
It also says Manchester is the slowest!
Could it be that Manchester has a terrible bus system, with little information and single door buses, that take forever to load and unload passengers? So buses waiting at stops, slow everybody down. I commented on the public transport system in Manchester here.
Chaos At Richmond
The reception was at Ham House and to get there the Transport for London journey planner, said go to Richmond Station and then get a 371 bus from stop E to Ham Street and walk.
Unfortunately, the finding of a 371 bus wasn’t easy, as south West Trains didn’t seem to have provided any of TfL’s useful bus spider maps at the station. So I couldn’t locate stop E. as I was early, I had a tea in the Carluccio’s by the station and the waitress told me that I got the bus to Ham House from outside the station.
So I got the 371 bus, when it turned up a few minutes later, at the temporary stop, which partly explained my problem. But I didn’t find a bus route map anywhere.
It is an area I don’t know well and it didn’t help that the information system on the bus wasn’t working. But I got there without delay.
Coming back, I was a bit worried about buses late at night, but the stop was covered by the SMS message system that tracks most of London’s buses and I got back home without further trouble.
Checking this morning, it would appear that the 371 actually starts now from stop D at Richmond, so TfL has got a touch of the misinformations.
Schweppes Ruin The Summer
These adverts are on buses all over London.
Schweppes Ruin The Summer
No wonder the weather is so cold and wet! Perhaps they should be advertising cocoa!
A Pattern For New Buses for London Is Starting To Emerge
Next month on the 22nd, London bus route 24, gets the New Bus for London. Route 24 has always been a high-profile route and was the first to have the new RML Routemasters in the late 1960s. So it wasn’t a surprise to me, that this route through the homes of the chattering classes, was the first to be wholly converted. The route has a peak requirement of 26 buses according to Wikipedia.
Now it has been announced that Route 11, will be the next to be upgraded to new buses from September 21st. According to the report 25 buses will be used to replace a current requirement of 26. This reduction is probably to be expected as anybody who uses Route 38 regularly as I do, knows that over a distance, they are faster than their normal cousins, as they spend less time at stops. More than once, I’ve noticed four or more 38’s indicated on the display at a bus stop and when they arrive, it’s the New Bus for London leading the convoy.
Will the introduction on Route 11 lead to complaints as they are going down one of the most congested roads in London; Kings Road, Chelsea? On the other hand, it is just the sort of road, where the hop-on and hop-off facility of the buses will come into its own. Hopefully, it’ll entice a few of Chelsea’s residents out of their tractors. It’ll be interesting to read about how the buses are received on Route 11.
Both Route 24 and 11, have a peak requirement of about 25 buses, so as 600 of these buses are expected to be delivered in the next few years, that means they’ll run on 24 routes, if they go in batches of 25.
The more you look at it, the more the introduction of the eight prototype buses on Route 38, was a well-thought out trial to find out how they would be received by the public and how they would perform.
For a start, the terminus at Hackney Central is close to their depot at Ash Grove, so if a bus went AWOL, it could easily be replaced in service by one of the other normal buses on the route. In fact, I’ve not heard of any rumours of serious problems with these buses, although I did see one broken down in the Essex Road. One apparently, also got white-vanned up the backside.
Route 38, is a very cosmopolitan route, with every type of person using the buses, as it goes through both some expensive housing and some big estates, not known for being genteel. So they would get feedback from all sorts and I suspect they have.
Route 38 is also one, with lots of varied traffic conditions, from routes that tend to be pretty clear for a lot of the day, to the congestion of the West End.
I think they have only one major problem, and that is that if Transport for London decided to redeploy the Hackney 8, there would be a lot of protests.
I believe that to use some of the six hundred New Buses for London to fully upgrade Route 38, could be one of the positive things that could be done to give a stimulus to Hackney.
LT12 On Test
I was on Tottenham Court Road today and saw New Bus for London number LT12.
I’m surprised that the registration numbers aren’t in the same sequence as the first nine.
I talked to a lady waiting for a 24 and she was enthusiastic about the arrival of new buses on a route she often used.
Where’s Laura?
Buses over London are showing my name.
Coke Advert On A London Bus
I’ve actually just had a Coke too! But where is Laura?
Where’s Laura?
She is on lots of other buses.
A Lost Bus!
This old bus was parked near the station in Geneva.
A Lost Bus!
Bonnybridge appears to be near Falkirk in Scotland.
Where Do New Buses for London Go On Holiday?
According to this story, LT1 seems to be having a good time in the United States.
Surprisingly, it seems to have lost the green hybrid logos!
I Thought Tandoori Chicken Was Gluten Free
But obviously not this junk food.
I Thought Tandoori Chicken Was Gluten Free
Subway is one of these shops that should be made by law to serve at least something that is gluten-free.
Coca-Cola Vanilla Is Back
According to the adverts, Coca-Cola Vanilla is back.
Coca-Cola Vanilla Is Back
I don’t think I ever noticed it had gone. I drunk it once and I’ve tasted better urine.
But seeing it’s on the buses, it probably means it’s got the same popularity as this film.
The Anonymous Widower 