A Single-Manned New Bus for London
I went to the Angel last night and took one the New Buses for London on route 38. It was the first that I’d seen being run single-manned without a conductor.
The driver though was opening all three doors at stops, so that the rather light traffic at that time could get easily on and off.
I had thought that only the front two would open, with the platform kept tightly closed.
They Do Things Big In Swindon
I’ve only ever been to Swindon once and thought it was rather a quiet inoffensive town. But last night someone or perhaps more, slashed the tyres on 150 cars in the town. The incidents are reported here on the BBC.
In some ways it just reinforces my view, that cars are an unnecessary evil, especially, when you have lots of buses and friendly taxi-drivers.
The Shard Is Now On The Buses
A lot of the buses in London are now promoting The Shard.
The Shard Is Now On The Buses
The picture shows the advert on the side of a 277. I wouldn’t think this is that necessary as for the Leamouth end of the route, if you’re upstairs on the bus, you can actually see the building.
I wonder if advertising the view from a building on the side of a bus, is a bit like advertising a film? With films, they are usually not up to much, so is the view from The Shard, not the best view for the cost.
Wot No Advertising!
Quite a few London buses seem to be short of adverts at the moment, like this one.
Wot No Advertising!
So perhaps now is the time to start your campaign 0n the buses.
The Bad Design Of The Cambridge Busway
Over the life of this blog, especially when I lived near to Cambridge, I’ve flagged up the shortcomings of the Cambridge Busway. I wrote this post on the flooding in November 2009.
It seems that flooding is still a problem judging by this article in the Cambridge News.
Surely over three years later, they should have got it right by now!
Three Young Children
It is often said, that children are too protected these days.
But a couple of days ago, I was walking to the bus and noticed three children, where the eldest was about six waiting impeccably for the pedestrian lights to change, so they could cross the road.
A few seconds later they walked quickly across the road on the green and joined the queue at the bus stop to wait for the bus.
It was immaculate behaviour, by those that are generally not given that level of responsibility for their own safety.
Incidentally, my mother used to take me to the 107 bus, when I was about six or seven and sit me in the back by the conductor to send me to my aunt’s house in Enfield.
I wonder if this will start to happen on the New Bus for London?
Manchester’s Disorganised Public Transport
Coming from London, you get to know, what properly connected and information-rich public transport can do for you.
Arrive at any Underground station and they’ll be staff to speed you on your way, with proper ticket information booths at many mainline stations like Euston. Nearly every bus stop, in the capital, also has a local map and a spider map for buses in the area. And of course every bus stop now has a full text message information system.
Yesterday, I went to Blackburn to see Ipswich play. I chose to go the direct but slower route via Manchester, as this would allow me to have a decent lunch in Carluccio’s in Manchester Piccadilly station.
I arrived at the station courtesy of a Virgin Train’s Pendolino just before twelve and without any difficulty, bought myself an Off Peak Return from any Manchester station to Blackburn for the princely sum of £6.15, from a well-staffed Virgin Trains ticket office. At least I didn’t have the ticket problem, that I had at Liverpool on this day, where staff seemed to be non-existent.
I had an excellent brunch in Carluccio’s before setting off to Manchester Victoria by tram to get the direct train to Blackburn. Piccadilly to Victoria is a standard tram journey across the city, if you’re going onward like I was, after coming up from London, but as seems to be common on all Manchester transport, the system assumes everybody knows where they are going. There was no staff on the tram station to ask either.
Some might object, that there was no specific Senior ticket and you have to pay the full fare. I could afford the £1.10, so what does it matter. But other visitors might not be so affluent. After all, Sheffield allows me on their trams with my Freedom Pass, which of course doubles as an England-wide bus pass. But not on Manchester trams!
The train to Blackburn was one of the clapped out Pacers and Sprinters like these.
Two Clapped Out Trains
It was clean and worked reasonably well, but the passenger information system was very nineteenth century. It was a new line to me and I was no idea, where I was and which was the next station. As it was Blackburn was obvious.
Blackburn station has had a bit of a makeover, but this does not apply to anything to do with the buses. I was thinking about getting a taxi, when I saw a 1 bus, which said it went to Darwen via Ewood Park. Again, there was no-one to ask about which bus to take and where to get it.
It was then the usual rigmarole of getting a ticket issued on the bus, which I felt like promptly dropping amongst the litter on the floor of the bus. Why can’t we have a UK-wide system for bus ticketing based on London’s successful Oyster? I hate to use the term no-brainer, but if ever there was one, this is it. But I suppose cities, like Manchester, wouldn’t want to use a London-developed system, just as they won’t use two-door buses or fit good on-board information systems.
I’ll deal with the match later and then it was repeating the process on the bus to get back to the station. There was just a list on the shelter of times and no text message information system, to know how long we’d have to wait in the cold.
Luckily, I just caught a train to Manchester Victoria and the helpful inspector, said it would be easier to change at Bolton station. I did change, there but there was no chance of a cup of tea, whilst I waited.
The Closed Buffet At Bolton Station
Finally, I ended back at Manchester Piccadilly, in the little satellite station at the back. I knew where to get the London train and made it with perhaps two minutes to spare. I paid the £15 upgrade to First Class and was one of four in the carriage. I suppose the television presenter, Garth Crooks, was pleased, as he could just fall asleep for most of the way, without being bothered by large numbers of football experts. I did laugh though, as he pulled a cap low over his face and would a thick scarf round his neck, as he walked through a fairly deserted Euston station.
So if I was the Mayor of Manchester what would I do?
1. Put a proper Manchester Transport information booth in Manchester Piccadilly station. After all, the main bus interchange in Manchester is in Piccadilly Gardens, ehich is not a short walk away.
2. Make sure, it’s obvious how you get a tram from Piccadilly to Victoria.
3 Bring Senior Tickets on the trams into line with the rest of the country. I would also like to see the ability to use Oyster and bank cards as payment on the buses and trams, so that it is easier for visitors.
4. How about moving to London’s two-door disabled and passenger-friendly information-rich buses? This one might even get more people out of their cars, as I believe they have in London.
5. Manchester needs maps everywhere! Or at least somewhere!
6. A few more staff would help too!
I know Blackburn is outside of the Greater Manchester area, but a lot of the same things apply.
I suppose the problem, is that if you use public transport in large parts of the north, you’re a loser, so you should get lost and not be a drain on car-owning tax-payers!
Manchester public transport, must be a nightmare for the blind. Or don’t people go blind in the north?
The Hi-Speed Bus
Today as I went up to the Angel, I got on a normal 38 bus. I then noticed, that by the time a New Bus for London was about a hundred metres behind. By the time I’d got halfway, the new bus was about the same distance in front.
This is not the first thing a similar thing has happened, and I suspect the three doors and the on-board staff, means that it loads and unloads much quicker at each stop.
Coming back later, I actually got on a new bus and this passed one of its humbler brethren on the way back.
The Man Who Didn’t Know How To Use The Buses
Whilst waiting at the Angel for a bus, I was approached by a guy, who asked if he could buy a ticket on the bus to get to Stoke Newington. I told him he could, but as he looked to be in his sixties, I asked him, if he was eligible for a Freedom Pass. He was 65 and lived in Hackney, so he was!
But he said he’d never used the buses, as he was a mini-cab driver.
Perhaps major bus stops like the Angel, need instructions on how to use the buses.
The New Bus For London In Singapore
I just picked up this article about the New Bus for London in the Straits Times in Singapore.
Their slant on the bus, is that Metroline, who will be running the bus on route 24 by the summer, is owned by ComfortDelgro, who are a Singaporean company.
In Singapore they actually operate 1200 Wright buses, most of which were assembled locally.
So it will be interesting to see, if this all leads to a New Bus for Singapore!
The Anonymous Widower 