Coping With The Bus Strike
Arriva buses are on strike today, so the 38s aren’t running.
It’s not causing too much trouble for me, although I suspect it did for some in the rush hours.
It just shows the value of London’s system of route tendering, which means that several bus companies run groups of routes. So when like today, one bus company is on strike, you can cope.
Beware Of Young Girls
I was travelling back from shopping this morning, when I became aware that a rather pretty blonde young lady was leaning over me. It took me a few moments before I realised she was a ticket inspector and her machine with the London Bus logo was being held out. It rather surprised me, as the usual inspectors, be they male or female, are generally older and look like they can handle themselves in a serious fight.
As the ads on London’s buses and tubes say. “Ticket inspectors look just like you!” Or not me, in this case, but the sort of lady, I’d like to take out for the evening. Although, my son would have said, she would have been too young for me. Which is probably true!
IKEA On A Miserable Day
To say that today is miserable is an understatement.
I needed to go to IKEA to pickup a shelf and after a breakfast at Carluccio’s in Upper Street, I got a 341 bus to the store in Tottenham. It was another big red taxi, with a personal driver.
The Upstairs Lounge On A 341 Bus
I even had the upstairs lounge all to myself. Although the view wasn’t up to much.
The Terrible View From The Lounge
I did get to IKEA in a reasonable time, as the roads weren’t that busy. I did speak to a friend by phone on the journey, who was tending to his father’s grave in a woodland cemetery in the rain. I think I got the better bargain.
At least coming home with my shelf, the empty bus meant I had no problems about where to put it.
Bringing Home The Shelf
But then there always seems to be space for parcels on the 341 from IKEA. Perhaps most people take the easy option and drive. Although this guy didn’t with a chair.
I should also say that the LACK shelf I bought was an ideal product to buy in the rain, as it comes tightly wrapped in plastic.
Will The New Bus for London Change London Forever?
I could have entitled this post “Will The New Bus for London Change London And Bus Travel Forever?”
It may be an outrageous statement, but then I believe it will.
Yesterday, when I got stuck in the jams at Highbury Corner and the New Bus for London arrived, I was very relieved and felt that the crew would sort out the mess.
I had been prepared to walk down St. Paul’s Road from the bus stop where I stood, to jump on the platform at the back. But the driver stopped and allowed everybody who wanted to get on normally.
Having used the bus for some months now, this is typical behaviour of the drivers, as they seem to delight in picking up passengers, which can’t always be said for everybody, who’s ever driven a bus.
It could be that because these driver/conductors were hand-picked, they only took those, who treated the job very seriously. After all, if they hadn’t done a good job from the start, there would have been a lot of political fall-out.
There is also the Kings of the Road effect. In my youth, those who drove the heaviest of trucks, always felt themselves superior and made certain they never did anything to dent their reputation.
The crew of the New Bus for London seem intent on creating a similar reputation. Talk to one working in their conductor role and they will always say they like both the bus and the job. Especially, as they get to meet the public properly and seem to enjoy the banter and the experience.
We are very much social animals and the New Bus for London feeds on that. If you want to chat, no-one seems to bother and if you don’t then that’s OK too! I’ve said before that the New Bus for London is a superb viewing platform for tourists and those like me, who’re fascinated by the environment.
But remember, this is only the first radical bus design in fifty years or so. I doubt it will be the last and who’s to say that Scania, MAN or the other manufacturers won’t come up with a better and even more radical take on mass transportation.
I’ve said before there’s a war out there, and the New Bus fir London, is just one of the first attempts to dominate the market.
So what in my view, should the design of a bus have.
- It should have at least two doors, so that access is better and the driver is away from the scrum at the exit.
- Obviously, wheelchair access must be to at least the standard on all London buses.
- The bus should at least have hybrid drive. All electric is an option, but until power storage problems are solved, it will always be a novelty.
- It should talk to the passengers automatically, so that they know where they are.
- Larger buses may well benefit from a conductor, as I believe London has shown they do.
- Ticketing must be touch-in like London. This speeds up the buses and increases capacity.
It’ll be interesting to see the next skirmish in the bus war. But in this war, the only winners will be the customers.
A New Bus for London To The Rescue
This afternoon, it was all chaos in Islington. There appeared to have been a serious accident on the Essex Road and all of the buses were diverting by Highbury Corner.
I was trying to get home by getting a bus down St. Paul’s Road, but the normal 30s and 277s couldn’t get past the jams. A couple of 38s went past without stopping, although it wasn’t their normal territory. And then a New Bus for London hove into view!
It stopped and quite a few including myself got aboard.
The conductor was marshalling people on and off and the hop-on/hop-off capability meant that quite a few got to their destination, despite it not being the regular route.
When it did get to its regular route, I got off and walked home.
It was all a superb demonstration of the advantages of doubled-crewed buses with a hop-on/hop-off platform.
Roll on the next six hundred.
My Moan Of The Week
The Richard Bacon Show on BBC Radio 5 has a weekly moan-in, where people vent their moans.
My moan would be about the number of people who moan generally about the cost and problems of having a car. If it’s not fuel costs, it’s about traffic jams, congestion charging, insurance or finding somewhere to park.
I don’t have these problems any more, as since my stroke I haven’t driven and don’t have a licence any more And I reckon my bank account benefits by several thousand pounds a year. That would buy lots of taxis, if I wanted, but I prefer trains and buses, as you see more of life and don’t get the driver complaining about the sad state of the taxi industry.
The Troubles With HMS Astute
These are reported in several papers like here in the Telegraph.
But then this is always the case with new defence projects. I always remember a non-working radar for the Tornado, that was known as Blue Circle, because it was just a concrete dummy. The story is in the Wikpedia entry for the aircraft.
Because of some delays to the radar, some development aircraft flew with a concrete weight in place of the radar assembly. In a nod to some other radar names of the day (Blue Parrot, Blue Fox) this was nicknamed Blue Circle – cynics suggested that at leastBlue Circle gave more consistent results. Unfortunately, the ‘Blue’ series radars were made by Ferranti – and the AI24 Foxhunter for the Tornado was made by GEC. At least one senior civil servant thought that the AI24 was a Ferranti-made radar as a result… (Ferranti made the antenna mounting assembly as a subcontractor to GEC. At least that bit was delivered on time and to budget, although they later discovered that GEC was blaming them for delays. Cute trick.)
British defence contractors never seem to get it right first time.
On the other hand new products usually don’t work a hundred percent of the time. I’ve seen a New Bus for London, that has broken down and they are rumoured to have the odd air-conditioning problem.
But then you could probably get 5,000 New Buses for London for the price of HMS Astute. And anyway with the bus, there’s usually another along in a few minutes.
Someone Who Doesn’t Like The New Bus for London
Yesterday, I met someone, who doesn’t like the New Bus for London. He was a bus controller at a main station, where there was a bit of chaos because of the diversions due to the Remembrance Day Parade.
He said they were unreliable, with particular problems with the air-conditioning. As they are a new product this is probably to be expected. And I do know that the air conditioning was rather a difficult thing to design and fit.
On the other hand, passengers and staff with direct experience of the New Buses for London, all seem to love them.
The Friendly Bus
New Buses for London get little criticism, except from those on the left, who think Boris should be running a whelk stall.
I travelled to the Angel today and wanted to get a 30, so I could go for breakfast at Carluccio’s. As I was waiting I got talking to a mother, with two young children, who were waiting for a 38. She said that her kids liked the new buses and often waited for one.
Does this mean that these buses are creating a whole new generation of bus travellers, just like the original Routemaster did in the 1960s. Let’s hope so, as we all know what is the greenest way to travel. And in cities like London, buses are often quicker from point to point.
After breakfast, whilst walking to Waitrose, a New Bus passed and I thought I’d go to the bigger shop at the Brunswick Centre. So I jumped on at the lights. After a couple of stops, several of us were sharing bus stories of our childhood with the driver/conductor.
Only New Buses for London get people talking like this.
A Stylish Clock At London Bridge
This clock is in the new bus station at London Bridge station.
A Stylish Clock At London Bridge
We need more of these at important bus stops.
The Anonymous Widower 