There Are Now Guard Whippets On London Buses
Because of the Olympics and the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, specially trained whippets like this one, are now being carried on London’s buses.
A Guard Whippet on a London Bus
I spotted this rather smart grey one on a 141 bus this afternoon.
I had a brief chat with the handler and they said, they were a bit short of whippets, so they’re going to have to use beagles and coney dogs as well!
The Rain Claims a Victim
Tonight, the rain didn’t give up, so I took the bus to Carluccio’s in Upper Street for supper. In fact I had to go somewhere, as I hadn’t got any supper in because of the rain.
But coming down Essex Road, there had been an accident, and as we passed, I noticed that a motor cycle was on its side and it appeared that a passer-by was giving first aid to the rider. It looked like a police car had just arrived and they were helping out too.
Hopefully, everything will be alright in the end.
But it is that sort of night, where accidents will happen and you’re much safer in a full-size bus.
It’s Official Now!
They’ve announced that the rain is now the worst since Genesis Chapters 6 to 9.
I did walk to get my paper today, but I then waited in the shelter at the bus stop and cleared out the rubbish into the bin there, before taking the bus two stops to home.
At least my copy of The Times is dry.
The Waitrose Obstacle Race
Last night I decided to do a bigger shop at Waitrose. My local one at Upper Street is a bit small and doesn’t stock half the things I need. So I decided to go to the shop in the old Jones Brothers store on the Holloway Road.
Unfortunately, it is a two bus trip and I had to change from the 277 to a 271 at Highbury and Islington to complete the journey. The 271 is one of those routes that desperately needs some new buses, as like last night, some of them are a bit tired, like the Plaxton President I was on, to say the least.
But I got there about 19:30 and then spent a frustrating half-an-hour getting what I needed. The only bread was thick-sliced, there was no gluten-free beer, I couldn’t find the smoked salmon, but there were two packets of the breakfast cereal I like. I’ve had more successful trips.
Coming back, it was another 271 followed by a 277. I would have preferred a 393 for the first leg, as it means less walking at the change. But the bus decided to charge straight past the stop on the Holloway Road.
Voting for the Bus
I was at the Angel yesterday afternoon, waiting for a 38 or 56 to take me home, when a New Bus for London passed the other way going towards Victoria.
The guy standing next to me, asked if I’d ridden the bus and I said several times. We then both agreed that we liked them and I said that as an engineer and a designer, it had a lot of good ideas that would find their way into new buses, making them all better.
He then made the statement, that although he was a lifelong Labour voter, he would be voting for the one candidate, who won’t be scrapping the bus; Boris.
Is this the first time that the man on the Dalston omnibus, has been swayed in his voting preference, by that bus?
A Second New Bus for London is Spotted
Tonight I spotted a second New Bus for London in the Balls Pond Road.
A Second New Bus for London
It appears to be numbered as LT6.
They all appear to have registration numbers starting with LT
The Capacity of a Bus Route
As I said in a previous post, I’ve travelled on a New Bus for London five or six times, and only once was the bus full to capacity. That was around six in the evening, when I took it home from the Angel and it was standing room only, as it would have been on every bus from there at that time.
I find this strange as the 38 is a very busy route and obviously the bus has a curiosity value. I too, would always choose it because it is more comfortable and getting on and off is easier. So perhaps we have other factors at work. Could it be that because of its flexibility the New Bus for London is faster at stops and people use it in a different way? Perhaps they tend to get off a stop or two earlier and walk. I have no idea and only a detailed analysis will give the answer.
But it all goes to show that when calculating the capacity of a bus route, it is not a simple process.
The capacity probably depends on three main parameters.
- Obviously the capacity of the bus is important. Doubling the carrying capacity of a bus though may not double the capacity of the route as you’ve still got to get passengers off and on the bus.
- The average journey time it takes to get from one end of the route to the other is also important, as the more trips you can do, the higher the capacity of the route.
- But probably the most important factor is the sum of the dwell times at each of the intermediate stops.
For years London has always had two door buses, with the front one for entry and payment and the middle for exit. I can’t understand, why this isn’t the norm around the country as it cuts the all-important dwell time at stops dramatically. It also makes the entry and exit of wheelchairs and buggies so much easier and fully complies with proposed disability regulations.
The New Bus for London, with its three exits and two staircases, adds another variable to the calculation of route capacity, as it undoubtedly cuts the dwell time at stops.
There are other factors which will effect the dwell time at stops.
- Well-designed wheelchair ramps, that don’t block the entrance or exit.
- Better design and location of bus-stops.
- Hybrid buses, which can accelerate away quicker.
- Electronic ticketing, that is no worse than London’s Oyster.
- Announcement of stops on the bus, so people know where to get off.
- Bus and walking maps at all stops, so passengers know the best bus to take.
- Having a conductor, may make a substantial difference on a busy route.
A lot of the country has a long way to go.
But buses are expensive at between £100,000 and £200,000 a time and it is criminal to spend that on a bus and then not use it to its maximum capacity. If you do use buses to their maximum capacity, you might need a couple of buses fewer to provide the same service.
When London learns more about the New Bus for London, they may find that because of the way people use them, that the number of buses required for a route may be slightly less than those they need now. As I said before, only a detailed analysis will give the answer!
A Bus With Added Service
I have travelled on a New Bus for London about five or six times now and like all things, be they cars or corkscrews, that have been properly designed, you see more and more good features, the more you use them.
Today, I picked up a New Bus for London at the Angel to go back home. The downstairs wasn’t full, but there was a lady in a wheelchair in the wheelchair space, sitting opposite her two friends.
I was sitting at the back, as given luck, I might have been able to get off a few metres or so before the stop and save myself some walking. Just after the stop before mine, the conductor walks past me to the lady in the wheelchair and has a short chat. At the stop, I jump on to the rear platform and step off, but without saving any walking, although I did save a half-minute or so. As I walked to the lights to cross the road, I saw the reason for the conductor’s chat. The lady and her friends had exited smoothly from the middle door. Wheelchair entrance and exit on a standard London bus is not difficult, but it sometimes does result in a time delay. On the New Bus, not only does the design minimise loading and unloading delays by allowing three routes for the able-bodied, but a conductor with a bit of forethought, like today, can minimise any problems before they happen. I think the lady was impressed with the service she received.
A New Bus for London on the Balls Pond Road
Incidentally, it was originally stated that New Buses for London would run with the rear platform closed and no conductor at weekends. According, to the conductor, this policy has been reversed. Read into that what you will! I just think that passengers like the extra service and security. Several users have also told me how much they like the ability to get on and off at convenient places using the rear platform.
The stop I used on the Balls Pond Road illustrates how by being clever Transport for London can use the new buses to advantage. The stop shown in the picture is perhaps thirty metres before a set of traffic lights, where most of the buses get caught for a couple of minutes. The conductor can use this time to allow late-arriving passengers to get on the bus. And they already do! So I think we’ll see a lot of bus stops moved to create and then take advantage of an increased loading window, if the stop is just before traffic lights.
The Proliferation of Hybrid Buses
Whilst I was sitting in the window in Starbucks eating my sandwich, I noticed that a lot of the newer buses were labelled as hybrids, with the green logo on the side.
So I counted for a few minutes and found that out of 15 buses under three years old, 20 % were hybrid.
London in the Rain
I took these pictures over the last couple of days in the rain.
I suspect this rain is due to the large number of Irish-built buses that have arrived in the last week or so. The Northern Irish may be exporting buses, like the 38 in the picture, but do we have to have the rain as well?
The Anonymous Widower 