Seven New Buses for London In A Row
Since I created my personal timetable, I usually leave my house eight or nine minutes before one of the buses arrives. I’m not changing my routine or anything, but say I’m going to Piccadilly Circus, for 11:30, I know that the 10:34 would be an ideal bus, so I break off writing at an appropriate time and walk to the stop.
Since Monday, I’ve done this seven times and caught seven New Buses for London in a row. And one of these was by accident, as I had finished and just got ready and left without reading the timetable. It actually would have been eight in a row, but yesterday, as I got to the stop, there were two 38s at the stop, so the New Bus for London overtook, the humbler buses.
My son, thinks it’s all a bit sad! He’s probably right! On the other hand, because of escalator works at Bank, Highbury and Islington, and other stations, it is a much easier and more pleasant journey on the top deck of a London bus. And if that’s in First rather than Standard Class it’s even better.
But it does show how the New Buses for London stick tightly to their timetable, with the precision of a Clerkenwell engraver. Could this be because of their proven quicker dwell time at stops, that they have the ability to pick up lost minutes?
But for whatever reason it is, it’s all good news for Londoners.
Are Cyclists Becoming The New Vegetarians?
I’ve nothing against either group, but although I hope one day to be part of the first, I doubt I’ll ever be vegetarian. I couldn’t be that today, as I’ve just had some delicious meat pate.
But in my view, there are a lot of vegetarians, who are overly touchy. I remember once being served a meal in a five-star boutique hotel with organic wholemeal bread and the vegetarian owner couldn’t get it, that wheat was bad for me. As it was organic, surely that wouldn’t cause me any harm, as animals were the problem. So C gave her both barrels as only a barrister could and we never ate in the hotel again.
Change a recipe for a chocolate bar and the veggies will get you, as Mars found out a couple of years ago.
it now appears that cyclists in London can get just as touchy about changing road layouts, as this story shows. The article even has a go at Crossrail, saying that it will bring lots of shoppers into Central London.
I regularly go to that area and it is a nightmare for everybody and especially pedestrians and cyclists. I found this out a few days ago and posted this.
The question i asked in that post is probably the correct one and the sooner we get New Buses for London in those routes around Piccadilly Circus and down the Haymarket the better, as I’m certain they would get a lot of the pedestrians out of the way. Some pedestrians might even say they’d had enough and see an open platform on a bus and go for it!
What’s the betting though, that in a few months as more and more New Buses for London appear, we will read an article about cyclists complaining about them?
Perhaps to create more road-space in Central London, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to put restrictions on taxis. Now taxi-drivers are another group, who act like vegetarians and get touchy at the least provocation.
How about banning rickshaws too?
But the main thing that is needed is some good British design, followed up with a good helping of compromise!
The New Bus for London Was On Time
This morning, I consulted my timetable and walked round the corner, so I got to the stop at 10:34.
And what happened?
A New Bus for London sailed into view and several pleased passengers got on to go to the Angel and in some cases, like me, to pastures further on.
You can’t complain about that!
My Personal New Bus for London Timetable
My regular bus journey on a 38 is from the Balls Pond Road to the Angel Islington, so why shouldn’t I travel First Class as many times as I can, when I use the route.
New Buses for London are scheduled to leave Balls Pond Road at the following times after 0900.
0934
1004 1034
1104 1124 1154
1214 1244
1314 1344
1414 1434 1454
1516 1539
1602 1625 1650
1712 1735
1816
1900
And they return from the Angel.
0930 0954
1013 1033 1054
1116 1146
1216 1247
1307 1337 1357
1427 1457
1527 1557
1617 1637 1655
1718 1741
1804 1829 1851
1916 1955
2043
It will be interesting to see if this is up-to-date information, as I have to be by Piccadilly Circus this morning at 11:30, so that means catching the 10:34.
I got the information from here. Someone actually issued a Freedom of Information request to get it. It would surely have been less time consuming and expensive to stand on the corner and use the Mark One eye-balls and the back of a fag packet or what the equivalent is these days.
Do Oxford And Regent Streets Need New Buses for London Now?
After breakfast, I walked down Regent Street and didn’t make too much progress, as the pavements were crowded. I eventually got on a bus, but progress was even slower due to an accident in Trafalgar Square.
This double congestion often seems to happen.
Would New Buses for London, with their hop-on and hop-off capability be an asset in getting pedestrians along these streets faster?
I think they would! Remember too, that London’s fare system means that say doing six or seven small journeys on a bus is the same price as one, so you wouldn’t be costing yourself anything.
After shopping, I actually caught a New Bus for London back towards home. Progress was slow due to the same problems as earlier and people seemed to be hopping on and off the bus all over the place.
When these buses were mooted, the dismal Jimmies predicted all sorts of accidents and consequent lawsuits. But I’ve never seen any reports of even any minor incidents.
Perhaps, those that jump off and on are on the whole sensible people? Or as I believe, most people actually know their limitations well. And that includes the ninety-year-old with a Zimmer frame!
Could London have reinvented the people mover? Only when most of the buses on somewhere like Oxford Street are New Buses for London, will we know!
The New Buses for London Are Arriving
Transport Engineer, which I would assume is a serious web site has just published this article about New Bus for London production.
The article doesn’t say directly, but it does seem to indicate that production is on schedule for the start-up of services on route 24 on June 22nd.
However, it does say this about emissions from the buses.
Emission testing on an early vehicle that has been in service for eight months and covered more than 15,000 miles show levels at 2.048g/km of NOx – around four times less than the fleet average for existing hybrid buses.
CO2 has been measured at 690.23g/km, which is marginally better than the fleet average for hybrids (864g/km) and almost half the fleet average for diesel buses (1,295g/km). As for diesel particulates, the figure is 0.012g/km, one quarter of the fleet average for hybrid and diesel buses together.
As to the local pre-production examples on route 38, they seem to be quietly trundling between Victoria and Hackney Central. The only negative reaction you hear, is when you joke that we’ll be losing the Hackney Eight to the toffs in Hampstead.
Why Doesn’t The New Bus for London Have A Top Hat?
Some of the RT London buses of the 1950s and 1960s had the route number shown at roof level at the front of the bus. This was variously called a lighthouse box, a top box or a top hat. It’s the latter that I prefer and it was a great help when catching a bus, as you could more easily identify if the one in the distance was the bus you wanted.
It’s the one feature, I would have put into the New Bus for London, that Heatherwick didn’t!
A Late Running New Bus for London
It was running to the timetable, but tonight I travelled on a New Bus for London from the Angel to my house, catching the bus at The Angel a few minutes after nine o’clock. It was probably on time, but running later than I’d ever seen one before.
It was surprisingly full for a bus at that time, but I suspect like me, a lot of people got off the following 73 to go to Hackney rather than Stoke Newington. As the New Bus has three doors and the downstairs is more spacious, I think we’re going to see more of this bus-swapping, as for people like me, it gets me to a stop nearer my house and even if I was paying my own fare, I wouldn’t be charged any extra.
This hop-off and hop-on behaviour is one of the advantages of London’s automated Oystercard system. About the only interaction between driver and passenger on a London bus, as most people get on, is either a smile, a gesture or perhaps a quick greeting.
The bus tonight was running in one-person mode, with the driver controlling all three doors at stops.
It’ll be interesting to see, how the actual capacity changes when the next route for the New Bus for London; route 24, is fully operational. There are a lot of factors that will come into play.
1. The middle and rear doors are positioned by their own staircase and they have their own Oyster reader. So many passengers will get on through the more convenient door, touch in and go upstairs.
2. The middle door has a larger lobby than a standard bus and the rear door has the platform, so passengers will get themselves ready to leave the bus earlier. I know I do this on a New Bus for London, especially, if I’m going to jump off the back.
3. Because of the three doors, the front one only becomes an entry point for someone, who has to pay the driver, show a paper ticket bought elsewhere or is using the door as it’s the most convenient.
4. Buggies and wheelchairs usually go in the middle door. On a standard bus, wheelchairs come in the middle door, but buggy pushers generally have to use the front entrance. If they use the middle one, they then have to walk to the front to touch in or pay the driver.
5. The New Bus for London also develops its own unofficial stops. At the Angel, there is a light controlled crossing just before the stops by the station, when going south. I’ve got off at the lights, when they are red several times. Also at the Angel, there is often a queue to get on the bus stops at busy times. Passengers use the rear entry on a New Bus for London to avoid waiting for the bus to get on the stop.
All of these factors mean that the New Buses for London, load and unload passengers much quicker than the standard bus. This can lead to a shorter journey time from one end of the route to the other.
I also think that as passengers use the New Bus for London more, they will modify their behaviour to get a faster journey. There can’t be many people, who don’t like going as fast as possible from A to B.
The Timetable For The New Buses for London On Route 38
This post is for my benefit and it links to a timetable for the New Buses for London operating on Route 38.
Why I Often Wait For A New Bus for London At The Angel
Today, I went up to the Angel to do some shopping. I don’t use a reusable bag, as I haven’t found one I like, since my old Waitrose one collapsed.
So today, I was coming back with two plastic bags of shopping, of which one was particularly awkward as it contained a double large box of tissues. With only one good hand, getting on a normal bus is sometimes difficult, as the entrance is often crowded as people buy their tickets.
But if I go to the rear platform or middle door of a New Bus for London, getting on is usually a much more straightforward affair. Especially, at the rear platform, where many use it as a quick way to get upstairs. As the bus has three Oyster card readers, if it is particularly busy, I will sometimes get in and then reach back to become a legal rider.
Today, I saw a Hackney Central bus was arriving in a minute. So I waited! I struck lucky with a New Bus for London and I was able to ride home in First Class!
The Anonymous Widower 