Are Transport for London Doing Bit Of Route Proving?
I noticed this evening that London bus route 453 is to be Routemasterised next month.
I obviously don’t have the figures that TfL do, but is it a choice with a lot of implications for future public transport in the capital.
Route 453 has its Northern terminus at Marylebone, which is on the Bakerloo line. The route then calls at the following stations, which are also on that line.
- Baker Street
- Oxford Circus
- Piccadilly Circus
- Charing Cross
- Lambeth North
- Elephant and Castle
It then continues to New Cross, New Cross Gate and a couple of places mentioned as possible stops on the Bakerloo Line Extension.
As buses these days have extensive data collecting capabilities through Oyster, are TfL hoping to get specific traffic information, that might help in deciding where and when to extend the Bakerloo line? They might also be hoping that a quality bus route might flush out a few more passengers. The numbers using route 38, since the full Routemasterisation in May, certainly hasn’t decreased markedly, although in the summer there have been a few half-empty buses.
TfL obviously knows what to expect, as they have now converted several routes to New Routemasters.
But the only fact we know about traffic changes when New Routemasters take over a route, is that no statistics have been published.
I’d have loved to write a software system to analyse bus route performance.
It’ll be interesting to see how it all works through in the future.
If I take the route I know best, the 38, what would happen if the buses got to be very full?
I am drawn to the conclusion, that all TfL would do, would be to draft a few more buses on the route, which will be very easy, if there is only one type working the route.
Try doing that in a hurry with a tram route!
The Smart Conductors
Our New Routemasters on route 38 have conductors. And a smart bunch, they are in more ways than one!
Today the conductor, when I went to Piccadilly was particularly smart, with her black hair piled professionally on her head, an immaculate uniform and highly polished shoes.
They all wear name badges and some badges show flags to indicate their language skills. We certainly have French, Turkish and Italian speakers on the route.
My father’s friend, Fay, always said that being a conductor on the buses, during the Second World War was the making of her, as it helped her overcome her shyness.
Let’s hope our conductors on route 38 go on to make real successes of their lives. Just like Fay did!
A Routemaster Of My Own
London is very quiet at the moment, as the well-off seem to have gone to Chelsea on Sea and Chiantishire and the plebs to the costas. This bus today was so quiet that I was the only passenger.
It did liven up a bit, when the tail gunner joined, as she was a bubbly Italian girl from Mestre near Venice.
I wonder how her currently good English will be honed on the platform of a new Routemaster?
Should Hackney Send Missionaries To Yorkshire?
One of my Google alerts has found two reports today about New Routemasters being considered for Yorkshire; one in the Huddersfield Examiner and another in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
I live on London bus route 38, which is one the most intense bus services in London, that links Hackney to Victoria via the West End, using a squadron of New Routemasters.
And we love them! So much so, that when we have a choice, as say a bus on a parallel route has arrived together with a 38, we all get on the 38.
I’ve never heard a complaint about these buses, whilst on-board and they are becoming very much part of life in Hackney. They are faster, as they load quickly, everybody seems to be polite and you are certainly more likely to strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger.
So why should only London get the benefits of this superb updating of a humble method of public transport?
Londoners and especially those that live in parts of London, where the routes go, should broadcast their enthusiasm to the rest of the UK and the wider world!
Behaviour On New Routemasters
I am a people watcher, as was my late wife, C, and now that the 38 route, I use regularly is a route that uses only new Routemasters, it is fascinating to see how the self loading cargo use the buses.
I’ve spoken before about the friendly behaviour on these buses! Especially in the bay seats, although today when I returned from shopping, these seats were free.
Bay Seats On A New Routemaster
Although empty today, these bay seats are popular and often you’ll see families and groups travelling together using them.
The buses are ideal for shoppers, as you can get the average bag amongst your feet on a standard seat.
My Shopping Bag By My Feet
Regularly you’ll see someone sitting there, with their shopping trolley sharing the space.
I was actually sitting in one of the four rearward-facing seats, which seem to be popular with passengers.
As I rode today, these seats opposite were occupied by a mother and her baby, who she was amusing, by showing her things out the back of the bus.
I like to sit in these seats and have taken pictures and videos out of the back of the bus.
This post was prompted by two things that you’d never see on other buses in London.
A lady, who was certainly older than me, got up and walked down the bus swinging from hand to hand on the various hand holds in perfect safety along the flat floor, to the middle door, to prepare to leave the bus.
The designer would have probably been very happy, as when I went to a presentation of the bus in 2011, as he said then, he’d designed the bus so that passengers could move about easily with totally flat floors and easy to reach hand holds.
The other piece of behaviour was unusual.
An Asian lady about thirty, had forgot to touch in and after sitting in the bay seat on the other side of the aisle to where I was sitting, opened her hand bag and proceeded to look for her Oyster card. When she found it, she walked to the back platform to touch in, leaving her handbag fully open for anyone to help themselves.
No-one did, but surely few ladies would do this on a bus. Perhaps she did, as with a tail-gunner loaded, she felt very secure it would be unlikely she’d suffer a theft.
So do passengers generally feel more secure on new Routemasters?
God Said All London Buses Must Be Red
London’s buses have always been red in my memory and according to this piece, which is a response to the question of why London’s buses are red, they’ve been predominately red since the creation of the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933. Although buses from the London General Omnibus Company had started using the colour in 1907.
Today though I saw my first New Routemaster in a full black advertising livery.
God Said All London Buses Must Be Red
I don’t think the bus suited the livery.
By the way, God or in London Transport’s case; Frank Pick, wouldn’t have liked this bus either, as it would grate with the overall philosophy he laid down for London’s transport system.
Has anybody else ever imposed their design philosophy on a city, as Frank Pick did for London to such a positive effect?
I wonder what he’d have thought of London’s New Routemaster.
One thing he would have liked was the process where Thomas Heatherwick was involved in the design of the bus. Pick in his years as London’s transport supremo, regularly hired the best architects and designers.
He was also prepared to back those, whose designs were unconventional, like Harry Beck‘s tube map, which has evolved to be one of the most recognisable maps in the world.
Should New Routemasters Be Named?
I know they’re not called New Routemasters officially, but will they ever be called anything else?
I think all of the buses should be individually named, perhaps in series to reflect the area they run through.
After all, there a lot of Londoners to name them after.
If we take the 38 route, famous people with strong Hackney connections who would be suitable might include.
I would like the list to be quirky and slightly educational and without any trace of politicians or jobsworths.
They could also be named indirectly. So for instance Edmond Halley might be commemorated by a bus named Halley’s Comet or Jessica Tandy, who was born in Clapton, by one called Miss Daisy. And then what about The Italian Job for Michael Caine, after all one of the stars was a coach.
Local heroes would be allowed, like the named after Dave Gardner.
Take a New Routemaster to Romantic Clapton Pond on the 20th of February 2012
I’d thought that the new Routemaster was going to be introduced on the route 38 between Victoria and Clapton Pond and today it was confirmed that they’ll start on the 20th of February. Initially, they’ll just be eight of them.
I went to a presentation on the bus some months ago and I think it will be a good addition to London’s bus fleet.
The choice of route 38 is an interesting one. But in my view a correct one.
At the southern end, it starts at Victoria, which is a major transport interchange, where lots of visitors arrive. I hope that they make sure that the route keeps its prime stop in front of the station. I doubt anybody with any marketing nouse would do anything, except make it more obvious.
It then goes straight through the West End, past or close to, some of London’s most important places and landmarks, like Buck House, Green Park, Piccadilly Circus, many of the theatres on Shaftesbury Avenue, and the British Museum. The route in this area, is only a short walk from places like Soho, Covent Garden, Bloomsbury, and Leicester and Trafalgar Squares. So I think, if they get the hop-on/hop-off right in this section, I think it will be a very valuable addition to the transport landscape of this part of London. As I have experienced several times, getting a bus in this area at times is often a long wait because of all the traffic that shouldn’t be there. But at least with a hop-on/hop-off bus, you won’t have to wait for the stop. But even when it is working as a normal bus, it’ll have an extra door, which will mean that it unloads and loads quicker.
After Bloomsbury, the route does its more mundane work, through Clerkenwell, Islington and down the Essex Road to Dalston and on to Hackney and eventually to Clapton Pond. This is where I use the route a lot as none of the Underground or Overground lines, really get you from Hackney to Islington or on to the West End. Having seen the inside of the mock-up, I feel that the bus will suit this part of the route well, as passengers often have large amounts of shopping and cases and I have a feeling that New Routemasters might be better at handling, this type of passenger, as they have three entrances and two staircases, which will enable the more mobile and unencumbered passengers to get quickly and easily upstairs and out of the way.
As an aside here, it will be interesting to see if two staircases, raise the average loading on the top deck.
Hackney and Clapton are not really leisure destinations in London. But could putting New Routemasters on the major route to the area, help in that direction. Clapton Pond, may not sound romantic, but if you were say walking the Lea Valley, it is one place to start. Uniquely, the 38 bus terminus at Clapton is in the middle of a roundabout, which means it is easy to turn the buses back to Victoria.
If I was Hackney Council, I’d put a very small amount of work into the roundabout, as the arrival of the buses, will attract bus anoraks from all over the world, if the scrum in Trafalgar Square last night is anything to go by. Note the link is from the Belfast Telegraph.
Jams In The West End
There has been a lot of controversy lately about the City of Westminster, bringing in parking charges in the evenings and on Sundays. Here ‘s a report from the Telegraph.
It seems to me that most of the opposition is led by celebrities such as Peter Stringfellow, who claim they are worried about jobs and of course where to park their own limos and excessive people carriers.
As I said the 38 bus was delayed getting to Shaftesbury Avenue and it took half an hour to travel the last bit from Bloomsbury. My progress after alighting from the bus, wasn’t helped by the fact that a coach was parked on the pavement, making both walking and driving difficult.
After the play it was worse and getting back up Shaftesbury Avenue was not easy, as drivers were blocking pavement and trying to go at speed into and out of the side roads. It wasn’t helped by the fact, that a large number of police cars and ambulances were trying to get through.
I finally got to the stop for the 38 bus and after checking by text, I found I had seven minutes to wait.
Whilst waiting you realised that what was holding up the traffic was the vast number of cycle rickshaws, which were illegally touting at the bus stops. A guy in the queue near me, who had the aura of a taxi-driver, said that mos of the rickshaws aren’t insured and he wouldn’t go near them. He was actually a van driver, who’d had a nght out with his family and was also waiting for a 38. There’s more on illegal rickshaws here.
It was also a night, when I wished I’d had my camera with me, as I would ave got a picture of a 19 bus, seemingly pushing a rickshaw slowly along the road.
Finally, I got my 38 back to the local stop.
So what would I do to improve matters?
It would appear that the 38 bus, might be one of the first routes to get the new Routemaster in 2012. Certainly, as they are quicker to board and exit, they should help a bit. Banning the rickshaws from bus lanes would also help.
I’ve always been in favour of pedestrianising Oxford Street or perhaps building a raised walkway above the middle of the street to speed people from Tottenham Court Road to Marble Arch and perhaps relieve the Central line. Although a bit to the north of theatreland, it would make it easier to get to Soho and then come south to Shaftesbury Avenue. My thoughts on the walkway are in this post.
I think I would make a large area of Soho a pedestrian only zone, as this would increase the capacity of the area dramatically. And the more visitors it gets, the more money gets spent. Perhaps, small electric buses could be used on the north-south routes to move people about.
But perhaps what will help most is already being built; CrossRail. Although it only goes to Tottenham Court Road and Bond Street stations, the high-capacity trains will probably run later than the Underground and they will at least get a lot of West End traffic away after the theatres and shows finish. I would run a shuttle service through from say Stratford to Heathrow to aid those, like essential workers, who had to travel in the middle of the night.
It has always puzzled me why there is no Underground station at Cambridge Circus. Perhaps the walking routes to Leicester Square and Tottenham Court Road stations need to be improved.
The Anonymous Widower 