An Advantage Of A New Routemaster
I often sit in the rearward facing seats of a new Routemaster, by the platform. On my trip to Euston, I needed to change from the 38 I was on, to either a 30,73 or 476 to get to Euston.
The Superb Rear View On A New Routemaster
So by sitting where I was, I could see if one was catching us up. And if one had I would have got off my bus and hopped on the follower.
Unfortunately, one didn’t turn up, so at the Angel, I just dived into the Underground for the two stops to Euston.
When buses get on-board wi-fi, as they inevitably will in the next few years, it would be nice to find out what buses are following, so you could swap, if that was more convenient.
Does Sheffield Need A Bus Tram?
Sheffield is an unusual city in the UK, in that it has lots of hills.
On Tuesday night, when I went to Carluccio’s on the Ecclesall Road it meant that I hsd to get a bus, as this was off the tram route, which only has a fixed route through the city.
It was not the easy journey it would have been on the tram, as ordinary buses don’t have enough information on them. So although, I got off in almost the right place, the journey would have been less fraught on a tram.
It looked to me that the Ecclesall Road has a lot of buses, but just as I have locally the route 38, which I nickname the Hackney Tram, would it be better if Sheffield had a fleet of modern buses that had some of the features that tram passengers like, such as information, on-board staff, comfortable seats and disabled access.
This type of operation needs no new infrastructure and you can add and subtract vehicles to the route as required. Buses like London’s new Routemasters may also make lighter work of the hills. I’m not sure of the figures, but I think a good hybrid bus has more acceleration and short-term power than one with a large diesel. Our new Routemasters do have a touch of the Linford Christies.
A Quick Shop Using A Route 114 Hackney Tram
As I was going out, I made a quick dash up to the Angel to get some food shopping.
I boarded a crowded third segment of a 114 (i.e. 3 x 38) tram and we all went in convoy up to Islington.
But the great thing, is that standing is so easy on these vehicles that run pancake flat!
After my shopping, I got another vehicle home and fifty minutes after leaving originally home, everything had been put away and I was ready to go out.
When I lived in Newmarket and could still drive, I couldn’t get anywhere near that time.
Thomas Heatherwick Goes Global
Thomas Heatherwick is going on a tour of the US and Asia, to show his iconic designs to the world.
He may leave a legacy of designs, but his biggest legacy, will be that he has shown how if architects, designers and engineers think outside conventional norms, you create the wonder factor and inspire others to do the same. Hence we all get a better world.
If we take the design of Thomas and his company, that I know best, the New Routemaster, every time you use one, you notice something that is different to and better than most current buses. Yesterday, as I got off after travelling home from the Angel, I realised that the walk to the centre exit was all clean lines and hand-holds in the right places, with no messy strap-hangers out-of-reach of short people and children, that seem to be an omnipresent feature of all other buses.
That is good design, and would Londoners accept a new bus without things like a totally-flat floor and well-positioned hand holds in the future?
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.
