On 26 Dec, 23:09, (Neil Williams)
wrote:
On Sat, 26 Dec 2009 14:16:54 -0800 (PST), MIG

wrote:
Then why are people always complaining that bendys are free?

That's a side issue. *You don't need a conductor to check that people
have touched in. *A driver can do that if people board at the front.
On at the front, off at the rear is the fastest option in a two-door
bus where touching in takes half a second.

Anyway, they don't have to be the in the same job as the old
conductors or on all routes or at all times of day. *It would be good
to have someone extra on night buses, say, who could, among other
things, sell reasonably-priced cash tickets to new arrivals and people
who can't top up.

This may well be worthwhile as a security measure if nothing else,
though would people be willing to see night bus fares increased above
daytime ones as they used to be, so this could be affordable?

All I am saying, as Paul Corfield kind of repeated in a different
branch, is that there should be a sensible consideration of what is
needed in a bus that is suitable for the central London. I don't
think it's a bendy or a Routemaster and I have no time for any party
political associations with bus designs. I also see a need for better
staffing in approporiate roles. I foolishly mentioned the word
"conductors" as an aside, and that's all anyone wants to talk about.

It's very strange how, in the meantime, various people seem to be
claiming that no time is lost by filing past the driver on double
deckers, despite dwell time being one of the main claimed advantages
of bendys. Even less justification for them then.