On May 18, 8:58*am, Bruce wrote:

On Tue, 18 May 2010 00:02:05 +0200, Neil Williams
wrote:
On Mon, 17 May 2010 14:12:43 +0100, Tom Barry
wrote:

It's not a Routemaster.

I think it is to a Routemaster what a new Mini is to an old one. *It
could never have been as small as a real Routemaster, as it couldn't
have been made accessible enough. *And while Routemasters are quite
fun, there is a bit of a lack of legroom for us taller passengers.

I think it's in essence a vertical-engined (I assume) Wright hybrid
decker with a bodykit. *This will probably help to make it not too
expensive, which means it might actually happen.

Put differently, I was a cynic, but now I've seen it I like it, even
if it does run around 90% of the time driver-only with the platform
closed. *Though if it does do that they'll need some means of making
that visible - will it perhaps be shown on the blind?

It is a strange combination of about 85% modern bus with the remaining
15% at the back being a grafted-on Routemaster-style platform and
stairs.

If it did run around 90% of the time driver-only with the platform
closed, what would be the point of it?

Well, quite.

There's very little clarity about how often it'll run with a
conductor, how it'll work both with and without a conductor, and how
London can justify the extra expense of conductors particularly given
the ticketing situation nowadays (i.e. the majority of people have a
prepaid ticket of some sort). Or if they're not to be a conductor but
a "uniformed presence" just what form that presence will take.