On 13 Jun 2006 08:30:45 -0700, "CJB"
wrote:

Just come back from Amsterdam where they operate a decent tram service
and also bendy buses. On BOTH the rule is: boarding ONLY at the front
and you must show your ticket to the driver there, and only then may
you pass down through the aisle to the rear; to alight you use the
middle and rear doors (sometime through the front doors if no-one is
trying to board). On trams they also have a ticket inspector/seller
opposite the central doors for those boarding there. Whatever you MUST
show your ticket to boatd. Seems to me T4L doesn't know how to operate
their bendy buses. All they have to do is to restrict boarding to the
front doors only. CJB.

This argument has been aired many times in many places. Amsterdam is a
poor example to use - not so many years ago you could board and alight
through any door on trams and buses. Needless to say fraud was rampant
and coupled with the generally tolerant Dutch society no one was greatly
concerned. However the levels of subsidy needed to keep the system
running were such that the GVB Amsterdam became extremely sloppy and
inefficient and IIRC was on the edge of financial collapse. It is
certainly the case that investment in the tram fleet suffered and only
in recent years has significant modernisation taken place.

In the light of local political pressure there was the obvious move to
tighten up fare collection and revenue control on the system. This has
been part of a general trend on the continent that has typically not
touched the UK because we have always had small scale subsidies and the
move to deregulation rather changes the operator's view of how he looks
after the pennies.

The London Bendy Bus conversions are justified on the basis that they
replace RM operation (and in some cases conventional OPO) with fewer
vehicles and fewer staff. The boarding speeds are very quick which
generate passenger time benefits when compared with the other options.
In the context of the time savings and the basic economic argument
(including the vehicles and associated infrastructure and some increase
in evasion) then bendy buses are justified. It is worth pointing out
that the latest figures on cashless transactions show that 95% of all
ticket transactions are now off bus and therefore vast numbers of people
on bendy buses will have a pass, permit or Oyster Pre-Pay or a Saver
ticket or a ticket from a RTM. A recent trip on the 29 left me with
ringing ears because the validators were used so much by people using
their Oyster cards.

There will now follow a torrent of posts telling me I'm talking out of
the top of my head and that TfL is the evil empire and should be nuked
by George Dubya.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!