Tim Roll-Pickering wrote:

And we don't have clear statistics yet - it could be that checking tickets
pushes up fare revenue, making the inspectors more than pay for themselves.
For that matter two of the main disliked features of the bus are the way
they get ram packed, which a lot of people attribute to the "free bus"
reputation, and the intimidatory effect of some passengers, again which gets
blamed on the free bus. So regular inspections could actually make the
bendies more attractive at some levels (although not at others).


One of the things I like about bendies is that I can touch in at my
leisure once I'm on the bus, which is good if you run to catch one, as
you don't then stand panting in the front doorway trying to remember
which pocket the Oyster is in while people grumble behind you.

Along with the astonishingly fast loading* and boarding passengers not
getting mixed up with people coming down the stairs to disembark, of
course. Even a relatively empty double decker suffers from that, so
heaven knows what the 38 will be like on the first week after
debendification. It's high time a realistic look was taken at this
subject, particularly if you ever believed anything Andrew Gilligan
wrote on the subject.

Tom

* Partly due to the door opening speed, which never ceases to amaze.