On Jul 12, 11:49*pm, Tom Barry wrote:

Mizter T wrote:

On Jul 12, 10:37 pm, "Chris Read" wrote:

"West Yorkshire Bus" wrote:
With Boris being pro-Routemasters, anti-Bendibuses, I'm surprised
there hasn't been any changes to the heritage Routemaster services in
London since they were introduced

That would involve an interest in the detail. *He's not that interested
in the detail. *He's not that interested in buses, actually - electric
cars and bikes, yes - buses and trains, no.

He's currently having KPMG draw up a bus review, which one suspects will
be aimed very much at cutting the annual subsidy and/or loosening the
grip TfL has on the private bus operators, neither of which are exactly
conducive to a reintroduction of widespread two crew operation.


I hadn't picked up on the KPMG review until fairly recently when Paul
C provided a head's up on it. It is a bit worrying... I'm hoping that
all they'll recommend doing is tinkering around the edges (because
they have to recommend something), rather than wrecking the whole
thing.

I hope that those doing the review, and those making decisions
subsequently, also take note of this March 2006 report from the
Assembly's Transport Committee entitled "Value added? The Transport
Committee’s assessment of whether the bus contracts issued by London
Buses represent value for money."
It's available here as a PDF:
http://www.london.gov.uk/assembly/re...alue-added.pdf

Essentially it answers yes. But what's notable about it in particular
is that it provides a potted history of the attempts over the last
couple of decades or so in organising the service along different
lines (such as net cost contracts), none of which were particularly
successful/ some of which were arguably something of a disaster.

The turnaround of the bus network in London in recent years has been a
real achievement, with ridership on the up and up. I genuinely hope
that Boris & Co realise this, and don't go about ballsing it all up.
Not least because, in recessionville London, bus ridership is holding
steady if not increasing. But more than that - it's a success story
that doesn't need to be ruined.


I was in London recently and the services seemed popular and the very
sight of one on the road caused tens of tourists to get out their
cameras.
They are expensive to operate, and often very quiet during the winter
period. There is no longer a stock of Routemaster vehicles to expand the
service, even if that were desirable.

In fact, I'm quite surprised these services are still operating at all.. If
drastic cuts become necessary at TfL, I would expect the 9H and 15H to be in
the firing line. They are 'nice to haves' which contribute little to the
real job of TfL - moving Londoners efficiently from A to B on a daily basis.

There is simply zero chance of them being cut though, at least now
whilst Boris is in office, given the political capital he has invested
in the whole Routemaster 'thing' - if he did, the furore would be
immense. I suppose that if and when the Borismaster (the Routemaster
inspired Boris Bus) ever appears, then they could be dropped - but the
Borismaster, *if* it ever sees the light of day, isn't going to be
that similar to the old Routemasters.

It won't even have an open back, as currently envisaged, more a door
that's left open during the day. *This allows them to reduce the crewing
cost, and therefore suggests alarm bells at the differential in running
costs with OPO double deckers, let alone artics.

The 9H and 15H ought to be up for retender a few months before the end
of Boris's first and hopefully last term, with the contract running out
a few months later *Be interesting to watch if the tender announcement
comes out on time.

My prediction has long been that London will have more artics than
Routemasters of any variety come May 2012.

Interesting prediction. Probably accurate too.

FWIW, I think ditching the bendy bus is a stupid decision, but
ultimately if that's the sacrificial lamb that has to be slaughtered
in order for the rest of the network to survive and flourish then
regretfully I say so be it. However, of course things aren't as simple
as that, as Boris has said that current bendy bus contracts will be
left to run all the way to the end (I wonder if things would have
taken a different course if TfL had still been relatively flush with
money?). If he won a second term then they'd presumably all go.

Though the other factor is of course what the reaction will be to the
withdrawal of bendies on certain routes, and replacement with slower
double deckers. "The people" might speak out (as they were encouraged
to do with regards to the CC Western Extension for example), though
said people are perhaps not those Boris is terribly interested in
listening to.