On 5 Jan, 12:01, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Jan 5, 11:32*am, George wrote:

See:

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=870_1293539979

Would anybody seriously suggest this is acceptable?

If that is the route 25 at Stratford video shot on Boxing Day then no
it is not really acceptable. The bit you conveniently miss is that
there was industrial action on the tube that day that caused such
excessive demand for buses to central London. *As the 25 is the only
direct option from Stratford then I'd have to ask what else would be
expected? *People will typically adopt a herd mentality and similar
scenes have been seen on other LUL strike days with double deckers
just as badly affected. I therefore fail to see the relevance of your
post title about it being "an argument" against bendy buses.

I have recently been to Hong Kong where I stood and watched one of the
highest demand locations for buses in the entire place during the PM
peak. This is Hung Hom in Kowloon near the Cross Harbour Tunnel. The
queues for buses stretch right along the bus stop area, up flights of
stairs, across a bridge and into the adjacent railway station. I stood
and observed people crushing into 12m double deck buses to the point
where people were jammed against the windscreen and people were jammed
against the front doors - when the driver could actually close them!
This was standard practice for bus after bus after bus and many routes
operate on higher frequencies than London. This "keep on loading"
attitude applied even when the next bus was clearly in sight and
waiting to get on the stop - if only the one that people were still
trying to get on would actually leave!

Ironically in one photo I took it is clear that "seats were available
on the upper deck" but even HK commuters don't always go upstairs.
Whether a bendy bus would be any better or worse I can't say. *What I
can say is that double deckers - even very high capacity HK style ones
as often touted as the solution for route 25 - can be just as crowded
as your Stratford video. *Therefore I don't see that one vehicle type
is necessarily any better than any other in such extreme
circumstances.

--
Paul C
via Google

Yes I appreciate that there was a tube strike and it was exceptional
circumstances however such scenes are not unheard of on the 25, and
other bendy bus routes, in normal circumstances.

At least on other buses there is some sort of order, the driver or
conductor has some sort of control over how many people try and get
on.

I would imagine the loads on the buses that you mention in Hong Kong
would seriously restrict the drivers visibility whilst driving and I
would imagine that, as with London, it is more a case of standing
passengers on the lower deck preventing other people from getting to
the staircase to go upstairs.

Oh well let's see whether the Borismaster offers any improvements when
it hits the streets.