On 3 Feb, 21:34, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 3 Feb 2011 02:32:42 -0800 (PST), George

wrote:
I'm not sure how I've ignored 98% of what you've said but anyway, the
one or two hybrids on trial is one thing but the amount we have in
London is ridiculous, I notice those 'electric buses' that used to
operate on the 129 very rarely leave Walworth Garage nowadays.

Oh dear - a classic "one example means everything is crap" response.
Please explain why the problems with the Electrocities completely
override the undoubted success of the many Volvo, Optare, Wrightbus and
Alexander Dennis hybrids that are providing sterling daily service on
key radial routes like the 16, 24, 139, 76 and 141 plus single decks on
the 276, 371 and E8?

I am not aware of endemic problems with these later vehicles. Someone
has to take some risk in championing new technology and really only TfL
is big enough to help support the R&D efforts of bus manufacturers. I
will give a thumbs up to Stagecoach who have taken steps on their
commercial networks to pioneer bio-fuel vehicles and now hybrid deckers
for Oxford, Manchester and shortly for Newcastle and Sheffield. *These
have, of course, had government funding support.

If Oyster worked properly it would be great but quite clearly it
doesn't.

Oyster quite clearly does work. If it did not then millions of
transactions would go wrong every day and rather a lot of people would
have been sacked by now. The resultant chaos would not be tolerable
operationally or politically. I agree that there are particular issues
that require resolution. You know my views on that and they have not
changed for many months.

--
Paul C


Yes I won't deny that some hybrid types seem to be very reliable
(those on the 16 and 24 for example) but whether that justifies the
expense of them is another matter, yes they are interesting for
enthusiasts but not for the average passenger.

I think there are quite a few issues be resolved with Oyster as recent
news reports of pasengers being overcharged have highlighted.

In article ,
Basil Jet wrote:

Also, I thought that buses running out of service were ordered to avoid
their service route where possible, because people waiting for buses get
annoyed if they see a bus with their chosen route number running out of
service.

Surely the obvious fix to that is not to display a number when out of
service, rather than driving a long way round!

Or do London buses generally not have displays that can be changed by
the driver?

-roy

On Feb 6, 1:23*pm, (Roy Badami) wrote:

In article ,
Basil Jet wrote:

Also, I thought that buses running out of service were ordered to avoid
their service route where possible, because people waiting for buses get
annoyed if they see a bus with their chosen route number running out of
service.

Surely the obvious fix to that is not to display a number when out of
service, rather than driving a long way round!

If you peruse the rest of the thread, you'll see some doubt as to
whether any such instruction exists. (I've never heard of such a thing
before, though I'm no expert in bus operational matters.)


Or do London buses generally not have displays that can be changed by
the driver?

All destination blinds are motorised and can be changed by the driver
at the touch of a button (or rather, multiple touches of several
buttons!).

On 2011\02\06 13:30, Mizter T wrote:

On Feb 6, 1:23 pm, (Roy Badami) wrote:

In ,
Basil wrote:

Also, I thought that buses running out of service were ordered to avoid
their service route where possible, because people waiting for buses get
annoyed if they see a bus with their chosen route number running out of
service.

Surely the obvious fix to that is not to display a number when out of
service, rather than driving a long way round!

If you peruse the rest of the thread, you'll see some doubt as to
whether any such instruction exists. (I've never heard of such a thing
before, though I'm no expert in bus operational matters.)

I was told it by someone who was an expert in bus operational matters
with experience in several countries.

On Feb 6, 1:45*pm, Basil Jet wrote:

On 2011\02\06 13:30, Mizter T wrote:

On Feb 6, 1:23 pm, (Roy Badami) wrote:

In ,
Basil *wrote:

Also, I thought that buses running out of service were ordered to avoid
their service route where possible, because people waiting for buses get
annoyed if they see a bus with their chosen route number running out of
service.

Surely the obvious fix to that is not to display a number when out of
service, rather than driving a long way round!

If you peruse the rest of the thread, you'll see some doubt as to
whether any such instruction exists. (I've never heard of such a thing
before, though I'm no expert in bus operational matters.)

I was told it by someone who was an expert in bus operational matters
with experience in several countries.

Fair enough! Just to say, I wasn't trying to suggest you'd made it up
or anything (I mean, why would you?) - just hadn't come across it
myself, but that doesn't mean much.

On Sun, 06 Feb 2011 18:39:14 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:
ultimate destination. It's rather more involved if the main route
blind
or rear / side blinds have to be done.

Which is I guess why in London rear blinds are just a number, and
side blinds show the number and a via point somewhere in the middle
of the route. No need to change them all day then!

I believe TfL have specified automatic blinds for vehicles but there
only seems to be one supplier who can (currently) meet the spec or
so I
read!

I don't see why they don't go for LED. The newest types with a high
resolution and fast refresh rate are *very* readable.

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

On 4 Feb, 20:07, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Fri, 4 Feb 2011 03:56:50 -0800 (PST), George





wrote:
On 3 Feb, 21:34, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 3 Feb 2011 02:32:42 -0800 (PST), George

wrote:
I'm not sure how I've ignored 98% of what you've said but anyway, the
one or two hybrids on trial is one thing but the amount we have in
London is ridiculous, I notice those 'electric buses' that used to
operate on the 129 very rarely leave Walworth Garage nowadays.

Oh dear - a classic "one example means everything is crap" response.
Please explain why the problems with the Electrocities completely
override the undoubted success of the many Volvo, Optare, Wrightbus and
Alexander Dennis hybrids that are providing sterling daily service on
key radial routes like the 16, 24, 139, 76 and 141 plus single decks on
the 276, 371 and E8?

I am not aware of endemic problems with these later vehicles. Someone
has to take some risk in championing new technology and really only TfL
is big enough to help support the R&D efforts of bus manufacturers. I
will give a thumbs up to Stagecoach who have taken steps on their
commercial networks to pioneer bio-fuel vehicles and now hybrid deckers
for Oxford, Manchester and shortly for Newcastle and Sheffield. *These
have, of course, had government funding support.
Yes I won't deny that some hybrid types seem to be very reliable
(those on the 16 and 24 for example) but whether that justifies the
expense of them is another matter, yes they are interesting for
enthusiasts but not for the average passenger.

Glad you're not denying that hybrid buses can be reliable. It is self
evidently the case that they are.

How do you know that the "average passenger" does not have an interest
in whether their bus is spewing out noxious fumes or not?

*You* might think they're no good or a waste of money but that doesn't
translate into everyone being disinterested.

--
Paul C- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -


Equally Hybrids can be unreliable, ie the 129 allocation. Does the
average passenger know or care that the bus they are on is a hybrid?
The reduction in polution is a spit in the ocean in the overall scheme
of things.

Anyway another example of TfL's incompetence, there have apparently
been complaints about buses on the half hourly B14 running up to
15mins late or early, however what nobody had realised was that there
had been a timetable change and TfL had failed to tell its cutomers,
could you imagine any other business acting in this way? Metrobus to
their credit did advertise it on their website but they are not
allowed to put posters up on buses or at bus stops.

On Mon, 07 Feb 2011 18:58:28 +0000, Paul Corfield
wrote:
are readily fixable. I still think London and Lothian's blinds are
clear industry winners rather than LEDs. Call me boring and
conventional!

Lothian were trying (white) LEDs a couple of years ago - I guess they
were not impressed?

Neil

--
Neil Williams, Milton Keynes, UK

In uk.transport.london Paul Corfield wrote:
On 02 Feb 2011 23:23:54 +0000 (GMT), Theo Markettos
wrote:
You can find all the timetabled info from a stop he
http://www.travelineeastanglia.org.uk/
(works for London and SE too)
More - next departures

Ooh ta. That certainly does work. Brings up the correct times for my
local stop.

As posted in another utb thread, I've now discovered:
http://www.nextbuses.mobi/

which is a nice interface for this. I can't test it for realtime info as
there are no buses in Cambs at this time of night!

Theo

On Feb 9, 1:00*am, Theo Markettos
wrote:

In uk.transport.london Paul Corfield wrote:

On 02 Feb 2011 23:23:54 +0000 (GMT), Theo Markettos
wrote:
You can find all the timetabled info from a stop he
http://www.travelineeastanglia.org.uk/
(works for London and SE too)
More - next departures

Ooh ta. That certainly does work. Brings up the correct times for my
local stop.

As posted in another utb thread, I've now discovered:
http://www.nextbuses.mobi/

which is a nice interface for this. *I can't test it for realtime info as
there are no buses in Cambs at this time of night!

Works for London - though unless everything is running on time right
to the very minute, it's only got the timetable data as opposed to
feeding off any (iBus) live running info (as we've discussed elsewhere
that's hopefully to come at some point in the not too distant future).

Nonetheless it's still very impressive - I saw the utb thread but
hadn't quite clocked that this NextBuses service covered London as
well.