On Sunday, 18 September 2016 15:16:44 UTC+1, wrote:
I had the distinct ... erm ... pleasure of riding on Roastmaster (a.k.a.
Borisbus) the other day.

I am neither a designer nor an automotive engineer, but I think that it
is safe to say that this is a poorly designed vehicle pretty much by
anybody's standards and that this is also what happens when you push
through a vanity project. Where was the oversight committee on this?

I was on one bus that had openable windows on its upper deck, though I
still felt extremely nauseous. I did this after the heatwave and I don't
easily get motion sickness, thus making me wonder if there are issues
with exhaust venting.

The Roastmaster is not fantastic but I think it has some good points. I think they are quieter than normal buses and they don't lurch around as much; normal buses seem to have only an emergency brake, giving the impression that the driver is constantly rehearsing the very first part of a handbrake turn.

I also liked the internal colours of brass and deep red, and the two staircases. The idea of the three doors was very good. It made boarding and alighting much quicker.

So it was not ALL bad.

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:17:37 -0700 (PDT)
Offramp wrote:
The Roastmaster is not fantastic but I think it has some good points. I thi=
nk they are quieter than normal buses and they don't lurch around as much; =

I've never driven a bus but I have driven HGVs and when they're empty the
brakes require a bit of finesse unless you want to do an almost emergency
stop because they're set up to brake well at maximum load. I wonder if an
almost empty bus has the same issues even though the max load as a percentage
of the unladed weight is less.

normal buses seem to have only an emergency brake, giving the impression th=
at the driver is constantly rehearsing the very first part of a handbrake t=
urn.=20

There are seemingly a lot of **** bus drivers working in London in my
experience. A lot of them don't give a toss if people are halfway up or down
the stairs when they accelerate or brake. Probably why you never see many
elderly upstairs even if they can walk ok.

--
Spud

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:37:12 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 02:17:37 -0700 (PDT)
Offramp wrote:
The Roastmaster is not fantastic but I think it has some good points. I thi=
nk they are quieter than normal buses and they don't lurch around as much; =

I've never driven a bus but I have driven HGVs and when they're empty the
brakes require a bit of finesse unless you want to do an almost emergency
stop because they're set up to brake well at maximum load. I wonder if an
almost empty bus has the same issues even though the max load as a percentage
of the unladed weight is less.

normal buses seem to have only an emergency brake, giving the impression th=
at the driver is constantly rehearsing the very first part of a handbrake t=
urn.=20

There are seemingly a lot of **** bus drivers working in London in my
experience. A lot of them don't give a toss if people are halfway up or down
the stairs when they accelerate or brake. Probably why you never see many
elderly upstairs even if they can walk ok.

How do the drivers know if anyone is on the stairs?

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 14:02:39 +0100
Recliner wrote:
On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:37:12 +0000 (UTC), d wrote:
There are seemingly a lot of **** bus drivers working in London in my
experience. A lot of them don't give a toss if people are halfway up or down
the stairs when they accelerate or brake. Probably why you never see many
elderly upstairs even if they can walk ok.

How do the drivers know if anyone is on the stairs?

Mirrors. They can see the top deck and so will know if someone is coming
down or hasn't yet got up there. Plus I imagine they can hear the footsteps
too since on a normal DD they're right behind the cab.

--
Spud

On Monday, 19 September 2016 15:11:33 UTC+1, wrote:

How do the drivers know if anyone is on the stairs?

Mirrors. They can see the top deck and so will know if someone is coming
down or hasn't yet got up there. Plus I imagine they can hear the footsteps
too since on a normal DD they're right behind the cab.

LOL! Is that the first thing they think about? They don't give a toss!

On Mon, 19 Sep 2016 08:51:51 -0700 (PDT)
Offramp wrote:
On Monday, 19 September 2016 15:11:33 UTC+1, wrote:

How do the drivers know if anyone is on the stairs?

Mirrors. They can see the top deck and so will know if someone is coming
down or hasn't yet got up there. Plus I imagine they can hear the footsteps
too since on a normal DD they're right behind the cab.

LOL! Is that the first thing they think about? They don't give a toss!

Thats the point - they don't give a stuff. But I'm just saying they've got no
excuse not to know if anyone is on the stairs.

--
Spud