On Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:58:24 +0100, Clive
wrote:

In message , Robert Woolley
writes
RMs are pretty much museum pieces for modern operation.
Sorry, but as a Bristol bus driver in the 70s with crash boxes and
manual steering, I'd say they were very advanced for their age.
Yep.

Advanced for the 1950s.

A modern vehicle (e.g. most recent London Buses) tends to be a far
easier drive and is more advanced. Technology has come a long way in
50 years.

Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

Robert Woolley wrote to uk.transport.london on Tue, 28 Jun 2005:

RMs are pretty much museum pieces for modern operation. This is just
clarifying the position....

I can quite understand why, but it's a pity - they give a far better
ride quality (in my opinion) than more modern buses do.

And it seems like only yesterday that Ken Livingstone was banging on
about bringing them back, and now he is getting rid of them.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 23 May 2005

Clive wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 29 Jun 2005:

In message ,
Robert Woolley writes
Many disabled people can't physically get on an RM. Neither can mums
with pushchairs...
Disabled people might have a point, mums with push chairs should fold
them before the bus even comes into sight, or are they just lazy selfish
bitches who care nothing for the rest of the travelling public?

In my day you had to fold them or you walked..... or used a baby-sling.
--
"Mrs Redboots"
http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/
Website updated 23 May 2005

In article ,
(Mrs Redboots) wrote:

Clive wrote to uk.transport.london on Wed, 29 Jun 2005:

In message ,
Robert Woolley writes
Many disabled people can't physically get on an RM. Neither can mums
with pushchairs...
Disabled people might have a point, mums with push chairs should fold
them before the bus even comes into sight, or are they just lazy
selfish bitches who care nothing for the rest of the travelling public?

In my day you had to fold them or you walked..... or used a baby-sling.

I remember carrying my daughters in buggies down escalators (one at a
time, they are over 5 years apart).

--
Colin Rosenstiel

In article ,
(Robert Woolley) wrote:

Have you ever tried to juggle a folded pushchair, a baby and shopping?

My family did it regularly and successful for years, from STLs onwards.

Peter Beale

Robert Woolley wrote:
On Tue, 28 Jun 2005 16:27:03 +0100, "londoncityslicker"
wrote:


Sounds like it's going to end up like the San Francisco trams.
That's pretty much the intention.


RMs are pretty much museum pieces for modern operation. This is just
clarifying the position....

Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

Since they are obviously heritage routes I hope they restore the buses
to the old 'London Transport' livery, with the gold fleet names,
regardless of who is the operator. 50s or 60s period advertising
posters would be nice too - some of the old brands are still around and
might be willing to buy the space.

Robert Woolley ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying :

The hop-on-and-off-ability means they spend less time at stops.

One boarding point compared with 3 on an artic.

Yes, on Bendis.

But compared with one on modern double deckers. One that requires the
bus to be stationary while a queue of passengers are "processed" by the
driver.

OK, so they're not perfect. Some people are stupid enough to fall off
them, and that's not good in this era of litigation taking the place
of personal responsibility.

Yep and some regularly end up dieing. Open boarding is inherently
unsafe.

For the terminally stupid, yes. Life's a bitch. Like I said...
"this era of litigation taking the place of personal responsibility."

Some disabled users find them difficult/impossible to use - but others
prefer them.

Many disabled people can't physically get on an RM.

Disability != Wheelchair.

Neither can mums with pushchairs...

Poor dears. How did their mothers cope?

The conductor means they're expensive to run - but how much has been
spent on the ticket machines at stops? What about the safety benefit
of having a real live staff member in the back of the bus?

Conductors tend to get thumped/stabbed.

And without them, the passengers get thumped/stabbed.

And if a conductor is off sick you can't take a bus out.

So stop minimum level manning.

With only 10% of passengers paying cash in central London they have
little to do.

Apart from checking tickets for people with Oysters and travelcards.

b) A bus designed for open boarding is inherently unsafe./
Manufacturers would get sued into next week.

"this era of litigation taking the place of personal responsibility."

c) The world has moved on from crew operated buses....

Why's that, then? Would it be short-term bean-counting over common
sense?

Robert Woolley ) gurgled happily, sounding
much like they were saying :

A modern vehicle (e.g. most recent London Buses) tends to be a far
easier drive and is more advanced. Technology has come a long way in
50 years.

Yes.

And an RM is a big meccano set that can be - and has been - upgraded. They
use late 1990s mechanicals currently, and could easily be upgraded to 21st
century mechanicals. There's RMs running at Euro 3 emission levels.

DERWENT Heritage Routemaster routes announced
Tue, 28 Jun 2005 23:47:13 +0100, Robert Woolley


OK, so they're not perfect. Some people are stupid enough to fall off them,
and that's not good in this era of litigation taking the place of personal
responsibility.

Yep and some regularly end up dieing. Open boarding is inherently
unsafe.


Being alive is inherently unsafe. When was the last death from
somebody falling off a Routemaster?

PRAR
--
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Robert Woolley wrote:

c) The world has moved on from crew operated buses....

Others have answered your other points, but this is just untrue.

Europe and North America may have few crew-operated buses, but in the
rest of the world, where most bus passengers live, crew operation is
the norm.

And it wouldn't take an enormous change in the relative costs of fuel
and labour for RMs to be more economical per passenger mile than heavy
modern buses.

Colin McKenzie