I found this story earlier on the BBC News website:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7149722.stm


Autocar magazine (somewhat bizarrely) asked bus design company Capoco
Design (which designed the the Dennis Dart and Trident amongst others)
to come up with a concept design for a new Routemaster-type bus. It's
hardly a spectacularly original idea, but it's interesting
nonetheless.

When I first read the BBC story (above) I scoffed somewhat, not least
because Boris Johnson (the Tory candidate in the forthcoming Mayoral
elections in May) declared it was "the shape of the future" - so my
instant prejudice was to be highly sceptical! However, the full
article has now been put up on the Autocar website, and it's less
ridiculous than I first though - you can read it for yourself he

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsAr...llCars/229691/


The article's author is lacking in having a proper historical
perspective when she considers the rear open platform of the old
Routemaster bus, would appear to be making it up when she claims that
TfL is "know as Transport for Lefties by weary London commuters" (I've
never heard anyone say that before - maybe I don't go to the right
dinner parties, thankfully!), and is guilty of subscribing to the
orthodox media opinion when she claims that London's "bendy-
busses" (sic) are "loathed and problematic" - the opinion of Londoners
on these buses is by no-means universally hostile as is often
portrayed in the press (though I certainly know a few non-transport
enthusiast normal people who detest them, but many more who find them
quite acceptable).

Contrary to the Mayor's comments in the BBC story, the article does
seem to suggest that accessibility issues have been taken into
account, with a low floor and space for wheelchairs and pushchairs.

I'm also all for serious consideration of alternative, less polluting
fuel sources instead of diesel. It might all sound like pie in the sky
talk now, but I think things will have to change sooner or later.

Of course whether any such bus is really a viable proposition is
questionable - the Autocar article claims it "might be viable with a
500 per year production run over nine years", but I suspect that's a
very optimistic estimate.

And of course there is the fact that these would be two-man buses,
requiring a conductor. As great as conductors may be, that is a very
significant expense - London's bus network is already subsidised, so
unless the subsidy is increased there would have to be cut backs
elsewhere. If the network was less frequent, less comprehensive or
more expensive to the passenger in terms of fares, then ridership
would be likely fall.

The BBC story has the Mayor's spokesman saying of Boris Johnson:
"Now he has unveiled his bus scheme it would mean single bus fares
going up from 90p to £1.50 and a weekly bus pass from £13 to £22."

I guess these are costing estimates produced by the Mayor as opposed
to Boris, but they do perhaps assist one in focusing on the crucial
issue of cost when it comes to proposals to reintroduce conductors, or
indeed proposals to design and build new buses...

However I'm not completely convinced whether it was the best move for
the Mayor's spokesman to totally completely rubbish the idea, even
though it would fit in with Ken's game plan to paint Boris as a
clueless incompetent. Perhaps 'Bozzer' has been wiley to attach
himself to the idea of re-introducing the Routemaster - even if all he
says is that he'll look into the idea, it associates him with the
popular Routemaster in the minds of the public. Whether the Honourable
Member for Henley actually has any real, substantive handle on
London's immensely complex transport issues is perhaps another matter.