Bendy bus-lovers of the city, unite
Unlike Boris, Pippa Crerar actually uses bendy buses - and rather likes them.
They seem all right to me too. I’m a bit baffled as to how they became such a totemic punchbag - the Heather Mills of the public transport world, at least during this election. But then I’m still more than a bit baffled as to how Boris ended up being the front-runner for Mayor of London. It’s a baffling world.
March 27th, 2008 at 23.45
Gosh. Pippa Crerar (did I spell that right?) likes them. Must get some more, then.
If she’s “a bit baffled” and finds it a “baffling world”, what is she doing opining on the subject? I am baffled.
March 28th, 2008 at 00.07
Er, I’m the baffled one. She’s the one who uses bendy buses day in, day out, and likes them. Do you ever use them? I’ve never found anything to object to when I’ve used them.
March 28th, 2008 at 00.14
I use them sometimes and they’re OK for a ride. But I also watch what’s going on. At a generous guess, 75% of passengers don’t swipe an Oyster card or produce cash. Happy with that?
Perhaps it’s the routes I use.
March 28th, 2008 at 08.04
I’m delighted with that, because it’s an argument which proves nothing and which is easy to contradict in just a few sentences
Speaking personally, my wife has never swiped her Oyster card or produced cash on a bendy-bus, and I’ve only done it very rarely, yet neither of us has ever fare-dodged on one either.
Your approximation tallies up nicely with the statistic that I can’t track down a source for but does sound about right, that around 80% of bus journeys in central London are taken by people with season tickets or Travelcards.
I nearly always have a one-day paper Travelcard when in London, so only on the rare occasions when I don’t do I need to swipe my Oyster. My wife has an annual Travelcard stored on her Oyster so she could swipe it but is under no obligation to do so. I’m sure most of the 75% of people you see not swiping anything are in similar positions.
The DLR has no gates but very low figures for fare-dodging. That’s because they have ticket inspections which are common enough for passengers not to want to take the risk of getting caught. All they need to do to combat what fare-dodging there is on bendy-buses is make ticket checks more frequent. Another thing I’m sure I recall is that ticket checks are a lot more frequent on bendy-buses than on, er, rigid buses already. I’m sure they could boost the ticket-checking even more for a small fraction of the money Boris would fritter away on restoring conductors and commissioning new buses to replace all the nearly-new bendy-buses.
April 1st, 2008 at 10.26
I prefer to walk where possible when above ground but the few times I’ve been on a Bendy I’ve not had any more of a negative experience than I would have on an older bus. I’m just concerned that the Routemasters are useless for anyone with any level of disability and concerned that while the Tories at a national level are acting like New Labour before ‘97 (promising to stick to the other party’s spending plans and saying there won’t be automatic tax cuts) they are allowing their candidate at the London level to say “money for all! entire new transport systems! Crikey!”
June 7th, 2008 at 16.38
I’m not a Londoner from day one,but am an adopted Londoner–I love the bendy buses
great to fit so many people aboard and they are quite reliable–ok-aside from the few that burst into flames–
we used to in the 80s have them in Sheffield operating as a free all-aboard city clipper service good to see 20 years on the same thing in London–whether by choice or just a design flaw!