Depends what route you're on. It's not uncommon for buses to run up pretty much the length of Essex road without stopping because they're full. I don't know whether or how much these new buses would improve that.
For me, it's all about the open platform / extra door / extra staircase. The first two, well, we don't know if they'll be properly available. But if they are, especially open platform, just think how many extra 'bus stops' we suddenly gain. No build cost, no cost to route time. Tens of thousands of them. Isn't that great?
I doubt they would too, tbh. The whole point is that they are full and nobody wants to get off because everyone is travelling to work somewhere in central London.
It'll be useful ... if it's open. I'd be surprised if it was most of the time. I'm not sure I see the point of the second staircase at all, though - or, rather, I'm not convinced it will be useful enough to justify the loss of passenger space.
Bus fares are already beyond £2. We need a ticket that is valid for a set amount of time, 45 mins say, as a single journey. And it still needs to be cheaper than it is now.
Err, aren't they about £1.20 or so? On Oyster at least? Fuck loads cheaper than provincial Arriva type rip offs. But yes, when you string a few buses together (as you are more likely to need in a big city), it's too expensive. Other big cities do a time based thing - we should too. Getting people on buses is a cheap (if ugly) way of sorting transport issues.
Problem with time-based tickets is that you then need inspectors. The beauty of the current system is that you don't need inspectors at all.
I've got an oyster, but it's a discounted fare, remember. The full fare, that we pay when our oyster runs out or we're in a rush & forget it, or we're from out of town, is far too expensive. Plus if the driver stops the bus before you get to where you're going or, your route involves changes, the fare runs up into several pounds a trip even if you are using an oyster card.
I'm sure the oyster system could cope with it, tbh. Only charging you again a certain time after your intial tap in.
The point being that if the route changes after you've got on, you can get a transfer. You have a point where the journey has to involve two buses, but not where the bus you're on changes its destination.
I know. But it doesn't always work like that. I've had to plead before. And I've got angry. A timed ticket would solve the problems raised by several situations. The early termination or change of route, and a normal journey where you'd have to change and pay two or three times anyway. You'd even be able to nip somewhere and back.
I'm not talking about that stuff - more the design of the interiors themselves. Garish lighting, playschool style colour schemes, acres of moulded plastic etc. The old routemaster was a pleasure to travel on, partly just because of a kind of patina of age but also to do with the lighting and materials used in the interior. There was a completely different atmosphere on a routemaster (also to do with having the conductor there of course). I can't say yet how much the new routemaster will live up to that precedent but from the photos it does look like the interior has had a bit more input from someone that knows how to create an environment that feels good to be in, than appears to be the case with most existing buses.
I agree. Sometimes I make a journey which can be made either by one continuous bus or two with a change. It's frustrating to stand and wait for the direct bus while several pass which you could have used, with a change en route, to get to your destination more quickly. It would be easy to implement on oyster, surely.
tbf, the old routemaster was rather cramped and uncomfortable for anyone over 6 foot tall. I don't miss them personally. They were also really quite difficult to get on at times. The stairway was narrow and awkward. The seats downstairs weren't nice at all... Given the choice between a routemaster and a 'standard' double-decker, I always chose the standard double-decker.
There is a requirement under the DDA for contrasting elements, but that doesn't mean garish colours. The assessment is made on luminosity, so you can use desaturated colours so long as they are of differing brightnesses.
Cash payers slow down the service for everybody else so it seems fair that if you can't be bothered to organise yourself, you should pay a little penalty. As to the bus being terminated early, you can get a ticket from the driver to continue your journey. If you're taking multiple journeys there is a daily cap of around £4 on Oyster bus fares.
Can't be bothered?! Do fuck off. Cash is the default method of payment, remember. Hardly the public's fault if the bus companies don't give their drivers enough of a float to handle a cash payer once every couple of hours.
