Bendy Bus - RIP
Wrath Rob
Posts: 2,918
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I liked bendy buses, or "Free buses" as I called them.FCN 3: Raleigh Record Ace fixie-to be resurrected sometime in the future
FCN 4: Planet X Schmaffenschmack 2- workhorse
FCN 9: B Twin Vitamin - winter commuter/loan bike for trainees
I'm hungry. I'm always hungry!0 -
Keeping it classy since '830
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Why are these not known as Livingstone buses?+++++++++++++++++++++
we are the proud, the few, Descendents.
Panama - finally putting a nail in the economic theory of the trickle down effect.0 -
Had some trouble with the bendy buses. Got on one once and asked for a return ticket. The driver said, "where to?" and I replied, "well, back here of course!" And that's when the trouble started....Nobody told me we had a communication problem0
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I'd ban all buses. Ever cycled down Oxford Street? At least 100 empty buses sat in their own traffic.
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Sad to see them go - get stuck behind 40 people trying to board a double-decker and you might be, too...
Never had a problem with them when out on the bike. 0 -
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I know the Guardian is a completely laughable and absurd paper, but get a load of their "take" on this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/patri ... rect=false0 -
bails87 wrote:What's wrong with bendy buses then? The only buses I see on my commute are the small ones (i.e, smaller than the normal single deckers.)
They're twice as long as a normal bus and sometimes their drivers seem to forget that. They pull out to pass you as you pedal along the bus lane and then pull back in and the rear end swings rather alarmingly towards you. They take up loads of room on the road so can be harder to cross the road on foot easily if there's a row of them, especially if the rear end is blocking a crossing. The seats on them were horrid, the temperature was never right on them and they were ugly. Plus when they introduced them, they 'redesigned' lots of roads to give them 'platforms' at bus stops so that all the sets of doors had access rather than letting people on/off between cars. This meant less local parking spots and narrower roads.0 -
We have them on the Pudsey route in Leeds (purple slugs that are comically meant to look like the trams we didn't get) - the route is narrow and winding. On one occasion, approaching a fairly sharp left hander just after a summit (ie when my speed was rapidly increasing) one decided to overtake me approaching the bend (immediately after which is a bus stop which he may have had to stop at). The experience of rounding the bend with the back of a bendy bus rapidly cutting into my line was not a pleasant one. They are sh1t.Faster than a tent.......0
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Never had an issue with bendy buses.
Wait til boris' new bus for london is out, it's massive (see the mock up at london transport museum) and will have people jumping off the back into your path without looking (if the back door is open when the bus is moving).
It's also pay before you board with multiple entry points just like a bendy, so fare dodgers can rest easy.0 -
never saw them out on the edge of london, i'd like to see some smaller buses being used though some of the smaller town centers, Hampton Hill gets clogged due to the buses size and the fact they don't pull in to the bus stop so the traffic has to stop and then back up etc...0
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W1, somewhere deep down you've got to have a heart... this is a blog post pointing out, not lecturing, that there are homeless people that use the bendy-buses for shelter. 2 weeks before xmas that's not laughable, it's heart-breaking.W1 wrote:I know the Guardian is a completely laughable and absurd paper, but get a load of their "take" on this:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/patri ... rect=false0 -
yay they're gone.What do you mean you think 64cm is a big frame?0
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I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0
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jamesco wrote:W1, somewhere deep down you've got to have a heart... this is a blog post pointing out, not lecturing, that there are homeless people that use the bendy-buses for shelter. 2 weeks before xmas that's not laughable, it's heart-breaking.
The fact that they are sheltering on buses at all is heartbreaking but that doesn't mean the keeping bendy buses is the answer. We need to find a better one for them.
A neighbour used the flip argument with me the other day. He'd been mugged (along with others in the area apparently) and the police had said that he'd been picked out on the bus. Apparently, the would-be muggers hop on the back door of the bendies in a dodgy bit of town, wait til they get to a nicer bit and watch who gets off and joins them - even better if the target was stupid enough to use a mobile on the bus so they know what kit he has. Or they watch for someone near the door to have a phone out or their handbag on their lap and grab it just before the doors shut as they leap off the bus. Yes, they can still do this for £1.30 but at the moment, it costs nothing... Here's hoping they don't decide to hang around bike lanes and mug cyclists instead... :shock:
I didn't realise that all the doors were boardable on the new buses; that does seem to lessen their 'fare-dodging' argument although I suppose it might be a bit easier for the driver to spot than from the current rear door. Can't imagine them really being given the support to deal with it though. The open platform on the new buses isn't going to be open all the time - only when a conductor is on board. And given that's a charge - I suspect we'll only see it on real tourist type routes through the centre. But yes, it will make passing buses more interesting - although since it used to happen with the old Routemasters, what did cyclists do then?0 -
Back in my old home town of Ballymena* the other week, I had the somewhat surreal experience of seeing a new red London double decker driving through town. At least Boris wasn't at the wheel...
*home of WrightBusMisguided Idealist0 -
Some have emigrated to Malta, where the roads are wide and suit bendy buses better than London
Bath has had Orange bendy buses on the uni run for 3+ years. I've added a signature to prove it is still possible.0 -
jamesco wrote:W1, somewhere deep down you've got to have a heart... this is a blog post pointing out, not lecturing, that there are homeless people that use the bendy-buses for shelter. 2 weeks before xmas that's not laughable, it's heart-breaking.
I don't think there is a topic in the world that some hypocritical bleeding heart Guardian blogger couldn't spin into a ludicrous tear-jerker story. Their take on this is ridiculous - of course bendy buses should be kept so some homeless people can fare-dodge and go for a ride around town at night.
I presume you're a fan of squatters rights too?0 -
I don't think that there's anything that the Guardian prints or publishes that doesn't angry you up, W1, not even the weather report. If the paper bothers you so much, why read it or bring attention to it? Are you missing the NotW? Too cheap for a Times subscription?W1 wrote:I don't think there is a topic in the world that some hypocritical bleeding heart Guardian blogger couldn't spin into a ludicrous tear-jerker story. Their take on this is ridiculous - of course bendy buses should be kept so some homeless people can fare-dodge and go for a ride around town at night.
I presume you're a fan of squatters rights too?
Classy, Scrooge, very classy.W1 wrote:homeless people can fare-dodge and go for a ride around town at night0 -
W1 wrote:
I don't think there is a topic in the world that some hypocritical bleeding heart Guardian blogger couldn't spin into a ludicrous tear-jerker story. Their take on this is ridiculous - of course bendy buses should be kept so some homeless people can fare-dodge and go for a ride around town at night.
I presume you're a fan of squatters rights too?
So where does the article say that? I think it was just pointing out that homeless people used them as a refuge, much like they do with the Tube and overground trains, and that this to some extent disguises the number of homeless people, sorry, fare-dodging joy-riders, in the capital. And while we're on the subject, what exactly is hypocritical about that article? I notice it's a word you've taken to recently as a sort of blanket derogatory comment.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0 -
jamesco wrote:Classy, Scrooge, very classy.
Oh it's Christmas, so let's keep the bendy busses. Brilliant.
The editors of the Guardian must have imploded at the thought that, on the one hand bendy busses are dangerous to cyclists, yet on the other they are used by the homeless. Which hand-wringing stance to take?0 -
W1 - they were pointing out an oft- ill reported issue.
That when the bendy - busses go, some homeless people will suffer.
Just because you don't have a home, doesn't mean it shouldn't be reported on.
If the busses affected bird life I'm sure that will have been reported too.0 -
W1 wrote:
Oh it's Christmas, so let's keep the bendy busses. Brilliant.
The editors of the Guardian must have imploded at the thought that, on the one hand bendy busses are dangerous to cyclists, yet on the other they are used by the homeless. Which hand-wringing stance to take?
Again, nowhere in the article does it say that either explicitly or implicitly. You are inventing things to get upset about.1985 Mercian King of Mercia - work in progress (Hah! Who am I kidding?)
Pinnacle Monzonite
Part of the anti-growth coalition0
