Is the new London bus just a compromise?
Post categories: Buses, Transport for London
| 12:42 UK time, Tuesday, 1 February 2011
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Certainly it seems from what we are being told that it's on schedule for testing by September.
However, not everyone's happy with the way it's laid out inside though. In particular wheelchair users.
As you will see from the footage it does take some manoeuvering in a wheelchair to get into the disabled space.
What's also interesting is the new bus for London is one of the Mayor Boris Johnson's key election pledges. And arguably it was one of the reasons he was elected.
There's no doubt the new bus is extremely popular in some quarters and has captured the imagination of many Londoners, and to an extent capitalised on a feeling for nostalgia.
And in part due to the Mayor's design competitions for the bus, people do feel involved in the process.
The downside of that is when the design is not what a group of people want, then they get extremely annoyed and want to shout about it.
So, is this really a story about trying to manage expectations after raising hopes too high?
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I like the actual buses, for me it doesn't need to change. However, the new bus really bring us back to the traditional two floors London buses. I think it's just a time to get used to them.
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I have to say I'm not at all surprised - this bus has been a kludge from the word go. It's Boris's pet project that will only cause fares to go up and up and I doubt that the bus operators will really want to use them as they will cost more to run. We need more capacity, hence the articulated buses were a good idea on a lot of routes. If Boris hates them so much he should take a look at the MAN Lion's City buses used in Berlin; three doors, twin staircases, and will hold almost 100 people.
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Wheelchair users don't need to worry. They will never be faced with the possibility of having to board this bus. It will never be built. It will be cancelled, with Boris blaming the EU for banning it. That's the only face-saver left for him.
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I have to say I think this whole new bus thing is a big gimmick, I would much rather them use the £8 million to improve London's existing transport than to develop this bus. It doesn't look like the old one and the hop on hop off platform at the back has doors on it, so it won't work in the same way. I doubt there is going to be a conductor either, which was the great thing about the old buses. As I child I was left on the bus as I was too scared too hop off along with the rest of my family, and the conductor ensured the bus stopped and did not leave until my family had caught up with us again. And it doesn't look like it is very popular with people with disabilities either, which is a shame, as if they are designing something new, they could really make sure it does more than just meet the minimum requirements.
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You can't under-estimate how important cultural symbols are...take them away and London is just another city, like any other in the world. They are being undermined all the time - the London taxi is disappearing fast, red phone boxes etc etc... Making London stand out as something a bit special is important - it has a huge knock-on effect in terms of business, tourism etc. Capitals should be somewhere you WANT to do business. Boris knows this and is thankfully working hard to ensure at least one symbol won't disappear forever. Some of your comments are naive in the extreme - Berlin 100 seat bendy buses work in Berlin as they are designed for the wide Berlin roads (few roundabouts etc), they don't work here. Double-deckers work well in London - they have a higher capacity for a smaller road footprint - that makes sense. Our town centres have been designed to accommodate them - higher bridges etc. They work. There may be a global community now - but that doesnt mean you have to throw away your own cultural identity and just adopt your neighbours. After all, how dull would the world be if everyone adopted the same solution? No competition, no new ideas. How dull.
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Thanks for all your posts. We shall see. I must say Tfl are very confident about the prototype. I wonder if we will see it go into production - once the 5 are on the roads isn't that the Mayor delivering his pledge ??
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I have already posted an extensive reaction to the NBfL on Steve Phillip's Blog "The New Routemaster - the First Verdict" dated 11 November. I also posted a comment on Andrew Gillligan's Daily Telegraph blog after he was given a Private Viewing of the bus by two of TfL's big hitting honchos - Mr Mike Weston and Mr Peter Hendy.
I have every respect for the communicators such as Messrs Edwards, Phillips and Gilligan. However, they cannot be expected to ask the right questions of TfL. As a wheelchair user, I know from long experience the reality behind the TfL PR talk.
Let me take your comment: "The downside of that is when the design is not what a group of people want, then they get extremely annoyed and want to shout about it."
I think it reasonable to assume that you are referring to Wheelchair Users when you refer to a "group of people."
Well, that is because the video only showed wheelchair users trying to access the minimal space. In reality, although wheelchair users have priority for the space under the Disablility Discrimination Act, in practice there can often be one or more baby buggies already in the space when a wheelchair user wishes to board. Some baby buggy escorts fold down their buggies, but many don't. There is then a stand-off; sometimes the driver upholds the wheelers legal right to the space, sometimes he gives preference to the baby buggy. The driver's manual; the Big Red Book, gives conflicting advice. Either way, if the video had included baby buggies, there would have been a whole lot more people who would realise that there was something "to shout about." Add to that growing group all the people whose journey is delayed while the driver tries to sort out an argument which is not of his making, and you've got a fair sized constituency of people who would be critical of the wheelchair space.
In the video, Mr Weston states that space meets the legal requirement, and is "better than many" on the current fleet. He has also said that the space has been increased after initial consultations. This only goes to show how totally inadequate the legal requirement is, and of course the legal requirement is only for wheelchairs; ie. not for wheelchairs and baby buggies. I can tell you by just how much that space has been increased; it has been increased from 1500mm to 1525mm- that's about an inch in real money. As for "better than many," I know of only one bus, the Enviro400 made by Alexander Dennis which has a smaller space - and that is so small that before I try to manoeuvre my chair into the space, anybody sitting in the facing seats is obliged to move - and I notice that on the Route 40 those facing seats have been designated as the legal priority seats for the frail and (non wheelchair) disabled; so they might be set against wheelchair users as well.
The video made no mention of the ramp. When I first saw the mock-up I was told that that it had not been decided whether the ramp would be a single leaf ramp, as on the bendybus, or a two stage ramp. At my second viewing I was told it was to be a single leaf ramp. When I viewed it for the third time it was to be a two-leaf ramp; which when fully extended would be longer that the bendybus ramp. Now I can tell you from bitter experience, that the length of the bendybus ramp causes a lot of problems, and its favourite trick is to remain stuck out when a wheelchair has used it. This means that every one of the passengers is tipped off the bus to wait for the next - which may well not be able to take a full bus load . (On 2 January 2010, people going from Ilford to Oxford Street on Route 25 for the sale bargains got tipped off two buses in succession - sorry folks, I was the wheelchair user). So there is potentially another cohort of passengers who will be inconvenienced by a lack of consideration at the design stage.
As for TfL's confidence that most people will like the NBfL; I wonder why the mockup is out at Acton, instead of the Main London Transport Museum at Covent Garden. When I asked if the general public would have a chance to look over it, I was told that there are no plans for that.
I wonder how the drivers are going to cope with the second staircase when they are operating the bus without another "uniformed presence"
I applaud all the green technology, but to radically redesign the bus for the sake of a rear platform, when no more people will be accommodated, but many of them will travel in less comfort; seems perverse.
Could it be, I wonder, that TfL are more concerned about designing a bus to suit Boris Johnson - which essentially means a "Swoosh" looking exterior design.
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