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Post by ServerKing on Jan 23, 2020 18:02:03 GMT
Speed up bus services by bringing in many more bus priority measures and by introducing draconian measures to cut car minicab use. Anything else is just catfooting around. "War on the motorist"? Bring it on, I say. FTFY The issue is the glut of minicabs, and too many roadworks, I was on foot in St Paul's and decided to jump on an 11 from Bank... so much traffic, less than 30 metres into my journey, asked the driver to open the door and let me off. She obliged It's a shame but the LT I briefly rode was occupied by me, the driver and 3 other passengers. That had set off from Liverpool Street, which always used to be busy. The tour buses were even emptier. But the weather sucked so I put it down to that as well This was at 10 in the morning, so perhaps others were already at work by then... Motorists don't drive into London for fun, delivery drivers, service personnel need to get to various addresses to meet customer responses. I'd be free of London driving on some nice country lanes than doing 2 miles an hour on Queen Victoria Street
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Post by wirewiper on Jan 23, 2020 18:26:09 GMT
Speed up bus services by bringing in many more bus priority measures and by introducing draconian measures to cut car minicab use. Anything else is just catfooting around. "War on the motorist"? Bring it on, I say. FTFY The issue is the glut of minicabs, and too many roadworks, I was on foot in St Paul's and decided to jump on an 11 from Bank... so much traffic, less than 30 metres into my journey, asked the driver to open the door and let me off. She obliged It's a shame but the LT I briefly rode was occupied by me, the driver and 3 other passengers. That had set off from Liverpool Street, which always used to be busy. The tour buses were even emptier. But the weather sucked so I put it down to that as well This was at 10 in the morning, so perhaps others were already at work by then... Motorists don't drive into London for fun, delivery drivers, service personnel need to get to various addresses to meet customer responses. I'd be free of London driving on some nice country lanes than doing 2 miles an hour on Queen Victoria Street Can't disagree with you about the minicabs. The sooner Uburp gets booted out of London permanently, the better. Part of the problem is people who get an Uburp because they think that buses are slow - thus causing the very problem they are seeking to avoid.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Jan 23, 2020 21:45:10 GMT
FTFY The issue is the glut of minicabs, and too many roadworks, I was on foot in St Paul's and decided to jump on an 11 from Bank... so much traffic, less than 30 metres into my journey, asked the driver to open the door and let me off. She obliged It's a shame but the LT I briefly rode was occupied by me, the driver and 3 other passengers. That had set off from Liverpool Street, which always used to be busy. The tour buses were even emptier. But the weather sucked so I put it down to that as well This was at 10 in the morning, so perhaps others were already at work by then... Motorists don't drive into London for fun, delivery drivers, service personnel need to get to various addresses to meet customer responses. I'd be free of London driving on some nice country lanes than doing 2 miles an hour on Queen Victoria Street Can't disagree with you about the minicabs. The sooner Uburp gets booted out of London permanently, the better. Part of the problem is people who get an Uburp because they think that buses are slow - thus causing the very problem they are seeking to avoid. The issue is that Uber is a lot more convenient than the bus, people will always use what's more convenient. Not to mention Uber pretty much goes anywhere at any time of day, I use it a lot to get home at unholy hours without needing to fiddle around with night buses. The only way to deal with Uber is to make buses better value for money. It's impossible to get a bus to your doorstep however it's much more possible to entice people onto them alongside the cheaper price. The biggest issue I have with the bus these days is the reliability and the lack of links. I shouldn't need to take 3 buses from Oxford Circus to Stratford when I could do it previously with one.
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Post by greenboy on Jan 23, 2020 21:56:06 GMT
FTFY The issue is the glut of minicabs, and too many roadworks, I was on foot in St Paul's and decided to jump on an 11 from Bank... so much traffic, less than 30 metres into my journey, asked the driver to open the door and let me off. She obliged It's a shame but the LT I briefly rode was occupied by me, the driver and 3 other passengers. That had set off from Liverpool Street, which always used to be busy. The tour buses were even emptier. But the weather sucked so I put it down to that as well This was at 10 in the morning, so perhaps others were already at work by then... Motorists don't drive into London for fun, delivery drivers, service personnel need to get to various addresses to meet customer responses. I'd be free of London driving on some nice country lanes than doing 2 miles an hour on Queen Victoria Street Can't disagree with you about the minicabs. The sooner Uburp gets booted out of London permanently, the better. Part of the problem is people who get an Uburp because they think that buses are slow - thus causing the very problem they are seeking to avoid. If uber do get booted out of London there are plenty of others that will take their place, app based minicab services aren't going away. I've got family and friends who rarely use buses anymore largely because of uber, people are voting with their feet and it's not difficult to see why.
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Post by ServerKing on Jan 24, 2020 6:26:44 GMT
Can't disagree with you about the minicabs. The sooner Uburp gets booted out of London permanently, the better. Part of the problem is people who get an Uburp because they think that buses are slow - thus causing the very problem they are seeking to avoid. If uber do get booted out of London there are plenty of others that will take their place, app based minicab services aren't going away. I've got family and friends who rarely use buses anymore largely because of uber, people are voting with their feet and it's not difficult to see why. If in central London, I just don't bother with buses anymore. It will only be me, the driver and a couple of disappointed or confused tourists. It's a shame seeing those shiny new buses on the 100 barely moving on the clogged streets of St Paul's, but I guess it will save on battery life if the only thing being used are the ancillaries like the brake compressor and the lights. The motor is hardly going to get pushed hard at 3 miles an hour It's great seeing innovations like electric buses, but London needs to get with the program and stop telling customers what they need, but offer it to them in other ways like everything else outside the M25. USB charging? Very good, I'll probably fully charge the tablet in the two hour bus ride due to clogged streets. WiFi would be nice Advertising how I could benefit from the bus instead of using a car would be good, rather than telling motorists off for their speed. Put the limit back to 30 and stop the endless cycle lanes and roadworks. The Do As I Say, not As I Do approach hasn't worked so far. Hopefully a new mayor (not Rory Stewart, who thinks London General is a hospital ) can rebuild from the damage Sadiq Khan has done. I was hoping for a rollout of the LED blind sets, not only for continuity (loads of routes still have dayglo), but using them to show via points. Destinations are general, and only of use to locals. "Meridian Water - Tottenham IKEA" would be better for the 341, for instance. Angel Road doesn't even exist as a far away station any more, so isn't useful. And that part of town has never been Northumberland Park Are these faceless pseudonyms like "Claire Mann" just taking their bloated salaries or is the bus division of TfL doomed? Have TfL gotten too big, like Lauren Goodger's bum? Before worrying about taking over failed rail franchises within south London, perhaps more pressing stuff like keeping your customer base and opening Crossrail would help?
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Post by capitalomnibus on Jan 24, 2020 9:48:17 GMT
Can't disagree with you about the minicabs. The sooner Uburp gets booted out of London permanently, the better. Part of the problem is people who get an Uburp because they think that buses are slow - thus causing the very problem they are seeking to avoid. The issue is that Uber is a lot more convenient than the bus, people will always use what's more convenient. Not to mention Uber pretty much goes anywhere at any time of day, I use it a lot to get home at unholy hours without needing to fiddle around with night buses. The only way to deal with Uber is to make buses better value for money. It's impossible to get a bus to your doorstep however it's much more possible to entice people onto them alongside the cheaper price. The biggest issue I have with the bus these days is the reliability and the lack of links. I shouldn't need to take 3 buses from Oxford Circus to Stratford when I could do it previously with one. If even many bus drivers are using Uber instead of travelling by bus at times with free travel, then it shows the scale that people have come to rely on them. The bus network in London is second place to the Underground and now merely acts as nothing but a feeder for the Underground/London Overground/Elizabeth line. As said previously there are loads of things why the bus is going to be the last resort of travel and TfL has a lot to blame for it.
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Post by cl54 on Jan 24, 2020 10:48:17 GMT
Most buses in the City only carry air during the daytime. It's only out of sheer tiredness or laziness (if carrying parts for work on foot) I would bother to take the bus nowadays. Most times I can outwalk them, due to crippling traffic. And don't get me started on the pinch points (Kings Cross / Euston Road / most of London west of Shepherd's Bush )... People live technology and see the lack of wifi, no LED blinds, poor branding, routes chopped up like a toddler's first pasta dish and decide to just get in the many minicabs that clog the streets. It seems making them pay the Congestion Charge only made more of them come into the City to work. The ads "Watch Your Speed - Your Mate Does" is very appropriate if they are sat next to you in the passenger seat of the van and barely see the speedo hit 15 on a good day The Guardian article mentioned a Claire Mann at TfL who is in charge of the buses. Does she really exist, or is she a generic name put onto the letters like "J Snell" at the Traffic Police's Prosecution department in Dartford? TfL has become a useless, faceless body like The Royal Family or the BBC which has no real relevance in people's lives anymore. They could learn from their neighbour Reading Buses on how to run more interesting and more integrated services. We get old routes taken out with no reason, but are fobbed off with pointless ones or unnecessary amendments like the 218... it's like when Tottenham Hotspur throw on an unknown player in the 78th minute to try and turn a game around, but the result remains the same Only nice thing is Bank Junction is as empty as most streets on Christmas Day, but it's chaos elsewhere. Aldgate and Fenchurch Street are a mess, even a small bit of roadworks in Tottenham Hale on the A1055 can cause gridlock to Chingford, Edmonton, Palmers Green as there's few alternatives. I used to love bus travel and had this been back in the day, I would have been sad enough to ride the new kit on the 100, or sampled a Streetdeck hybrid on the 25 (most seem to be getting replaced with MV's now anyway ) The far outskirts seem the best parts for buses at the moment, but TfL needs to improve services in the centre rather than trying to just shift buses to the suburbs. London is like someone fighting a virus where extremities are freezing cold and only your stomach is hot Bus travel will continue to fall, even when or if Crossrail opens, it will be too little, too late. Haven't they heard of online shopping or working from home? That's where people are, having gotten peed off with roadworks, various strike days, and lousy services. Enthusiasm for buses is dying, everything is governed down, gears are not stretched anymore, everyone on the bus is vexed, so not a place I'd spend time like before. 20 zones are important for side roads, but for main ones it's too slow. There was a secret plan to bring in 10 and 5 zones if Sadiq gets another term I hope "Claire Mann" or whatever pseudonym exists at TfL can sort things out, but I doubt it Claire Mann does exist - I've met her. Difficult job now given budget and staff cuts. A tremendous amount of planning expertise has left the company.
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Post by redbus on Jan 24, 2020 22:24:19 GMT
Most buses in the City only carry air during the daytime. It's only out of sheer tiredness or laziness (if carrying parts for work on foot) I would bother to take the bus nowadays. Most times I can outwalk them, due to crippling traffic. And don't get me started on the pinch points (Kings Cross / Euston Road / most of London west of Shepherd's Bush )... People live technology and see the lack of wifi, no LED blinds, poor branding, routes chopped up like a toddler's first pasta dish and decide to just get in the many minicabs that clog the streets. It seems making them pay the Congestion Charge only made more of them come into the City to work. The ads "Watch Your Speed - Your Mate Does" is very appropriate if they are sat next to you in the passenger seat of the van and barely see the speedo hit 15 on a good day The Guardian article mentioned a Claire Mann at TfL who is in charge of the buses. Does she really exist, or is she a generic name put onto the letters like "J Snell" at the Traffic Police's Prosecution department in Dartford? TfL has become a useless, faceless body like The Royal Family or the BBC which has no real relevance in people's lives anymore. They could learn from their neighbour Reading Buses on how to run more interesting and more integrated services. We get old routes taken out with no reason, but are fobbed off with pointless ones or unnecessary amendments like the 218... it's like when Tottenham Hotspur throw on an unknown player in the 78th minute to try and turn a game around, but the result remains the same Only nice thing is Bank Junction is as empty as most streets on Christmas Day, but it's chaos elsewhere. Aldgate and Fenchurch Street are a mess, even a small bit of roadworks in Tottenham Hale on the A1055 can cause gridlock to Chingford, Edmonton, Palmers Green as there's few alternatives. I used to love bus travel and had this been back in the day, I would have been sad enough to ride the new kit on the 100, or sampled a Streetdeck hybrid on the 25 (most seem to be getting replaced with MV's now anyway ) The far outskirts seem the best parts for buses at the moment, but TfL needs to improve services in the centre rather than trying to just shift buses to the suburbs. London is like someone fighting a virus where extremities are freezing cold and only your stomach is hot Bus travel will continue to fall, even when or if Crossrail opens, it will be too little, too late. Haven't they heard of online shopping or working from home? That's where people are, having gotten peed off with roadworks, various strike days, and lousy services. Enthusiasm for buses is dying, everything is governed down, gears are not stretched anymore, everyone on the bus is vexed, so not a place I'd spend time like before. 20 zones are important for side roads, but for main ones it's too slow. There was a secret plan to bring in 10 and 5 zones if Sadiq gets another term I hope "Claire Mann" or whatever pseudonym exists at TfL can sort things out, but I doubt it Claire Mann does exist - I've met her. Difficult job now given budget and staff cuts. A tremendous amount of planning expertise has left the company. I have never met Claire Mann, but she has an impossible job in my opinion due to the restrictions she has to work under. It may not be her fault how much expertise TfL has lost, but that loss shows.
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Post by redbus on Jan 24, 2020 22:28:31 GMT
the only way to be truly carbon neutral or free would be to walk. Even cycling is 100% carbon neutral, down to the manufacture of the bicycle and wear from tyres and brakes. No electric vehicle is carbon neutral. Even walking is not carbon neutral ... 1, you need energy (food to walk), 2, increases breathing producing more carbon dioxide, 3, soles of shoes wear out, where do all those bits go to, and the need of replacing/disposal. Human beings are not Carbon zero, so how the hell the planet can be Carbon zero without wiping out the species I have no idea. Humans as a species are not 'carbon neutral', we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide whatever else might happen. I dread to think how much CO2 the billions of humans that exist create each day.
There are however compensating factors such as tress which put take carbon dioxide and put oxygen back into the atmosphere. Add to that human consumption, population increase, cutting down forests and we have a big problem. Somehow we need to get things back into balance.
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