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Post by wirewiper on Aug 15, 2023 12:36:48 GMT
Not a fan of the G3 style anyway let alone after this upgrade. Much preferred the classic G2 front but that is dated now in terms of modern style. Ironically the G2 style would be much more likely to confirm with this latest TFL nonsense and is streets ahead in terms of style in comparison to the G3. Why is it nonsense? TfL has a long-term strategy to improve road safety and reduce the numbers of deaths and serious injuries on London's roads. One of the targets is that no-one should be killed in, or by, a London bus by 2030. tfl.gov.uk/corporate/safety-and-security/road-safety/bus-safety
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 15, 2023 7:46:53 GMT
First Glasgow is to withdraw its night bus network. Currently, eleven routes operate into the early hours of Saturday and Sunday. The routes were re-introduced in June 2022 to bolster the night economy after Covid-19 and were monitored for twelve months, but have not generated sufficient revenue and patronage to be considered sustainable. The routes are due to finish after the end of July. MacGills has since stated that it is investigating the feasibility of running its own network of night services in and around Glasgow. They are not looking at like-for-like replacements, but feel there is a definite demand for night services in Glasgow. www.route-one.net/news/mcgills-to-look-into-glasgow-night-buses-proposition/Following a meeting with Glasgow City Council, First has agreed to extend its night services in Glasgow for a few more weeks and they will now continue to operate until at least Sunday 20th August. This will give mote time for partners to review their options for services to continue. www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-66200047After 20th August First will retain four night routes, to Cleland, Greenhills, Easterhouse and Hillhouse. McGills will start operating five night routes, N3 to Pollok, N4 to Newton Mearns, N6 to Clydebank, N38 to Paisley and N60 to Drumchapel. Initially all roiutes will run hourly on Friday and Saturday nights, although McGills is looking at extending the operation to other nights of the week, and to other routes. Battery-electric buses will be used. www.route-one.net/news/glasgow-night-bus-provision-agreed-by-first-and-mcgills/
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 14, 2023 18:33:01 GMT
It was tendered by Hertfordshire County Council as the Local Transport Authority, although Hertsmere Borough Council is funding it. Galleon Travel is probably better known as Central Connect, the fleetname under which its buses operate. The operator has acquired no less than fourteen brand-new ADL Enviro200 MMCs for Hertfordshire contracted routes in the last two years so will have no problem finding vehicles that comply with the London ULEZ. That's good. Hopefully they won't accept the 60+ Oyster card or the TFL zip card which may put a few more people in the fare paying bracket. It will operate under a LSP (I added that to my post after you had posted) so there is no obligation to accept any TfL tickets. The only one they are obliged to accept is the Freedom Pass as it acts as an ENCTS pass outside London.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 14, 2023 18:22:27 GMT
No it’s a Hertsmere council funded service It was tendered by Hertfordshire County Council as the Local Transport Authority, although Hertsmere Borough Council is funding it. It will operate into Greater London under a LSP (London Service Permit). Galleon Travel is probably better known as Central Connect, the fleetname under which its buses operate. The operator has acquired no less than fourteen brand-new ADL Enviro200 MMCs for Hertfordshire contracted routes in the last two years so will have no problem finding vehicles that comply with the London ULEZ.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 14, 2023 17:06:38 GMT
It does look really good actually, I think it looks a lot better, a nice little facelift to a nearly 10 year old design now. What’s this new TfL safety specification? It is indeed the new safety specification. The rounded front and windscreen reduces the severity of injuries to pedestrians in the event of a collision. The new Volvo BZL had this feature designed into its styling from the outset.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 14, 2023 13:08:55 GMT
I think it's always. It’s every 8-9 mins at the moment but the afternoon journey is being retained from Norwood School. I wonder why the PVR isn’t reducing then The frequency reduction is to allow peak time journeys more time to complete the journey and improve reliability.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 14, 2023 9:25:36 GMT
I noticed london bus routes states a new timetable on the 417 with the peak service reduced to every 10 mins. I'd have thought being the sole route to Dunraven School it would need all the buses it could get during that time. The extra afternoon journey leaving Crown Point at 14.59 is still timetabled.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 13, 2023 16:01:24 GMT
It’s up there with Nottingham City Transport as one of the UK’s top bus companies. Reading Buses has long been admired for offering a high quality bus service with first class marketing with active support from a pro public transport Reading Borough Council, which also owns the business. It’s also benefitted for more than 15 years from having three Chief Executive Officers with a wealth of bus industry experience and an undoubted passion, dedication and enthusiasm for buses in James Freeman, Martijn Gilbert and current incumbent Robert Williams..... busandtrainuser.com/2023/08/12/r-is-for-reading-buses/I went to Reading Uni during Reading Mainline Routemaster days, and back then Reading Buses were generally poor, although the buses themselves were interesting. It is my belief that it was the popularity of Reading Mainline that woke Reading Buses up and set them on the path to the first class operator they are today. In the late 1990s and early 2000s Reading Buses also suffered from staff shortages which made the services unreliable. It was in 2004 that Reading Buses decided on a change in strategy. Over the next four years and starting with the 17, the busiest route, the nine main corridors were identified and given the "Premier Routes" treatment, with each route or group of routes having its own colour but within a unified house style. This was also carried over to publicity on bus stops and also timetable leaflets. This was the basis of the route branding that has evolved and been refreshed over the years, but is essentially the same today. Key to making the scheme work was to have a number of buses in a neutral "generic" livery which could operate on any route when a branded vehicle was not available. The other aspect was a change in recruiting strategy. The focus moved away from driving skill - which can be taught - and instead staff were recruited with an emphasis on customer service skills.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 13, 2023 9:06:26 GMT
The aim is to be net-zero, i.e. the construction and operation of the buses does not cause more carbon to be released into the atmosphere than can be removed. With electric buses there is the huge benefit of zero emission at the tailpipe, which improves the air quality in London, a city where a significant number of people have respiratory problems linked to poor air quality. Hybrid buses do this to a lesser extent as they produce fewer emissions than a Euro-6 diesel. Electric buses are more costly to acquire, however the Government is making funding available as electric buses go towards the UK achieving its net-zero targets. The money also represents investment in green industry and, as electric vehicles become more common and the technology develops, the costs will come down. Regarding the recycling, it is possible to recycle most of a lithium battery, including the lithium itself. Another use for batteries removed from mid-life electric buses is in static battery farms. Newport Transport - which has invested significantly in Yutong electric single-deckers - has such an agreement with Zenobe for the supply and replacement of the batteries. Ah, but mining lithium, I hear you say? An activity which causes environmental harm - but minimal when compared the extraction and refining of oil to be burned and released into the atmosphere. The best carbon capture would be to leave oil (and coal and gas) in the ground. Whilst it is possible to recycle lithium batteries, again the process is far from totally green. Mining lithium is great as like LTNs it pushes the pollution onto people that do not get the benefit. To me this is the western world saying we want zero emission and keep all the bad bits in the developing world. Has much changed since European Imperialism? On one hand we say yes history is bad, on the other we continue to exploit these nations. I'm alright Jack, I am not bothered , its bad bits will kill others, not me. Seems to be the modern philosophy. There is also lithium in Cornwall. Serious Government-supported exploration is taking place to see if it can be extracted in a cost-effective way. It is high-stakes, as if successful it would bring significant economic benefit to one of the poorest regions of the UK, as well as helping the UK to become more self-sufficient in meeting its own demand for lithium.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 13, 2023 7:57:12 GMT
Sorry if I have asked this before; How do you change the battery on a Hybrid & Electric bus? Would have thought it is quite costly & needing a change every so often hence why some operators are reluctant to have them. Interestingly this article from 2019: www.route-one.net/features/1000-hybrids-where-are-they-now/. Made me think if these Hybrid and Electric buses are really as "green" as the people in power claim, cos bearing in mind you need to recycle old used batteries etc. The aim is to be net-zero, i.e. the construction and operation of the buses does not cause more carbon to be released into the atmosphere than can be removed. With electric buses there is the huge benefit of zero emission at the tailpipe, which improves the air quality in London, a city where a significant number of people have respiratory problems linked to poor air quality. Hybrid buses do this to a lesser extent as they produce fewer emissions than a Euro-6 diesel. Electric buses are more costly to acquire, however the Government is making funding available as electric buses go towards the UK achieving its net-zero targets. The money also represents investment in green industry and, as electric vehicles become more common and the technology develops, the costs will come down. Regarding the recycling, it is possible to recycle most of a lithium battery, including the lithium itself. Another use for batteries removed from mid-life electric buses is in static battery farms. Newport Transport - which has invested significantly in Yutong electric single-deckers - has such an agreement with Zenobe for the supply and replacement of the batteries. Ah, but mining lithium, I hear you say? An activity which causes environmental harm - but minimal when compared the extraction and refining of oil to be burned and released into the atmosphere. The best carbon capture would be to leave oil (and coal and gas) in the ground.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 12, 2023 12:26:54 GMT
It isn't just a political stunt, everyone is almost unanimous when agreeing these changes should have happened a long time ago. You'd be rather gullible though to believe the Mayor won't use this to his political advantage. Two questions need to be asked as to why this feels fishy: 1. Where did the money come from to fund this? TfL are supposedly still Super broke, yet they suddenly have the resources to fund ex-weekend 24 hour routes into nightly services. 2. Why isn't there any press for this? It's a good news story involving investment that TfL have been shy on since the pandemic. The Son of a Bus Driver cannot miss a good transport PR opportunity. I'm 100% certain he's going to use these recent 24 hour routes with his Superloop spin come August 29th. The finances of TfL have recovered markedly in the last year or so. Tube ridership is in many cases above pre-Covid levels and Elizabeth Line usage is running above expectations. The estimate is for an operating surplus this 23/24 financial year. A far cry from a couple of years ago with Covid-battered figures. The good thing is that allows for some improvements to buses amongst other things to start flowing through, slowly but surely. This, and that TfL now has a funding settlement in place with the DfT that allows for some growth in bus mileage in Outer London. Too many people are still stuck in the "covid handouts" mentality.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 11, 2023 17:40:36 GMT
Far be it from me to defend Diane Abbot but in fairness it was a not unreasonable response to what Lee Anderson said, and he could have been a bit more diplomatic even though he's only saying publicly what many people are saying privately. However given his status as Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party and with a platform that includes not just the House of Commons but also his side-hustle for GB News, why does he want to use language like that? Language that could have got him arrested had he shouted it at an individual in the street within earshot of a police officer. "F*** off back to France" - our politics needs to be better than that.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 11, 2023 7:57:01 GMT
IE8 at New Cross Garage looking sorry for itself with the near side window completely smashed and the left mirrorless camera scuffed. Shunters probably had no idea whilst reversing vehicles as it’s still parked amongst other IE’s …. Which are all collecting a lot of dirt and muck. Won’t be anytime soon these leave the garage. I suppose the majority of the IE will end up with 73-registrations.
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 10, 2023 17:59:28 GMT
Stagecoach South West has published details of service and timetable changes, mostly effective from Sunday 3rd September. www.stagecoachbus.com/promos-and-offers/south-west/south-west-timetablesThese are largely timetable changes and minor variations to existing routes, however there are a couple of more significant changes. Route X38 between Exeter and Plymouth will be withdrawn. In its place a new route 38 will operate hourly between Exeter and Bovey Tracey. One bus every two hours will continue to and from Ivybridge via Heathfield, Liverton, Ashburton, Buckfastleigh and South Brent. The other bus every two hours will continue to Newton Abbot as route 39. In Bideford, route 15A/15C is being altered to operate between East-the-Water and Affinity Outlet, replacing part of route 75 which will only operate between Bideford Quay and Great Torrington only. As the Dartmouth outstation is closing, most route 7 (Exeter-Totnes) and route 92 (Totnes-Dartmouth) journeys will be linked and services will operate later into the evenings. Most journeys on routes 6 (Bude-Okehampton) and 6A (Okehampton-Exeter) are being linked, and additional journeys will operate between Okehampton and Exeter. Stagecoach South West will take over the Sunday service (currently operated by Go Cornwall Bus) with three journeys each way over the entire route. Open-top route 222 (Teignmouth-Dawlish Warren) will cease after 3rd September, route 22 provides a daily alternative throughout the year. Open-top routes 95 in Exmouth and 122 in Torbay will reduce to hourly, but will continue to operate daily until Saturday 28th October, the last day of the school half-term. Stagecoach will cease operating interworked routes 88/88C (Newton Abbot-Totnes/South Devon College) and 88A (Newton Abbot town service), a new contract with a revised timetable has been awarded to Country Bus from Monday 4th September. Conversely, Stagecoach has won the contracts to operate Tiverton town services 343 (Cotteylands), 348/349 (Cowley Moor) and 352 (Tidcombe) from Dartline, and will also take over the Dartline-operated journeys on route 355 (07.30 from Exeter and 17.45 from Tiverton).
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Post by wirewiper on Aug 10, 2023 17:07:18 GMT
TfL has said that off-peak levels of travel have now reached pre-pandemic level, and on some Saturdays use of the Underground has exceeded 2019 levels. On 29th April and 17th June numbers were at 104% of pre-pandemic levels, and on Saturday 1st July, the day of the Pride Parade, 6.9 million Underground entries and exits were recorded, making it the busiest Saturday on the network since December 2019. On weekdays, tube and bus use is in excess of 80% of pre-pandemic levels, whilst the London Overground is closer to 100%. This does have implications for TfL's finances as there is less income from commuters buying season tickets for peak travel. www.ianvisits.co.uk/articles/off-peak-travel-on-londons-transport-exceeding-pre-pandemic-levels-64919/
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