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Post by Dillon95 on Mar 28, 2017 0:36:20 GMT
Don't, I had someone actually ask me that when boarding a 372 in Aveley. His precise words were "does this bus go to London?"....... On a similar theme I once had someone come into the Travel info centre where I worked and say "I want a coach ticket". I said "yes, where to?". They then looked at me as if I was mad and said "London". Given we sold National Express tickets to all over the country I'm not clear how I was supposed to know he meant London without him telling me. The conversation then carried on in the same vein as I had to ask about dates of travel, time of travel, if they wanted a return etc etc etc. The person clearly had no idea that I was not a mind reader and unable to automatically divine what he really wanted without having to ask him. Gotta love the general public. With a bit of luck he got on the wrong coach and ended up in Glasgow.
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Post by Hassaan on Mar 28, 2017 1:14:31 GMT
What's next eh, a blind that just reads 'London' :0 haha Don't, I had someone actually ask me that when boarding a 372 in Aveley. His precise words were "does this bus go to London?"....... Sounds like he's clued up that Aveley is in Thurrock and not London, therefore a Hornchurch direction bus is going to London
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Post by john on Mar 28, 2017 5:54:42 GMT
Don't, I had someone actually ask me that when boarding a 372 in Aveley. His precise words were "does this bus go to London?"....... Oh god, what did you tell him? *facepalm* Tbh he took me by surprise a little lol. Had to think about what to say next 😂😂😂
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Post by Dillon95 on Mar 28, 2017 9:18:34 GMT
Oh god, what did you tell him? *facepalm* Tbh he took me by surprise a little lol. Had to think about what to say next 😂😂😂 I think I would have just said 'Yes this goes to London.' and then kick him off when you go past the Welcome to Havering sign.
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Post by vjaska on Mar 28, 2017 9:41:09 GMT
Tbh he took me by surprise a little lol. Had to think about what to say next 😂😂😂 I think I would have just said 'Yes this goes to London.' and then kick him off when you go past the Welcome to Havering sign. I'd of said, "Which one, Central or Greater London" lol.
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Post by stubag on Mar 28, 2017 11:35:25 GMT
In an era of ultra HD LCD display technology, is there any reason why buses still only come with printed scrolling blinds or crappy dot matrix displays? I know that TfL insist on paper blinds and are very anti-LED. LCD's would mean that buses will no longer need to be reblinded and also logos like DLR, Tube, National Rail etc could be displayed clearly. I have seen some very nice LCD "next bus" displays on bus stops, so it seems that TfL are open to experimenting with modernising passenger displays. We've had this debate before in various guises and it's a no brainer for me, blinds have had their day. The sheer time and cost with the labour intensive task of changing blinds whilst LED's are done in a few minutes surely has to be the overriding factor? Have you ever ordered a set of blinds? Well, a new set of LED (front side and rear) is around £2-3 k per bus......a set of the same blinds in paper form is a few hundred..... A fleet buses in some where like WH would take a millions to convert... Not including down time to install, and software training...Helen can be difficult to use if you don't know the programme, and that's just one garage....so I'm sure we'd all like that money spent on improving services and wage increases. Old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it...
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Post by sid on Mar 28, 2017 12:10:41 GMT
We've had this debate before in various guises and it's a no brainer for me, blinds have had their day. The sheer time and cost with the labour intensive task of changing blinds whilst LED's are done in a few minutes surely has to be the overriding factor? Have you ever ordered a set of blinds? Well, a new set of LED (front side and rear) is around £2-3 k per bus......a set of the same blinds in paper form is a few hundred..... A fleet buses in some where like WH would take a millions to convert... Not including down time to install, and software training...Helen can be difficult to use if you don't know the programme, and that's just one garage....so I'm sure we'd all like that money spent on improving services and wage increases. Old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it... But it is broke and outdated and why has just about every other bus operator outside of London long since switched to LED?
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Post by stubag on Mar 28, 2017 12:15:46 GMT
How's it broke? Yes buses go out with paper in the window..... However led blinds go wrong so it won't eliminate the issue. Outer London companies have smaller fleets, and normally with the older vehicles they have equipment is already installed if they have been acquired 2nd hand. New buses normally are specified with LED.
When I was at First Berkshire I asked the question of putting led in the cascaded buses and got told cost outweigh benefits.
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Post by sid on Mar 28, 2017 13:37:34 GMT
How's it broke? Yes buses go out with paper in the window..... However led blinds go wrong so it won't eliminate the issue. Outer London companies have smaller fleets, and normally with the older vehicles they have equipment is already installed if they have been acquired 2nd hand. New buses normally are specified with LED. When I was at First Berkshire I asked the question of putting led in the cascaded buses and got told cost outweigh benefits. Blinds are outdated, many ex London buses are fitted with LED's when they move to a new operator. One such example www.flickr.com/photos/105118016@N05/33147839002/in/album-72157679695627036/
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Post by stubag on Mar 28, 2017 15:07:40 GMT
please explain your term outdated? music CD's are outdated but shops still sell them! paper blinds fulfill there purpose.
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Post by sid on Mar 28, 2017 15:27:05 GMT
please explain your term outdated? music CD's are outdated but shops still sell them! paper blinds fulfill there purpose. The facts speak for themselves, nearly every bus operator outside London has long since discarded blinds because LED's are far more cost effective.
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Post by busman on Mar 28, 2017 15:45:09 GMT
We've had this debate before in various guises and it's a no brainer for me, blinds have had their day. The sheer time and cost with the labour intensive task of changing blinds whilst LED's are done in a few minutes surely has to be the overriding factor? Have you ever ordered a set of blinds? Well, a new set of LED (front side and rear) is around £2-3 k per bus......a set of the same blinds in paper form is a few hundred..... A fleet buses in some where like WH would take a millions to convert... Not including down time to install, and software training...Helen can be difficult to use if you don't know the programme, and that's just one garage....so I'm sure we'd all like that money spent on improving services and wage increases. Old saying if it ain't broke don't fix it... Much will depend on the lifespan of the LED blind sets vs. the estimated number of new paper blinds being ordered and buses running with unconfigured blinds during that same period for a given fleet. Also if TfL could obtain a London wide discount from suppliers based on the volume of orders. If a reliable, high quality LED blind was available, it would have to be cost effective. At this point in time, I think TfL's days of throwing money away at cost inefficient programs **cough LT's cough** are long gone.
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Post by stubag on Mar 28, 2017 15:53:19 GMT
please explain your term outdated? music CD's are outdated but shops still sell them! paper blinds fulfill there purpose. The facts speak for themselves, nearly every bus operator outside London has long since discarded blinds because LED's are far more cost effective. what facts? How are they more cost effective? Three grand vs 200 quid... even my maths says go for paper! If it was your bank balance? not all companies have the unlimited bank balance to renew a fleet of 100+ vehicles. if a TfL specification came through to install LED tech who would pay? the passenger through Fare increases to fill a million pound gap for the project or bus companies who foot the bill through cut backs in staff or bid increases which will make the tender process more competitive and push prices up....and TfL wont want that either. Yes LEDs can look more modern I agree, however they are not fail safe and have LED s that don't work, control units that don't word, units that wont communicate with the board..... we will never get away with blind banditry.
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Post by SILENCED on Mar 28, 2017 16:04:40 GMT
The facts speak for themselves, nearly every bus operator outside London has long since discarded blinds because LED's are far more cost effective. what facts? How are they more cost effective? Three grand vs 200 quid... even my maths says go for paper! If it was your bank balance? not all companies have the unlimited bank balance to renew a fleet of 100+ vehicles. if a TfL specification came through to install LED tech who would pay? the passenger through Fare increases to fill a million pound gap for the project or bus companies who foot the bill through cut backs in staff or bid increases which will make the tender process more competitive and push prices up....and TfL wont want that either. Yes LEDs can look more modern I agree, however they are not fail safe and have LED s that don't work, control units that don't word, units that wont communicate with the board..... we will never get away with blind banditry. But surely you need to add the initial cost of the power blind units, in addition to cost of blinds ... sure those failures mentioned at the end are equally likely for LEDs or powerblinds ... just suspect resolving the issue will be much quicker with LEDs ... as with most electronics, pressing the reset button works a good percentage of the time.
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Post by Dillon95 on Mar 29, 2017 8:46:42 GMT
I prefer the look of paper blinds personally, they look neater.
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