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Post by LondonNorthern on Aug 30, 2020 13:16:40 GMT
I think you've outlined good points, however I still don't deem it that difficult to navigate a bus down there, we've seen narrower roads with DDs such as those in Slade Green on the 89 and probably quite a lot elsewhere. I will at a push say Totteridge Common is roughly the same width as Hendon Wood Lane and that has the 251, as well as scheduled DD journeys on Routes 605, 628 & 688 The road is far narrower than Totteridge Common. This photo shows how narrow it can get. The Barnet end of the road is narrower than the other end. There are no places to safely pull over other than in people’s driveways to let a wide vehicle come through and the side of the road on the west has no driveways or pavement alongside it for most of the road. Having driven down there many times and had countless near misses with vans struggling to stay in their lane, I can’t see how a longer and wider bus would drive down that road without obstructing oncoming traffic without anywhere safe to pull over. Then from your experiences it's down to how safely people drive down there and I'm sure particularly with the bus gate, wider vehicles likely will be prohibited. If things like speed cameras were introduced it may be a different story however I'm certain that these types of roads are mainly very known for things like speeding due to how rural they are
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Post by vjaska on Aug 30, 2020 14:52:33 GMT
The road is far narrower than Totteridge Common. This photo shows how narrow it can get. The Barnet end of the road is narrower than the other end. There are no places to safely pull over other than in people’s driveways to let a wide vehicle come through and the side of the road on the west has no driveways or pavement alongside it for most of the road. Having driven down there many times and had countless near misses with vans struggling to stay in their lane, I can’t see how a longer and wider bus would drive down that road without obstructing oncoming traffic without anywhere safe to pull over. Then from your experiences it's down to how safely people drive down there and I'm sure particularly with the bus gate, wider vehicles likely will be prohibited. If things like speed cameras were introduced it may be a different story however I'm certain that these types of roads are mainly very known for things like speeding due to how rural they are Speed cameras would not solve any speeding issue - I have speed cameras on Brixton Hill & Effra Road and it has not stopped vehicles from speeding along there including resulting in some fatalities.
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Post by Green Kitten on Aug 31, 2020 10:36:20 GMT
If it were not for physical distancing measures, the 384 I’d imagine could be quite a busy link. Once we get back to normal, will a 3bph 9.6m service be enough to cope?
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Post by ian on Aug 31, 2020 12:13:04 GMT
If it were not for physical distancing measures, the 384 I’d imagine could be quite a busy link. Once we get back to normal, will a 3bph 9.6m service be enough to cope? I agree with you; that is a good question for the future, especially as there could be lots of school usage in future to Mill Hill County High @ The Fairway stop, JCSS usage, Barnet College usage etc. I used the new 384 again today, its first day on the actual line of route through Arkley, and early on a Bank Holiday. It was reasonably well used so early in the process with a few people getting on in Edgware & Mill Hill; several boarded in Arkley (interestingly enough - I hadn't really clicked that it gives a second bus route to Arkley), and then the usual handful at Quinta Drive, a number in Barnet town centre and a few in East Barnet. The bus navigated the new Salisbury Road section with no difficulty whatever, though I did notice a poster in one window which declared ‘NO 384!’ in red letters – clearly one Barnet resident who definitely doesn’t want the 384 serving his/her road. Overall, I would say it was an encouraging start, given that we haven't yet had a working day and there has been no real publicity at the Edgware & Mill Hill end.
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Post by bustavane on Sept 4, 2020 22:08:39 GMT
If it were not for physical distancing measures, the 384 I’d imagine could be quite a busy link. Once we get back to normal, will a 3bph 9.6m service be enough to cope? I agree with you; that is a good question for the future, especially as there could be lots of school usage in future to Mill Hill County High @ The Fairway stop, JCSS usage, Barnet College usage etc. I used the new 384 again today, its first day on the actual line of route through Arkley, and early on a Bank Holiday. It was reasonably well used so early in the process with a few people getting on in Edgware & Mill Hill; several boarded in Arkley (interestingly enough - I hadn't really clicked that it gives a second bus route to Arkley), and then the usual handful at Quinta Drive, a number in Barnet town centre and a few in East Barnet. The bus navigated the new Salisbury Road section with no difficulty whatever, though I did notice a poster in one window which declared ‘NO 384!’ in red letters – clearly one Barnet resident who definitely doesn’t want the 384 serving his/her road. Overall, I would say it was an encouraging start, given that we haven't yet had a working day and there has been no real publicity at the Edgware & Mill Hill end. Better late than never? www.times-series.co.uk/news/18698187.theresa-villiers-attacks-384-bus-change-amid-coronavirus/
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Post by vjaska on Sept 5, 2020 0:43:00 GMT
I agree with you; that is a good question for the future, especially as there could be lots of school usage in future to Mill Hill County High @ The Fairway stop, JCSS usage, Barnet College usage etc. I used the new 384 again today, its first day on the actual line of route through Arkley, and early on a Bank Holiday. It was reasonably well used so early in the process with a few people getting on in Edgware & Mill Hill; several boarded in Arkley (interestingly enough - I hadn't really clicked that it gives a second bus route to Arkley), and then the usual handful at Quinta Drive, a number in Barnet town centre and a few in East Barnet. The bus navigated the new Salisbury Road section with no difficulty whatever, though I did notice a poster in one window which declared ‘NO 384!’ in red letters – clearly one Barnet resident who definitely doesn’t want the 384 serving his/her road. Overall, I would say it was an encouraging start, given that we haven't yet had a working day and there has been no real publicity at the Edgware & Mill Hill end. Better late than never? www.times-series.co.uk/news/18698187.theresa-villiers-attacks-384-bus-change-amid-coronavirus/I believe, unless I'm mistaken, she has previously voiced concern over the 384 during the consultation stage. In fact, a post on here from 2018 briefly mentions her asking questions in Parliament about the consultation and another website claims she campaigned against any re-routing in 2019 as well. The fact that both Labour & Tory councillors are on the same side over this kind of says it all.
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Post by LondonNorthern on Sept 6, 2020 9:57:09 GMT
uakari What part of the route that was removed would you say was the busiest?
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Post by uakari on Sept 8, 2020 19:22:57 GMT
uakari What part of the route that was removed would you say was the busiest? Probably Gloucester Road to York Road/New Barnet Station Approach, as it's the longest and also had passengers connecting with the station. Busiest per metre I'm not sure - possibly East Barnet Road. Drivers are refusing to stop on Victoria Road so now the entirety of New Barnet town centre is now completely bypassed. It seems they are running fast from Station Road to Baring Road and then from Baring Road to Mount Pleasant. We were told all the new sections would be hail-and-ride.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 8, 2020 20:48:12 GMT
uakari What part of the route that was removed would you say was the busiest? Probably Gloucester Road to York Road/New Barnet Station Approach, as it's the longest and also had passengers connecting with the station. Busiest per metre I'm not sure - possibly East Barnet Road. Drivers are refusing to stop on Victoria Road so now the entirety of New Barnet town centre is now completely bypassed. It seems they are running fast from Station Road to Baring Road and then from Baring Road to Mount Pleasant. We were told all the new sections would be hail-and-ride. Regarding the refusal to stop - I'll pass a message to Metroline at PB for them to remind drivers of the new arrangements. It's worth you emailing customer services too as they can reinforce this and follow up with the garage.
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Post by ian on Sept 9, 2020 7:40:23 GMT
I've been on a 384 that has both set down and picked up in Victoria Road - the pick up was a woman who had clearly been to Sainsbury's.
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Post by evergreenadam on Sept 10, 2020 16:46:21 GMT
Probably Gloucester Road to York Road/New Barnet Station Approach, as it's the longest and also had passengers connecting with the station. Busiest per metre I'm not sure - possibly East Barnet Road. Drivers are refusing to stop on Victoria Road so now the entirety of New Barnet town centre is now completely bypassed. It seems they are running fast from Station Road to Baring Road and then from Baring Road to Mount Pleasant. We were told all the new sections would be hail-and-ride. Regarding the refusal to stop - I'll pass a message to Metroline at PB for them to remind drivers of the new arrangements. It's worth you emailing customer services too as they can reinforce this and follow up with the garage. Would it be possible to provide a fixed stop for the town centre, that would provide greater certainty and would raise the profile of where the bus can be boarded.
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Post by Deleted on Sept 10, 2020 17:00:58 GMT
Regarding the refusal to stop - I'll pass a message to Metroline at PB for them to remind drivers of the new arrangements. It's worth you emailing customer services too as they can reinforce this and follow up with the garage. Would it be possible to provide a fixed stop for the town centre, that would provide greater certainty and would raise the profile of where the bus can be boarded. What town centre are you referring to?
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Post by uakari on Sept 10, 2020 17:49:14 GMT
Would it be possible to provide a fixed stop for the town centre, that would provide greater certainty and would raise the profile of where the bus can be boarded. What town centre are you referring to? New Barnet I think. Yes they said they are considering this on Victoria Road, but it's supposed to be hail-and-ride at the moment. The trouble with fixed stops is that the road is quite narrow, and also fixed stops tend to be further away from junctions - in this case the objective needs to be that people can get on and off the bus as close to the junction with East Barnet Road as possible, for the shops. Another interesting thing is that they are also considering some remediation for Bevan Estate passengers and considering diverting the 384 from Mount Pleasant roundabout via the service road to the old Grove Road stop and then back to the roundabout, in both directions. You might say why not just serve the whole of Northfield Road and Castlewood Road again in that case, but they said they want to retain Park Road because it is closer for passengers around Crescent Road that have lost a service. Though I also suspect that buses getting into difficulties with coaches for JCoSS on Northfield Road may also be a factor (obviously the bus is more important than private coaches but TfL might think differently). They also said that they are considering another service for the lost Lyonsdown section, such as diverting the 383 in line with the old 384 route to New Barnet station, but that might be somewhat 'circuitous' because it would then return to Longmore Avenue. Obviously this would require another consultation so might take a while to materialise if it does, and they say they like to change services when the contract is up. Both these measures would help though I think. It would then leave Aldi as the main destination not served, especially as its catchment area is largely to the north.
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Post by evergreenadam on Sept 10, 2020 20:50:12 GMT
What town centre are you referring to? New Barnet I think. Yes they said they are considering this on Victoria Road, but it's supposed to be hail-and-ride at the moment. The trouble with fixed stops is that the road is quite narrow, and also fixed stops tend to be further away from junctions - in this case the objective needs to be that people can get on and off the bus as close to the junction with East Barnet Road as possible, for the shops. Another interesting thing is that they are also considering some remediation for Bevan Estate passengers and considering diverting the 384 from Mount Pleasant roundabout via the service road to the old Grove Road stop and then back to the roundabout, in both directions. You might say why not just serve the whole of Northfield Road and Castlewood Road again in that case, but they said they want to retain Park Road because it is closer for passengers around Crescent Road that have lost a service. Though I also suspect that buses getting into difficulties with coaches for JCoSS on Northfield Road may also be a factor (obviously the bus is more important than private coaches but TfL might think differently). They also said that they are considering another service for the lost Lyonsdown section, such as diverting the 383 in line with the old 384 route to New Barnet station, but that might be somewhat 'circuitous' because it would then return to Longmore Avenue. Obviously this would require another consultation so might take a while to materialise if it does, and they say they like to change services when the contract is up. Both these measures would help though I think. It would then leave Aldi as the main destination not served, especially as its catchment area is largely to the north. Interesting! Would have been simpler to have things as they were! Maybe the penny is beginning to drop!
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Post by Deleted on Sept 23, 2020 18:51:44 GMT
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