Worst Bus Route to Drive

[kenmet]

Dec 14, 2019 1:38:12 GMT portman227 said:

Dec 13, 2019 6:25:43 GMT kenmet said:

The 176 is every 10 minutes and slightly more frequent at peak times. I think the more frequent 40 should have been rerouted to Tottenham Court Road, the 45 left going to Clerkenwell Green and the 176 curtailed at Elephant & Castle.

In the evenings you can wait almost up to 13 minutes for a 176. 176 shouldn’t be curtailed at EC as the 40 would them cover almost 65% of its route which is resource wasting. It’s fine as it is but running times need to be looked at.

The 40 would be the same as now between Dulwich and Elephant & Castle, I agree that the 176 has too much running time.

[LondonNorthern]

Now - I'm not a driver but I can just remember awful experiences I've had with some routes

I've been on the 143 many atime BUT IT DOES NOT GET WORSE than this in some aspects.

There was a time a while back where 3, THREE 143s were bunched together all arriving within a period of 4 minutes meaning the next bus was in 40 minutes

Some of the people on the 143 look at you in the weirdest way when you get on the bus and it really creeps me out because I've done nothing wrong. And reliability is not the best either - there have been times where it's said the 143 is in 9 minutes, 5 minute walk and It's already gone past.

The crowding on the 143 is insane. Absolutely insane.

The section between Highgate Village and Finchley Central is picking up school after school and there is definitely not enough capacity on the section despite there being 143D, 611 and 643. A lot of times people have been squished to the front of the buses, bags getting caught in doors, drivers even raging at schoolchildren sometimes and it's sometimes hard to even leave the bus, drivers have to sometimes skip the stop and make people get off the next stop because of the crowds during peak times

I'm pretty sure on a daily basis there's sometimes buses past the legal limit of people and because buses take so long to fill up, there is a bus normally 3 minutes after completely empty (well, with the kids who couldn't get on)

Buses that are on the 143 don't sound Great, DE870 having black smoke sometimes coming out the back and 871/1024 making a hell load of noise. Buses also sometimes struggle up Highgate Hill.

With this new consultation of the 112 being extended to North Finchley via Route 232 to Finchley High Road and 263 to North Finchley you would think there is an ounce more capacity, but then there's 611 getting scrapped meaning there's more pressure on the 143, 143D & 643 that are already crowded enough. And the entirety of the North Circular is packed to the brim so if this change went ahead reliability on the 112 will only worsen and it would be a nightmare for anyone waiting along the North Circular between Staples Corner and Hanger Lane (except at IKEA) will end up waiting and waiting due to all this traffic and people will end up moving to the 143 (people who use 611 usually) because of how bad the 112&232 would have become


And as for driving, it can get noisy in peak times and must give people headaches, plus the A41 can sometimes take Hella long between Hendon Central and Brent Cross. Change needs to be made to the 143, it literally can't cope any longer

[thewintersoldier]

Dec 19, 2019 22:14:15 GMT LondonNorthern said:

Now - I'm not a driver but I can just remember awful experiences I've had with some routes

I've been on the 143 many atime BUT IT DOES NOT GET WORSE than this in some aspects.

There was a time a while back where 3, THREE 143s were bunched together all arriving within a period of 4 minutes meaning the next bus was in 40 minutes

Some of the people on the 143 look at you in the weirdest way when you get on the bus and it really creeps me out because I've done nothing wrong. And reliability is not the best either - there have been times where it's said the 143 is in 9 minutes, 5 minute walk and It's already gone past.

The crowding on the 143 is insane. Absolutely insane.

The section between Highgate Village and Finchley Central is picking up school after school and there is definitely not enough capacity on the section despite there being 143D, 611 and 643. A lot of times people have been squished to the front of the buses, bags getting caught in doors, drivers even raging at schoolchildren sometimes and it's sometimes hard to even leave the bus, drivers have to sometimes skip the stop and make people get off the next stop because of the crowds during peak times

I'm pretty sure on a daily basis there's sometimes buses past the legal limit of people and because buses take so long to fill up, there is a bus normally 3 minutes after completely empty (well, with the kids who couldn't get on)

Buses that are on the 143 don't sound Great, DE870 having black smoke sometimes coming out the back and 871/1024 making a hell load of noise. Buses also sometimes struggle up Highgate Hill.

With this new consultation of the 112 being extended to North Finchley via Route 232 to Finchley High Road and 263 to North Finchley you would think there is an ounce more capacity, but then there's 611 getting scrapped meaning there's more pressure on the 143, 143D & 643 that are already crowded enough. And the entirety of the North Circular is packed to the brim so if this change went ahead reliability on the 112 will only worsen and it would be a nightmare for anyone waiting along the North Circular between Staples Corner and Hanger Lane (except at IKEA) will end up waiting and waiting due to all this traffic and people will end up moving to the 143 (people who use 611 usually) because of how bad the 112&232 would have become


And as for driving, it can get noisy in peak times and must give people headaches, plus the A41 can sometimes take Hella long between Hendon Central and Brent Cross. Change needs to be made to the 143, it literally can't cope any longer

I only liked to drive the 143 outside of peak hours. I couldn’t agree with more of your post, it could do with some support on the Finchley Central to Highgate Village section but more than likely the tight roads along this section make it impossible to send another route down there. The main gripe with that route is the multiple schools and the 143 does seem to pick up some sluggish buses, if you think the E400’s were bad I would swear a combination of expletives whenever I picked up DML43 which is the slowest bus I ever drove!

[Deleted]

380 is a terrible route for me!

[busaholic]

Dec 13, 2019 6:25:43 GMT kenmet said:

Dec 12, 2019 23:59:47 GMT portman227 said:

The 176 is excruciatingly slow and the frequency of every 12 minutes for a central London route is so baffling. Packed busy route with drivers having feather foots, such a depressing route to ride.

The 176 is every 10 minutes and slightly more frequent at peak times. I think the more frequent 40 should have been rerouted to Tottenham Court Road, the 45 left going to Clerkenwell Green and the 176 curtailed at Elephant & Castle.

The 45 never went to Clerkenwell, though.

[LondonNorthern]

Not a London route but the 812 (Hoxton) must be a nightmare to remember

[wirewiper]

Dec 26, 2019 14:07:00 GMT LondonNorthern said:

Not a London route but the 812 (Hoxton) must be a nightmare to remember

Not if you are one of the regular drivers - it's operated separately from the TfL contracts. 

[stas]

Dec 19, 2019 22:14:15 GMT LondonNorthern said:

Now - I'm not a driver but I can just remember awful experiences I've had with some routes

I've been on the 143 many atime BUT IT DOES NOT GET WORSE than this in some aspects.

There was a time a while back where 3, THREE 143s were bunched together all arriving within a period of 4 minutes meaning the next bus was in 40 minutes

Some of the people on the 143 look at you in the weirdest way when you get on the bus and it really creeps me out because I've done nothing wrong. And reliability is not the best either - there have been times where it's said the 143 is in 9 minutes, 5 minute walk and It's already gone past.

The crowding on the 143 is insane. Absolutely insane.

The section between Highgate Village and Finchley Central is picking up school after school and there is definitely not enough capacity on the section despite there being 143D, 611 and 643. A lot of times people have been squished to the front of the buses, bags getting caught in doors, drivers even raging at schoolchildren sometimes and it's sometimes hard to even leave the bus, drivers have to sometimes skip the stop and make people get off the next stop because of the crowds during peak times

I'm pretty sure on a daily basis there's sometimes buses past the legal limit of people and because buses take so long to fill up, there is a bus normally 3 minutes after completely empty (well, with the kids who couldn't get on)

Buses that are on the 143 don't sound Great, DE870 having black smoke sometimes coming out the back and 871/1024 making a hell load of noise. Buses also sometimes struggle up Highgate Hill.

With this new consultation of the 112 being extended to North Finchley via Route 232 to Finchley High Road and 263 to North Finchley you would think there is an ounce more capacity, but then there's 611 getting scrapped meaning there's more pressure on the 143, 143D & 643 that are already crowded enough. And the entirety of the North Circular is packed to the brim so if this change went ahead reliability on the 112 will only worsen and it would be a nightmare for anyone waiting along the North Circular between Staples Corner and Hanger Lane (except at IKEA) will end up waiting and waiting due to all this traffic and people will end up moving to the 143 (people who use 611 usually) because of how bad the 112&232 would have become


And as for driving, it can get noisy in peak times and must give people headaches, plus the A41 can sometimes take Hella long between Hendon Central and Brent Cross. Change needs to be made to the 143, it literally can't cope any longer

[stas]

143 should be a double deck route and put back to run east end rd all the way. Ridiculous a main A road served by single deck bus.

[rambo]

368 for me.

[Russ TA1]

I have been driving buses on and off for about 17 years and worked at various garages and driven many routes, honestly 192 is by far the worst ever route to drive OMG.

[thewintersoldier]

Dec 29, 2019 0:59:28 GMT Russ TA1 said:

I have been driving buses on and off for about 17 years and worked at various garages and driven many routes, honestly 192 is by far the worst ever route to drive OMG.

I can’t disagree with you there. Looks horrid always packed and the worlds smallest buses.

[M1104]

345 when they had the single doored 10.2m LDPs. What were "the management in their infinite Wisdom" thinking? Thankfully it didn't last too long as it then got upgraded with longer dual door versions before converting back to double deckers.

Though I've never driven the 3 I imagine that was another route back in the 90s that was a bit of a nuisance to drive with those single door SP class Optare Spectras.

[londonbuses2018]

The 232 can not be decked due to it serving the North Circ unless it was rerouted via other roads.

[Eastlondoner62]

Jan 2, 2020 16:21:47 GMT londonbuses2018 said:

The 232 can not be decked due to it serving the North Circ unless it was rerouted via other roads.

What? The 34 and 102 all serve the North Circular and you also have the 112 which often sees Deckers.