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Post by vjaska on Jan 1, 2022 3:09:09 GMT
Not buses but do predict a big return to the office in 2022 and home working becomes less popular as people grow frustrated with the lack of contact and video calls. Also think we could have a massive boom in tourism over the summer as long as the pandemic is under control. Hopefully we see the high street somewhat recover, albeit in a bit of a different fashion with perhaps some large brands but there also being more local shops & more experiences. I think that would solve the high street problem combined with lower parking fees. Must ask especially to those who live on the fringes of London as ultimately some of these "towns" such as Kingston, Sutton, Enfield etc (as they seem to look like what a stereotypical UK town centre would look like) would some of these towns in some way benefit from a scheme such as Park & Ride to perhaps tackle congestion? Lowering parking fees means we haven't learn't anything when it comes to improving public transport and whilst depending less on the car. |
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Post by ServerKing on Jan 1, 2022 8:17:40 GMT
More of the same  we are starting to learn to live with Covid, seeing as a Lockdown wouldn't have stopped Omicron tearing through London. Crossrail will open in Spring, and an embattled Sadiq Khan introduces a daily £15 Ingestion Charging as a levy is added on eating at establishments like Nandos and TGI Fridays in a bid to hang onto TfL after maintenance of the 318 fleet (extensive loans of W4 buses) brings the system to its knees. Spurs shock everyone and win a trophy and Kane gets his move to Manchester City, but makes as much impact on the team as Jack Grealish has so far  King Charles presents Spurs' Antonio Conte with the League Title after back to back wins the remainder of the season  DW411 makes a return to London having been rebuilt with a Daimler 6 cylinder engine and is converted to open deck with Gemini3 body. This bus is in Spurs victory parade down the High Road, but is subbed by EN9 after breaking down at the junction with Lordship Lane. Michael Gove is made Prime Minister after Boris Johnson is jailed for large Omicron Rave featuring Tory donors at the former Lea Valley bus garage site in early January in which 3500 attended. A cautious deputy PM, Chris Whitty, urges fans to celebrate at home after England win Qatar 2022. Ongoing problems with the re geared Class 315 units dog HS2 after a train catches fire at 190 mph passing through Acton Main Line on a test run. New Covid Suppositories from Pfizer run low after France blocks Amazon shipment in ongoing row over fish fingers 318 transfers to Wood Green after exasperated garage manager complained that the number of loans is more than surviving 2007 E200's ran by Tottenham. HV276 secures government funding to have the remaining Arriva logos on the sides replaced, rather than just the one on the front |
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Post by WH241 on Jan 1, 2022 10:33:23 GMT
The worse thing about 2022 is it sounds a lot like 2020(2) |
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Post by LondonNorthern on Jan 1, 2022 10:56:41 GMT
Hopefully we see the high street somewhat recover, albeit in a bit of a different fashion with perhaps some large brands but there also being more local shops & more experiences. I think that would solve the high street problem combined with lower parking fees. Must ask especially to those who live on the fringes of London as ultimately some of these "towns" such as Kingston, Sutton, Enfield etc (as they seem to look like what a stereotypical UK town centre would look like) would some of these towns in some way benefit from a scheme such as Park & Ride to perhaps tackle congestion? Lowering parking fees means we haven't learn't anything when it comes to improving public transport and whilst depending less on the car. Not really, ultimately one of the massive turnaways for those shopping on the high street was high cost of parking. I understand for some high streets however such as Walworth, Brixton, Streatham etc there is adequate transportation in place whereas in some parts of the country there isn't in the way of buses & until that investment starts then I imagine for those driving into town centres it'll be by car. Apparently Croydon has quite high parking fees for example. |
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Post by vjaska on Jan 1, 2022 13:06:14 GMT
Lowering parking fees means we haven't learn't anything when it comes to improving public transport and whilst depending less on the car. Not really, ultimately one of the massive turnaways for those shopping on the high street was high cost of parking. I understand for some high streets however such as Walworth, Brixton, Streatham etc there is adequate transportation in place whereas in some parts of the country there isn't in the way of buses & until that investment starts then I imagine for those driving into town centres it'll be by car. Apparently Croydon has quite high parking fees for example. Hence why I said you prioritise public transport otherwise if you lower car parking fees, then no one will switch and we’re back to square one because no investment will come to public transport either |
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Post by LondonNorthern on Jan 1, 2022 13:27:29 GMT
Not really, ultimately one of the massive turnaways for those shopping on the high street was high cost of parking. I understand for some high streets however such as Walworth, Brixton, Streatham etc there is adequate transportation in place whereas in some parts of the country there isn't in the way of buses & until that investment starts then I imagine for those driving into town centres it'll be by car. Apparently Croydon has quite high parking fees for example. Hence why I said you prioritise public transport otherwise if you lower car parking fees, then no one will switch and we’re back to square one because no investment will come to public transport either I do think encouraging Park & Ride is probably a good idea as well because in the case of places such as Hampstead, there is lackluster parking, and what I find whenever I use the 268 is that a lot of people board at Golders Green/Golders Hill Park after either having parked the car or in the case of GG, used public transport and then board the 268. And as a result it's why the section of the 268 between Golders Green & the Royal Free is probably as busy as it is (and probably the busiest section of the route), because plenty of people are willing to do that type of journey even when there are alternatives such as the Tube. I suppose it could be called an "unofficial Park & Ride". |
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Post by vjaska on Jan 1, 2022 14:37:53 GMT
Hence why I said you prioritise public transport otherwise if you lower car parking fees, then no one will switch and we’re back to square one because no investment will come to public transport either I do think encouraging Park & Ride is probably a good idea as well because in the case of places such as Hampstead, there is lackluster parking, and what I find whenever I use the 268 is that a lot of people board at Golders Green/Golders Hill Park after either having parked the car or in the case of GG, used public transport and then board the 268. And as a result it's why the section of the 268 between Golders Green & the Royal Free is probably as busy as it is (and probably the busiest section of the route), because plenty of people are willing to do that type of journey even when there are alternatives such as the Tube. I suppose it could be called an "unofficial Park & Ride". I can’t P&R working in Inner London because you’ll just clog up another area. Outside London they work because towns are generally farther apart and P&R sites are usually in quiet areas so traffic can be dispersed easily. Some Outer London towns like Kingston & Bromley had P&R services (I’ve used the Bromley one myself) but they were removed, probably due to low ridership but not 100% sure |
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Post by LondonNorthern on Jan 1, 2022 15:06:25 GMT
I do think encouraging Park & Ride is probably a good idea as well because in the case of places such as Hampstead, there is lackluster parking, and what I find whenever I use the 268 is that a lot of people board at Golders Green/Golders Hill Park after either having parked the car or in the case of GG, used public transport and then board the 268. And as a result it's why the section of the 268 between Golders Green & the Royal Free is probably as busy as it is (and probably the busiest section of the route), because plenty of people are willing to do that type of journey even when there are alternatives such as the Tube. I suppose it could be called an "unofficial Park & Ride". I can’t P&R working in Inner London because you’ll just clog up another area. Outside London they work because towns are generally farther apart and P&R sites are usually in quiet areas so traffic can be dispersed easily. Some Outer London towns like Kingston & Bromley had P&R services (I’ve used the Bromley one myself) but they were removed, probably due to low ridership but not 100% sure Obviously official park and rides per se wouldn't work in Inner London but encouraging people to perhaps park a certain distance away and then ride a bus into town in probably a better way of doing it. Obviously stuff like branding would probably help this out. |
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Post by vjaska on Jan 1, 2022 15:36:07 GMT
I can’t P&R working in Inner London because you’ll just clog up another area. Outside London they work because towns are generally farther apart and P&R sites are usually in quiet areas so traffic can be dispersed easily. Some Outer London towns like Kingston & Bromley had P&R services (I’ve used the Bromley one myself) but they were removed, probably due to low ridership but not 100% sure Obviously official park and rides per se wouldn't work in Inner London but encouraging people to perhaps park a certain distance away and then ride a bus into town in probably a better way of doing it. Obviously stuff like branding would probably help this out. But your then dumping a parking issue on the doorstep of Outer London and due to congestion, it might take an age to get from a P&R site to the destination. |
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Post by TB123 on Jan 1, 2022 15:43:55 GMT
Right, a few predictions of mine for the London bus network. I'll do my wider society ones a bit later!
We see more electric bus orders - and I expect to see the first orders of the mini E200EV, the Volvo BZL and the Jewel E.
A TfL funding deal is agreed at the last minute with "less" draconian cuts of circa 5-10% to most services including buses and the definite postponement of projects like Bakerloo extension. Possibility of projects like DLR to Thamesmead continuing based off developer contributions. Also expect the intended RPI+1 fare rise will be watered down as with rail fares.
Throughout the year, and especially towards the end, many more proposals for significant restructuring of the inner/Central London bus network appear, envisaging the merging and withdrawing of several routes and vastly changing the face of many others. The 1/168 and 21/271 changes proceed, perhaps with a tweak or two.
At least 2-3 bus garages are closed or mothballed. Metroline Perivale is already expected to close soon. No garages open bar the Hayes relocation.
Progress is made on further tweaks to the outer London bus network, with Meridian Water & Waltham Forest a particular focus. The 497 is withdrawn.
The Stagecoach/Natex merger goes ahead - and at least one other operator changes ownership or sells up to another. Arriva likely changing ownership at a upper level, perhaps Lea Interchange changing hands.
The 159 returns to Arriva after a hiatus of 7 years and they stage a wider bounce back after lots of recent losses. Metroline continue to steadily decline but retain operation of key routes.
Most routes eligible receive a 2 year extension.
The Putney routes (14/39/74/430 etc) in a much revised format are awarded to RATP in a shock result after challenging the £10 a mile awards of recent times, enabling full utilisation of Wandsworth and Westbourne Park.
Almost all pre-2009 buses disappear from use and a large number of diesel doubles are replaced with hybrids displaced from cuts.
The 322 Optares enter service late.
Driver shortages continue further nessciating service cuts like we've seen with RATP and potentially the sub contracting of some routes, potentially even to an operator like Ensign.
Crossrail opens in May and the 304 finally gets introduced before the year end.
That's about it I think. Check back in a year to see how good my crystal ball is...
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Post by capitalomnibus on Jan 1, 2022 15:49:41 GMT
Arriva finally sold, to an existing transport operator that would cut it up or to a new entity that would keep the company the same as it is, but get rid of more of the lost making operations.
More cuts to bus routes in London, now also hitting the outskirts harder
Khan still begging for more money for TfL
Next bailout option is no money or let central government take control
Another fiasco with crossrail further delaying its opening
More stupid crazy protests with another new menace type eco warrior group
More people desert buses in London
TfL gets rid of the QIC and bonus payment scheme for operators to save money and just give a re-worked standard contract price
Elon Musk develops a Tesla bus
Electric LED monitor blinds become the new standard
More strikes on buses and trains due to rising costs post covid freezing wages
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Post by greenboy on Jan 1, 2022 18:01:09 GMT
Covid to continue to dominate but to a lesser degree.
The 1,168,271 etc proposals go ahead as planned with similar proposals and frequency reductions.
Hell to finally freeze over and the 24 to be altered, possibly even withdrawn completely with changes to other routes in part replacement.
Abellio continue to be successful gaining the 11 and 78 and retaining the 159, I think they might also gain at least one of the Sutton routes, the 154?
I wouldn't be greatly surprised if the 353 was withdrawn completely apart from school journeys and one of the R routes extended to Addington Village in part replacement.
Improved rates of pay for drivers to stem the flow leaving for better driving jobs elsewhere.
And quite possibly the government/DfT taking control.
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Post by TB123 on Jan 1, 2022 18:13:09 GMT
Covid to continue to dominate but to a lesser degree. The 1,168,271 etc proposals go ahead as planned with similar proposals and frequency reductions. Hell to finally freeze over and the 24 to be altered, possibly even withdrawn completely with changes to other routes in part replacement. Abellio continue to be successful gaining the 11 and 78 and retaining the 159, I think they might also gain at least one of the Sutton routes, the 154? I wouldn't be greatly surprised if the 353 was withdrawn completely apart from school journeys and one of the R routes extended to Addington Village in part replacement. Improved rates of pay for drivers to stem the flow leaving for better driving jobs elsewhere. And quite possibly the government/DfT taking control. I see a 353 withdrawal being extremely unlikely but it would not surprise me if to "match demand" the termini at that end was swapped with the 61 |
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Post by greenboy on Jan 1, 2022 18:16:10 GMT
Lowering parking fees means we haven't learn't anything when it comes to improving public transport and whilst depending less on the car. Not really, ultimately one of the massive turnaways for those shopping on the high street was high cost of parking. I understand for some high streets however such as Walworth, Brixton, Streatham etc there is adequate transportation in place whereas in some parts of the country there isn't in the way of buses & until that investment starts then I imagine for those driving into town centres it'll be by car. Apparently Croydon has quite high parking fees for example. Which is intrinsically linked to the decline of Croydon town centre, exorbitant parking charges mean people go elsewhere such as the retail parks around Purley Way which as far as I'm aware offer free parking. |
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Post by LondonNorthern on Jan 1, 2022 18:24:39 GMT
And quite possibly the government/DfT taking control. This statement I think is for the better especially as the government seem to be interested in Bussing Back Better which TFL ARE NOT interested in & TFL consistently ask for government support, well they can have their cake and have the government control it if they can't control it themselves. |
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we are starting to learn to live with Covid, seeing as a Lockdown wouldn't have stopped Omicron tearing through London. 
King Charles presents Spurs' Antonio Conte with the League Title after back to back wins the remainder of the season 
DW411 makes a return to London having been rebuilt with a Daimler 6 cylinder engine and is converted to open deck with Gemini3 body. This bus is in Spurs victory parade down the High Road, but is subbed by EN9 after breaking down at the junction with Lordship Lane. 
