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Post by vjaska on Aug 13, 2024 19:00:53 GMT
Forest Road is 20mph all the way to Waterworks corner. Oh I know but they were doing a lot less than that  |
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Post by southlondonbus on Aug 13, 2024 19:07:53 GMT
Forest Road is 20mph all the way to Waterworks corner. Oh I know but they were doing a lot less than that Christ that must have felt painful. |
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Post by ThinLizzy on Aug 13, 2024 20:30:38 GMT
So I finally got around to riding the SL10, SL1 & SL2 today - loadings were decent for the holiday time without being very busy or rammed but I'm not impressed with the fact two of the three routes had regulation happening - this shouldn't occur on limited stop routes. The SL10 had no regulation but the driver was behaving at times as if he was driving a regular 183, letting everything and anything go in front and driving at middling speed. Not as bad as the SL1 & SL2 though - driver regulated twice on the SL1 (at Crooked Billet, Walthamstow Avenue and the penultimate stop, Walthamstow Market) though at least the SL1 driver wasn't slow for most the journey until we hit Walthamstow Avenue where they drove far slower than the 50mph it is. The SL2 was worse - driver regulated at Waltham Forest Town Hall, then piddled along until Woodford Avenue, picked up speed from there to Barking and then started easing off on the A406 before crawling to Woolwich Ferry. Also, I do think the SL1 needs a couple of changes to it's stops - I think Crooked Billet, Walthamstow Avenue should be dropped given buses stop at Crooked Billet Roundabout which provides much better interchange with other buses and I think the second stop in North Finchley is completely unnecessary given how close it is to the first stop at North Finchley Bus Station. I also think they need to put a stop in for North Middlesex Hospital. As for the SL2, they really to sort out the situation surrounding the Armada Way stops as well. On a selfish point of view, it would be great if the SL2 went up Armada Way and stopped inside the Retail Park, rather than the closed stops in no-mans land outside the Retail Park. It would also be a shorter walk for me from Beckton Depot 😂 I have to say, I absolutely love the SL2- the schedule could do with a bit of tightening and it's really starting to pick up decent loads along the length of its route now |
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 13, 2024 20:35:28 GMT
So I finally got around to riding the SL10, SL1 & SL2 today - loadings were decent for the holiday time without being very busy or rammed but I'm not impressed with the fact two of the three routes had regulation happening - this shouldn't occur on limited stop routes. The SL10 had no regulation but the driver was behaving at times as if he was driving a regular 183, letting everything and anything go in front and driving at middling speed. Not as bad as the SL1 & SL2 though - driver regulated twice on the SL1 (at Crooked Billet, Walthamstow Avenue and the penultimate stop, Walthamstow Market) though at least the SL1 driver wasn't slow for most the journey until we hit Walthamstow Avenue where they drove far slower than the 50mph it is. The SL2 was worse - driver regulated at Waltham Forest Town Hall, then piddled along until Woodford Avenue, picked up speed from there to Barking and then started easing off on the A406 before crawling to Woolwich Ferry. Also, I do think the SL1 needs a couple of changes to it's stops - I think Crooked Billet, Walthamstow Avenue should be dropped given buses stop at Crooked Billet Roundabout which provides much better interchange with other buses and I think the second stop in North Finchley is completely unnecessary given how close it is to the first stop at North Finchley Bus Station. I also think they need to put a stop in for North Middlesex Hospital. As for the SL2, they really to sort out the situation surrounding the Armada Way stops as well. On a selfish point of view, it would be great if the SL2 went up Armada Way and stopped inside the Retail Park, rather than the closed stops in no-mans land outside the Retail Park. It would also be a shorter walk for me from Beckton Depot 😂 I have to say, I absolutely love the SL2- the schedule could do with a bit of tightening and it's really starting to pick up decent loads along the length of its route now I think tightening has to be a given now, I'm all for buses sticking to the timetable but the timetable seems to be ridiculous. It's genuinely an express route where the all stops routes can be faster as I've been on multiple journeys now where an EL1 has been faster from Ilford to Barking and a 366 has been faster from Barking to Gallions Reach, and that's despite the double run through Beckton Triangle. While I have not clue how Ilford Lane can be sorted I think the SL2 should be rerouted southbound via the 366 through Jenkins Lane, the problem would be the northbound return where there's a banned right turn from the North Circular onto Eric Clarke Lane. You could have buses doing one route the other way but then all that'd happen is buses skip traffic one direction and bunch up in the jam heading the other way. |
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Post by ThinLizzy on Aug 13, 2024 20:51:05 GMT
On a selfish point of view, it would be great if the SL2 went up Armada Way and stopped inside the Retail Park, rather than the closed stops in no-mans land outside the Retail Park. It would also be a shorter walk for me from Beckton Depot 😂 I have to say, I absolutely love the SL2- the schedule could do with a bit of tightening and it's really starting to pick up decent loads along the length of its route now I think tightening has to be a given now, I'm all for buses sticking to the timetable but the timetable seems to be ridiculous. It's genuinely an express route where the all stops routes can be faster as I've been on multiple journeys now where an EL1 has been faster from Ilford to Barking and a 366 has been faster from Barking to Gallions Reach, and that's despite the double run through Beckton Triangle. While I have not clue how Ilford Lane can be sorted I think the SL2 should be rerouted southbound via the 366 through Jenkins Lane, the problem would be the northbound return where there's a banned right turn from the North Circular onto Eric Clarke Lane. You could have buses doing one route the other way but then all that'd happen is buses skip traffic one direction and bunch up in the jam heading the other way. I think if TfL or whoever were to sort out the Traffic Light phasing at the Beckton Triangle junction it could really speed up the SL2. Quite often traffic is backed up to Gallions Reach, even at 2pm during the week. I do wonder if the SL2 would be better stopping at Ilford Station, then Ilford Hill and running direct along the A406 in to Barking, then round Gurdwara Way to Barking Station. |
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 13, 2024 21:02:57 GMT
I think tightening has to be a given now, I'm all for buses sticking to the timetable but the timetable seems to be ridiculous. It's genuinely an express route where the all stops routes can be faster as I've been on multiple journeys now where an EL1 has been faster from Ilford to Barking and a 366 has been faster from Barking to Gallions Reach, and that's despite the double run through Beckton Triangle. While I have not clue how Ilford Lane can be sorted I think the SL2 should be rerouted southbound via the 366 through Jenkins Lane, the problem would be the northbound return where there's a banned right turn from the North Circular onto Eric Clarke Lane. You could have buses doing one route the other way but then all that'd happen is buses skip traffic one direction and bunch up in the jam heading the other way. I think if TfL or whoever were to sort out the Traffic Light phasing at the Beckton Triangle junction it could really speed up the SL2. Quite often traffic is ofteb backed up to Gallions Reach, even at 2pm during the week. I do wonder if the SL2 would be better stopping at Ilford Station, then Ilford Hill and running direct along the A406 in to Barking, then round Gurdwara Way to Barking Station. I think there was an attempt to fix that phasing, however it's not actually that phasing that's the problem. The problem is the set of lights by the roundabout which back up towards the Triangle junction, so even if the A1020 remains green, cars don't actually move due to the yellow box on the junction so can miss the lights. You can't change the lights on the roundabout because the flow coming from the A13 is far greater than the traffic from the A1020. There's also the issue where if you give the A1020 more time at the Triangle junction the traffic backs up into the retail park and gridlocks the B&Q and McDonald's car parks. I think the unfortunate reality there is the lights are the best you can get them and the road is just a prime example of what happens when the links on the buses are poor enough to a point nearly everyone in the area owns a car and all the retail parks there have free parking. The issue with the SL2 running through the A406 would mean that it misses the Chapel Road stop completely which is where changeovers happen. You could counteract this by making an SL2 specific stop further back on the bus lane, but then going down Gurdwara Way is its own nightmare half the time so might not be suitable at all. I do have to say I'd be interested in seeing the SL2s busiest pinch points, while loads have increased slightly I see buses at varying times at Barking throughout both peaks and I've never ever actually seen one loaded to any decent levels compared to all the other routes. The past few mornings I've seen SL2s around 8am and 9am and all times an EL2 or something would come and drop a heaving of passengers at Barking Station for maybe one or two people to get off the SL2. I know the SL2 sees a lot more usage north of Ilford, so I wonder if removing Barking altogether and having buses use the flyover to avoid Barking would be the answer, with Barking getting a further Superloop route in the future to make up, hopefully heading down Barking Road. |
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Post by WH241 on Aug 13, 2024 21:28:15 GMT
So I finally got around to riding the SL10, SL1 & SL2 today - loadings were decent for the holiday time without being very busy or rammed but I'm not impressed with the fact two of the three routes had regulation happening - this shouldn't occur on limited stop routes. The SL10 had no regulation but the driver was behaving at times as if he was driving a regular 183, letting everything and anything go in front and driving at middling speed. Not as bad as the SL1 & SL2 though - driver regulated twice on the SL1 (at Crooked Billet, Walthamstow Avenue and the penultimate stop, Walthamstow Market) though at least the SL1 driver wasn't slow for most the journey until we hit Walthamstow Avenue where they drove far slower than the 50mph it is. The SL2 was worse - driver regulated at Waltham Forest Town Hall, then piddled along until Woodford Avenue, picked up speed from there to Barking and then started easing off on the A406 before crawling to Woolwich Ferry. Also, I do think the SL1 needs a couple of changes to it's stops - I think Crooked Billet, Walthamstow Avenue should be dropped given buses stop at Crooked Billet Roundabout which provides much better interchange with other buses and I think the second stop in North Finchley is completely unnecessary given how close it is to the first stop at North Finchley Bus Station. I also think they need to put a stop in for North Middlesex Hospital. As for the SL2, they really to sort out the situation surrounding the Armada Way stops as well. On a selfish point of view, it would be great if the SL2 went up Armada Way and stopped inside the Retail Park, rather than the closed stops in no-mans land outside the Retail Park. It would also be a shorter walk for me from Beckton Depot 😂 I have to say, I absolutely love the SL2- the schedule could do with a bit of tightening and it's really starting to pick up decent loads along the length of its route now I am so impressed how successful the SL2 has been building up passengers so quickly! The section between North Woolwich and Barking is much more popular that I ever imagined it would be! I wonder how passengers used to travel between these points in the past. It must have been tedious if they were using several buses. I have long suggested the route should run via Gallions Reach and think it would build up even more passengers. |
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Post by ThinLizzy on Aug 13, 2024 21:48:51 GMT
I think if TfL or whoever were to sort out the Traffic Light phasing at the Beckton Triangle junction it could really speed up the SL2. Quite often traffic is ofteb backed up to Gallions Reach, even at 2pm during the week. I do wonder if the SL2 would be better stopping at Ilford Station, then Ilford Hill and running direct along the A406 in to Barking, then round Gurdwara Way to Barking Station. I think there was an attempt to fix that phasing, however it's not actually that phasing that's the problem. The problem is the set of lights by the roundabout which back up towards the Triangle junction, so even if the A1020 remains green, cars don't actually move due to the yellow box on the junction so can miss the lights. You can't change the lights on the roundabout because the flow coming from the A13 is far greater than the traffic from the A1020. There's also the issue where if you give the A1020 more time at the Triangle junction the traffic backs up into the retail park and gridlocks the B&Q and McDonald's car parks. I think the unfortunate reality there is the lights are the best you can get them and the road is just a prime example of what happens when the links on the buses are poor enough to a point nearly everyone in the area owns a car and all the retail parks there have free parking. The issue with the SL2 running through the A406 would mean that it misses the Chapel Road stop completely which is where changeovers happen. You could counteract this by making an SL2 specific stop further back on the bus lane, but then going down Gurdwara Way is its own nightmare half the time so might not be suitable at all. I do have to say I'd be interested in seeing the SL2s busiest pinch points, while loads have increased slightly I see buses at varying times at Barking throughout both peaks and I've never ever actually seen one loaded to any decent levels compared to all the other routes. The past few mornings I've seen SL2s around 8am and 9am and all times an EL2 or something would come and drop a heaving of passengers at Barking Station for maybe one or two people to get off the SL2. I know the SL2 sees a lot more usage north of Ilford, so I wonder if removing Barking altogether and having buses use the flyover to avoid Barking would be the answer, with Barking getting a further Superloop route in the future to make up, hopefully heading down Barking Road. I would say at least 75% of usage is north of Ilford. South of Ilford it varies. I've seen 15-20 people get on at UEL in the late afternoon, although as it's now the summer break, that number has gone down significantly. Buses at UEL generally have a handful of people on them, however, I've yet to see one turn up at UEL empty. |
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