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Post by capitalomnibus on Mar 6, 2021 11:23:25 GMT
In terms of "the driver has been instructed to wait here to regulate the service," it is not always the controller. On the i-bus and on their schedule card the driver can see if they are running early or late. If they are more than 2minutes and half (I think, please correct me) then the i-bus start bleeping. We cannot blame drivers for waiting at bus stops. Some choose to travel 15-20 mph throughout the whole route and other choose to drive 'normal, a.k.a to the conditions of the traffic and wait at an appropriate bus stop. As I mentioned either in this thread or another one in this part of the forum, there are quite a few routes timetable that are padded out. I assume most operators do that to ensure the buses are punctual and they want to meet the QSI and get those extra coins in their pocket. Bare in mind that years ago people were complaining when most buses were not coming to the schedule and they (passengers) had no idea when the bus is coming. Once we have a fully integrated technology that links buses to arrival at bus stops in terms of I-bus and now available on tfl website, people start complaining. Do you want a regulated punctual bus or the old times when drivers would not follow the timetable and just all bunch up? Choose one Maybe 5 years ago I was a massive complainer but I am resigned to the fact that the bus drivers cannot do much. I bet many drivers, if they had the chance would just continue driving without regulating until the end, but obviously they are not going to do that a potentially (most likely) lose their job. My only recommendation is that TFL allows buses to be 4-5 minutes earlier than timetabled instead of two minutes. I think TfL should only count a bus as on time if it *arrives* at a stop between 0-8 minutes late. It is wrong to allow buses to run early, especially on low frequency routes. The problem is the greedy operators running padded schedules. Buses also should be allowed to be held at stops, especially at night. I agree that most drivers would keep driving without regulating. A lot of the heavy footed night drivers these days depart between 5-10 minutes late just so they can floor it. Some depart on time but then hold at the second stop presumably because they’ve passed the first QSI checkpoint. Pre-COVID you only had a few drivers who did that. But there are not much low frequency routes, they are not regulated in that way as much. The bus has to be 2 minutes 30 seconds ahead of schedule to be counted as early and over the 5 minutes behind schedule to be counted as late; otherwise it would then be 'on time' If it is a low frequency route then departing the stand 5-10 late would count against it and that QSI point shown as late.
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Post by capitalomnibus on Mar 6, 2021 11:27:49 GMT
In terms of "the driver has been instructed to wait here to regulate the service," it is not always the controller. On the i-bus and on their schedule card the driver can see if they are running early or late. If they are more than 2minutes and half (I think, please correct me) then the i-bus start bleeping. We cannot blame drivers for waiting at bus stops. Some choose to travel 15-20 mph throughout the whole route and other choose to drive 'normal, a.k.a to the conditions of the traffic and wait at an appropriate bus stop. As I mentioned either in this thread or another one in this part of the forum, there are quite a few routes timetable that are padded out. I assume most operators do that to ensure the buses are punctual and they want to meet the QSI and get those extra coins in their pocket. Bare in mind that years ago people were complaining when most buses were not coming to the schedule and they (passengers) had no idea when the bus is coming. Once we have a fully integrated technology that links buses to arrival at bus stops in terms of I-bus and now available on tfl website, people start complaining. Do you want a regulated punctual bus or the old times when drivers would not follow the timetable and just all bunch up? Choose one Maybe 5 years ago I was a massive complainer but I am resigned to the fact that the bus drivers cannot do much. I bet many drivers, if they had the chance would just continue driving without regulating until the end, but obviously they are not going to do that a potentially (most likely) lose their job. My only recommendation is that TFL allows buses to be 4-5 minutes earlier than timetabled instead of two minutes. There is two things to this, some is down to excessive timetables, others driver action. I have seen over the years countless drivers, leave the stand 2 or 3 early then just literally punching & scratching their leader or another bus just not to pick up passengers and have an easy ride. This type of driver even if early or out of headway would not bother looking for things to slow them down i.e. catching traffic lights, letting people cross the road, stopping at bus stops etc. This then created gaps, the said driver would then complain there is nothing out there and its dead why he is running early, whilst the driver behind complains that it is busy and he is picking up all the people.
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Post by SILENCED on Mar 6, 2021 11:59:14 GMT
In terms of "the driver has been instructed to wait here to regulate the service," it is not always the controller. On the i-bus and on their schedule card the driver can see if they are running early or late. If they are more than 2minutes and half (I think, please correct me) then the i-bus start bleeping. We cannot blame drivers for waiting at bus stops. Some choose to travel 15-20 mph throughout the whole route and other choose to drive 'normal, a.k.a to the conditions of the traffic and wait at an appropriate bus stop. As I mentioned either in this thread or another one in this part of the forum, there are quite a few routes timetable that are padded out. I assume most operators do that to ensure the buses are punctual and they want to meet the QSI and get those extra coins in their pocket. Bare in mind that years ago people were complaining when most buses were not coming to the schedule and they (passengers) had no idea when the bus is coming. Once we have a fully integrated technology that links buses to arrival at bus stops in terms of I-bus and now available on tfl website, people start complaining. Do you want a regulated punctual bus or the old times when drivers would not follow the timetable and just all bunch up? Choose one Maybe 5 years ago I was a massive complainer but I am resigned to the fact that the bus drivers cannot do much. I bet many drivers, if they had the chance would just continue driving without regulating until the end, but obviously they are not going to do that a potentially (most likely) lose their job. My only recommendation is that TFL allows buses to be 4-5 minutes earlier than timetabled instead of two minutes. There is two things to this, some is down to excessive timetables, others driver action. I have seen over the years countless drivers, leave the stand 2 or 3 early then just literally punching & scratching their leader or another bus just not to pick up passengers and have an easy ride. This type of driver even if early or out of headway would not bother looking for things to slow them down i.e. catching traffic lights, letting people cross the road, stopping at bus stops etc. This then created gaps, the said driver would then complain there is nothing out there and its dead why he is running early, whilst the driver behind complains that it is busy and he is picking up all the people. Surely with live tracking of buses, there is evidence to monitor this kind of behaviour, and to put appropriate corrective measures in place.
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Post by Dillon95 on Mar 6, 2021 12:07:57 GMT
Hope I’m not repeating this as I don’t recall this ever being mentioned, but according to this post on FB, there’s a change to the hopper fare where the 10 minute buffer time has been reduced to 2 minutes Why have they done that then? I’d guess to make more money.
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Post by SILENCED on Mar 6, 2021 12:11:51 GMT
Why have they done that then? I’d guess to make more money. Forecast to be £1.4m more. A sum not to be sniffed at.
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Post by Dillon95 on Mar 6, 2021 12:14:01 GMT
I’d guess to make more money. Forecast to be £1.4m more. A sum not to be sniffed at. Definitely worth doing then.
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Post by SILENCED on Mar 6, 2021 12:21:52 GMT
Forecast to be £1.4m more. A sum not to be sniffed at. Definitely worth doing then. Forecast and what they actually take, might be completely different things. Sometimes these things are wildly optimistic, and others make no allowances for people changing behaviour.
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Mar 6, 2021 12:53:34 GMT
Why have they done that then? I’d guess to make more money. Was answered by myself and in more detail by Eastlondoner62 only a few posts above. Not sure how some replies get missed.
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Post by M1104 on Mar 6, 2021 13:12:34 GMT
Baring in mind present situations, are (or were) there any plans in sight to replace the blue Wayfarer machines that's been in use since the late 90s? I know it's not exactly a high priority as they still do what they say on the tin.
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Post by wirewiper on Mar 6, 2021 13:29:59 GMT
I'm surprised that no-one has yet commented on the Budget, which saw fuel duty frozen yet again - for the tenth consecutive year running - in the same week that rail fares were increased by an inflation-busting 2.6% on average. The Department of Transport spoke of traffic reduction and modal shift in last year's "Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge"; although clearly it's a challenge the Government has no intention of rising to.
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Post by SILENCED on Mar 6, 2021 13:35:09 GMT
I'm surprised that no-one has yet commented on the Budget, which saw fuel duty frozen yet again - for the tenth consecutive year running - in the same week that rail fares were increased by an inflation-busting 2.6% on average. The Department of Transport spoke of traffic reduction and modal shift in last year's "Decarbonising Transport: Setting the Challenge"; although clearly it's a challenge the Government has no intention of rising to. The authorities are crippling the motorist is many other ways, grateful for any respite. LTNs mean you are using more fuel, which in itself is a tax increase.
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Post by smokenandos on Mar 6, 2021 15:04:13 GMT
In terms of "the driver has been instructed to wait here to regulate the service," it is not always the controller. On the i-bus and on their schedule card the driver can see if they are running early or late. If they are more than 2minutes and half (I think, please correct me) then the i-bus start bleeping. We cannot blame drivers for waiting at bus stops. Some choose to travel 15-20 mph throughout the whole route and other choose to drive 'normal, a.k.a to the conditions of the traffic and wait at an appropriate bus stop. As I mentioned either in this thread or another one in this part of the forum, there are quite a few routes timetable that are padded out. I assume most operators do that to ensure the buses are punctual and they want to meet the QSI and get those extra coins in their pocket. Bare in mind that years ago people were complaining when most buses were not coming to the schedule and they (passengers) had no idea when the bus is coming. Once we have a fully integrated technology that links buses to arrival at bus stops in terms of I-bus and now available on tfl website, people start complaining. Do you want a regulated punctual bus or the old times when drivers would not follow the timetable and just all bunch up? Choose one Maybe 5 years ago I was a massive complainer but I am resigned to the fact that the bus drivers cannot do much. I bet many drivers, if they had the chance would just continue driving without regulating until the end, but obviously they are not going to do that a potentially (most likely) lose their job. My only recommendation is that TFL allows buses to be 4-5 minutes earlier than timetabled instead of two minutes. There is two things to this, some is down to excessive timetables, others driver action. I have seen over the years countless drivers, leave the stand 2 or 3 early then just literally punching & scratching their leader or another bus just not to pick up passengers and have an easy ride. This type of driver even if early or out of headway would not bother looking for things to slow them down i.e. catching traffic lights, letting people cross the road, stopping at bus stops etc. This then created gaps, the said driver would then complain there is nothing out there and its dead why he is running early, whilst the driver behind complains that it is busy and he is picking up all the people. For low frequency night routes (which are most routes), the timetable is just way too long for most routes, especially long routes such as N89, N136. I've noticed Go-Ahead timetables are always padded out and very rarely are they ever reduced even during times where there is little traffic and passengers (such as lockdown). I guess the main reason is so that they're more likely to hit QSI points on-time whereas other operators like recently Abellio has cut the running time for some of the routes like 159 but the issue is that then the PVR is reduced so there are less duty for drivers. A lot of times, especially on a Fri/Sat night drivers will have to crawl at 10-15mph on these routes that have way too much running time but I don't think drivers are allowed to leave the stand over 3 mins late otherwise they will get hassled by the controllers since the first stop is a QSI point. I've noticed controllers are pretty strict (well Go-Ahead ones) for most routes until the last bus where they seem to really care as I've noticed some drivers will just floor the crap out of the bus arriving their destination 6 to even 15mins early so they can get home earlier lol. But yeah usually if you get a fast driver on a night route they will try to run 2-3 mins late if possible so they don't get hassled by their controllers for being over 2min 30s early
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Post by Dillon95 on Mar 6, 2021 18:38:44 GMT
I’d guess to make more money. Was answered by myself and in more detail by Eastlondoner62 only a few posts above. Not sure how some replies get missed. It’s a mystery
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Mar 9, 2021 18:30:52 GMT
Would have put this in the mayoral election thread, but I understand some members might not want to read that thread but I think this will be interest to everyone.
Purdah starts on the 22nd of March 2021.
While during a general election Purdah doesn't tend to affect TfL day to day, it is much more likely to do so during a mayoral election. "Bombshell" tenders are usually not announced during a mayoral election Purdah. Notably all the results announced during Purdah 2016 were all retains so while they still get announced it's nothing special. We're probably also unlikely to see any major consultations released or responded to during this time.
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Post by Busboy105 on Mar 9, 2021 18:36:47 GMT
Would have put this in the mayoral election thread, but I understand some members might not want to read that thread but I think this will be interest to everyone. Purdah starts on the 22nd of March 2021. While during a general election Purdah doesn't tend to affect TfL day to day, it is much more likely to do so during a mayoral election. "Bombshell" tenders are usually not announced during a mayoral election Purdah. Notably all the results announced during Purdah 2016 were all retains so while they still get announced it's nothing special. We're probably also unlikely to see any major consultations released or responded to during this time. What’s Purdah?
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