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Post by vjaska on Aug 16, 2022 11:39:27 GMT
Ranting a bit here, but it really is sad the way companies like RATP and Arriva are not raising wages along with inflation. Quoting the reasons for the RATP strikes, driver's wages had a 3.6% increase in 2022 and are expected to increase by 4.2% next year. Inflation is currently standing at 11.8%.
Arriva drivers in Yorkshire weren't even able to afford food in some cases, which is shocking.
Personally I think it should be a legal requirement to raise wages with inflation. It really is shocking how companies like RATP and Arriva make large profits at the expense of their staff. Those are just some examples, there's many more companies that probably do it. It's just really sad. I really doubt the drivers not being able to afford food. There is a lot of nonsense put out in the press and political propaganda. I am sure those if they said they were not able to afford food, when you check the money what they are spending it on, it may see various other non necessities like, sky TV etc. If I was really going to be on the breadline I would ditch internet, mobile phone contract, landline etc. Sell off a lot of things, there are 101 ways to be a hustler. But yet, you sound like you’ve been sucked in by propaganda yourself judging by this post…
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Post by danorak on Aug 16, 2022 21:52:59 GMT
I usually press the bell as my driver pulls away from the stop before, then press it once more to remind the driver, as I can imagine drivers sometimes zone out, which has happened before That is THE worst thing to do. Because it can be forgotten. I NEVER press the bell when I move off from the previous stop. Been riding buses where they did not even have a bell monitor in the cab and remember in the 80's many people missing their stop that way. This is one of those 'Very British Problems' isn't it? Fretting about the etiquette of ringing the bell. I never ring as the bus is leaving the stop, it seems premature and the driver may forget. So I tie myself up in knots trying to judge about two-thirds of the way to my stop. I do wonder how some drivers cope with the repeated tinny noise of the bell all day: it would drive me to distraction. I can't really blame anyone who zones it out.
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Post by Eastlondoner62 on Aug 16, 2022 22:04:42 GMT
That is THE worst thing to do. Because it can be forgotten. I NEVER press the bell when I move off from the previous stop. Been riding buses where they did not even have a bell monitor in the cab and remember in the 80's many people missing their stop that way. This is one of those 'Very British Problems' isn't it? Fretting about the etiquette of ringing the bell. I never ring as the bus is leaving the stop, it seems premature and the driver may forget. So I tie myself up in knots trying to judge about two-thirds of the way to my stop. I do wonder how some drivers cope with the repeated tinny noise of the bell all day: it would drive me to distraction. I can't really blame anyone who zones it out. I would think when the stop announcement goes off is the best time to press the bell.
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Post by southlondon413 on Aug 16, 2022 22:07:53 GMT
That is THE worst thing to do. Because it can be forgotten. I NEVER press the bell when I move off from the previous stop. Been riding buses where they did not even have a bell monitor in the cab and remember in the 80's many people missing their stop that way. This is one of those 'Very British Problems' isn't it? Fretting about the etiquette of ringing the bell. I never ring as the bus is leaving the stop, it seems premature and the driver may forget. So I tie myself up in knots trying to judge about two-thirds of the way to my stop. I do wonder how some drivers cope with the repeated tinny noise of the bell all day: it would drive me to distraction. I can't really blame anyone who zones it out. It’s like Christmas music when you work retail, you fail to notice it after a while unless someone points it out.
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Post by abellion on Aug 17, 2022 10:28:40 GMT
There is currently chaos in Crystal Palace. T16 (training bus) broke down on Westow Street earlier, and is waiting for a tow truck.
Directly opposite a car was parked, completely blocking a 417 from getting past. There is a queue now, with a 417, 432, 450 and 322 all trapped and blocking the road. The drivers were looking around to find the car’s owner and trying to find a solution but they’re currently stuck. Completely ridiculous that someone parked their car on a tiny road despite the fact that a bus was clearly there with hazards on taking up most of the road.
1010 managed to get past. T227, HV133, SLS4, SLS17, HV296 and 1003 are all stuck.
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Post by southlondon413 on Aug 17, 2022 10:37:38 GMT
There is currently chaos in Crystal Palace. T16 (training bus) broke down on Westow Street earlier, and is waiting for a tow truck. Directly opposite a car was parked, completely blocking a 417 from getting past. There is a queue now, with a 417, 432, 450 and 322 all trapped and blocking the road. The drivers were looking around to find the car’s owner and trying to find a solution but they’re currently stuck. Completely ridiculous that someone parked their car on a tiny road despite the fact that a bus was clearly there with hazards on taking up most of the road. 1010 managed to get past. T227, HV133, SLS4, SLS17, HV296 and 1003 are all stuck. Playing devils advocate here but how do you know the car wasn’t there first and the bus driver is actually at fault for failing to recognise where their bus might block the road? Even then if you saw the driver pull up why didn’t you say anything to them or why didn’t the driver? So you either know what they look like and aren’t bothering to help or you don’t know the full situation. But y’know assumptions are fun.
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Post by ronnie on Aug 17, 2022 10:45:18 GMT
There is currently chaos in Crystal Palace. T16 (training bus) broke down on Westow Street earlier, and is waiting for a tow truck. Directly opposite a car was parked, completely blocking a 417 from getting past. There is a queue now, with a 417, 432, 450 and 322 all trapped and blocking the road. The drivers were looking around to find the car’s owner and trying to find a solution but they’re currently stuck. Completely ridiculous that someone parked their car on a tiny road despite the fact that a bus was clearly there with hazards on taking up most of the road. 1010 managed to get past. T227, HV133, SLS4, SLS17, HV296 and 1003 are all stuck. Playing devils advocate here but how do you know the car wasn’t there first and the bus driver is actually at fault for failing to recognise where their bus might block the road? Even then if you saw the driver pull up why didn’t you say anything to them or why didn’t the driver? So you either know what they look like and aren’t bothering to help or you don’t know the full situation. But y’know assumptions are fun. In all fairness the bus may have broken down suddenly. I remember when I did the 43 end to end my first bus broke down bang at the signal at the junction between archway road, southWood Lane and muswell hill road (trying to turn right, I was northbound). The poor northbound 263s had to use the other carriageway to get past as there wasn’t enough space in the usual lane owing to where it ended up
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Post by southlondon413 on Aug 17, 2022 10:47:30 GMT
Playing devils advocate here but how do you know the car wasn’t there first and the bus driver is actually at fault for failing to recognise where their bus might block the road? Even then if you saw the driver pull up why didn’t you say anything to them or why didn’t the driver? So you either know what they look like and aren’t bothering to help or you don’t know the full situation. But y’know assumptions are fun. In all fairness the bus may have broken down suddenly. I remember when I did the 43 end to end my first bus broke down bang at the signal at the junction between archway road, southWood Lane and muswell hill road (trying to turn right, I was northbound). The poor northbound 263s had to use the other carriageway to get past as there wasn’t enough space in the usual lane owing to where it ended up No doubt, just using the opportunity to point out the notion that a car driver could have the foreknowledge to know a bus was going to break down there.
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Post by ronnie on Aug 17, 2022 10:59:16 GMT
In all fairness the bus may have broken down suddenly. I remember when I did the 43 end to end my first bus broke down bang at the signal at the junction between archway road, southWood Lane and muswell hill road (trying to turn right, I was northbound). The poor northbound 263s had to use the other carriageway to get past as there wasn’t enough space in the usual lane owing to where it ended up No doubt, just using the opportunity to point out the notion that a car driver could have the foreknowledge to know a bus was going to break down there. Of course! Difficult to know what came first, the chicken or the egg!
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Post by abellion on Aug 17, 2022 11:10:04 GMT
There is currently chaos in Crystal Palace. T16 (training bus) broke down on Westow Street earlier, and is waiting for a tow truck. Directly opposite a car was parked, completely blocking a 417 from getting past. There is a queue now, with a 417, 432, 450 and 322 all trapped and blocking the road. The drivers were looking around to find the car’s owner and trying to find a solution but they’re currently stuck. Completely ridiculous that someone parked their car on a tiny road despite the fact that a bus was clearly there with hazards on taking up most of the road. 1010 managed to get past. T227, HV133, SLS4, SLS17, HV296 and 1003 are all stuck. Playing devils advocate here but how do you know the car wasn’t there first and the bus driver is actually at fault for failing to recognise where their bus might block the road? Even then if you saw the driver pull up why didn’t you say anything to them or why didn’t the driver? So you either know what they look like and aren’t bothering to help or you don’t know the full situation. But y’know assumptions are fun. T227 was the first bus blocked, nothing before was delayed. The driver said T16 was broken down for a while so it was the consensus that the car parked afterwards and that’s what was said. I didn’t see the driver of the parked car, and nobody else knew where they went - the 417 driver went into multiple stores trying to find who it was, and some of the people on the street were getting involved. You are definitely right in saying that the car could’ve got there first but from what we were told that wasn’t the case - I posted what I knew. A few people did also mention that the car wasn’t parked properly too.
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Post by yunus on Aug 19, 2022 4:21:16 GMT
Morning to all,
Bit of a memory lane rant - who remembers the "another red bus going green for London"?
Time flies for sure, I never thought that there would be so many Hybrid buses & the Electrics are now increasing. Just a few years ago, conventional Diesel buses were everywhere and of course in Central London.
Read elsewhere as I am researching that it was planned that from 2012 only Hybrid buses would be ordered. Anyone know why that was dropped, along with the SD Hybrid buses being withdrawn?
I can certainly see the London Bus Industry changing rapidly in the future. Time will tell. Will be sad seeing Diesel buses depart but it's reality.
Hope everyone can get around as quick as possible with the strikes.
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Post by snowman on Aug 19, 2022 5:30:56 GMT
Morning to all, Bit of a memory lane rant - who remembers the "another red bus going green for London"? Time flies for sure, I never thought that there would be so many Hybrid buses & the Electrics are now increasing. Just a few years ago, conventional Diesel buses were everywhere and of course in Central London. Read elsewhere as I am researching that it was planned that from 2012 only Hybrid buses would be ordered. Anyone know why that was dropped, along with the SD Hybrid buses being withdrawn? I can certainly see the London Bus Industry changing rapidly in the future. Time will tell. Will be sad seeing Diesel buses depart but it's reality. Hope everyone can get around as quick as possible with the strikes. From memory, it was found that hybrids saved fuel about 20-30%, but it varied a lot with the route, the more they hung about, or slowed and restarted at traffic lights the better the savings were. As the hybrid cost premium fell to nearer £110k as production ramped up, it was found the cost was recovered in fuel savings over about 6-9 years. But in the early days they were not that reliable, until the manufacturers improved them and sorted out some troublesome parts and improved the control software. About 2012 buses were roughly £120k for single decks, £200k for double decks, with a premium of about £130k for hybrid About the first 100 hybrids, including the 50-60 introduced 2009, were all subsidised by Government green bus funds. Only when they got them reliable enough did TfL insist on hybrids, initially for buses in central zone. It was about 2014 when serious numbers went into service. It all then got overtaken by low emission corridors and new hybrid buses started to get moved to these by swapping around fleets. Regarding the single decks, they never really got developed, so were plagued by the less reliable hybrid kit. Quite simply they tended to be used on less congested routes in the suburbs, so the fuel savings were less, and it was going to be 15-20 years before saved enough fuel to cover the extra capital cost. So just made no sense to have full hybrid single decks. Later on some other fuel saving ideas were developed. I think there are now about 2100 diesel single decks, but diesel double decks are rapidly falling and down to about 1900 buses
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Post by abellion on Aug 19, 2022 14:30:39 GMT
Morning to all, Bit of a memory lane rant - who remembers the "another red bus going green for London"? Time flies for sure, I never thought that there would be so many Hybrid buses & the Electrics are now increasing. Just a few years ago, conventional Diesel buses were everywhere and of course in Central London. Read elsewhere as I am researching that it was planned that from 2012 only Hybrid buses would be ordered. Anyone know why that was dropped, along with the SD Hybrid buses being withdrawn? I can certainly see the London Bus Industry changing rapidly in the future. Time will tell. Will be sad seeing Diesel buses depart but it's reality. Hope everyone can get around as quick as possible with the strikes. I remember seeing them on the 16's TEHs. The amount of diesel buses still running is luckily still high and it's weird to think there will be an age of enthusiasts who see diesel buses as a part of history. The only routes I can think of that have used diesels in the Central area recently are 170 and 476 (obviously) and odd workings on the 18, 44 and 91. 134 also but that was only because of the Metrodecker fire. Am I missing any?
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Post by yunus on Aug 19, 2022 14:58:21 GMT
Morning to all, Bit of a memory lane rant - who remembers the "another red bus going green for London"? Time flies for sure, I never thought that there would be so many Hybrid buses & the Electrics are now increasing. Just a few years ago, conventional Diesel buses were everywhere and of course in Central London. Read elsewhere as I am researching that it was planned that from 2012 only Hybrid buses would be ordered. Anyone know why that was dropped, along with the SD Hybrid buses being withdrawn? I can certainly see the London Bus Industry changing rapidly in the future. Time will tell. Will be sad seeing Diesel buses depart but it's reality. Hope everyone can get around as quick as possible with the strikes. I remember seeing them on the 16's TEHs. The amount of diesel buses still running is luckily still high and it's weird to think there will be an age of enthusiasts who see diesel buses as a part of history. The only routes I can think of that have used diesels in the Central area recently are 170 and 476 (obviously) and odd workings on the 18, 44 and 91. 134 also but that was only because of the Metrodecker fire. Am I missing any? Correct the only Diesel operated routes in Central London are the 170 & 476 both operated by GAL. The 476 is up for tender later this year so I assume the buses will be changed. Diesel buses will certainly be a part of history for me as growing up with them. On another note, only a handful of night bus routes now use Diesels.
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Post by Volvo on Aug 19, 2022 15:43:21 GMT
Tbh I find it annoying when the bell is rung repeatedly at many stops especially when there is only a few people on the bus. Sometimes only one person gets off and yet the bell was rung 8x, why? It is one of the things I hate and annoys me. I cannot see the reason why people press them like a 5 year old school kid. It peeed me off when I drove buses and even more when I ride it and the bell pack unit is near me. Wright bus ones are the worst for noise. It only shows me the stupidity and intellect of the person when they constantly ring it. I totally agree with this especially when you have a VH and the bell is louder than normal. Had to ask a passenger once, would u appreciate it if a delivery driver came to your house and kept ringing your doorbell 5, 6, 7, 8 times? What's more is the bell is so loud and the stopping sign comes up too.
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