|
|
Post by wirewiper on Oct 21, 2018 9:25:02 GMT
It is interesting though that they are looking forward to working with Transport for Greater Manchester and Transport for West Midlands, who are seeking to impose more control over their local bus networks. Maybe Rotala prefers the more collaborative "working together" approach of TfGM and TfWM and is not interested in the highly proscriptive (some might say, dictatorial) approach taken by Transport for London. |
|
|
|
Post by bookd on Oct 21, 2018 14:19:07 GMT
The question of temporary stops has been raised before.
At lunchtime I was at the Alexander Pope pub in Twickenham - the stop outside is closed as one southbound lane is closed and northbound traffic diverted through the bus lane. I pointed this out to two ladies who were waiting for a bus and had not read the sign - they would then walk about 400 yards to the Town for the next stop.
The point is that the obstruction is only directly opposite the bus stop; it would have been easy to place a 'dolly' stop about 25 yards away in the bus lane beyond the next junction. Are such possibilities no longer considered?
|
|
|
|
Post by beaver14uk on Oct 21, 2018 16:55:13 GMT
Yes if safe to,do so.
|
|
|
|
Post by sid on Oct 21, 2018 17:36:50 GMT
The question of temporary stops has been raised before. At lunchtime I was at the Alexander Pope pub in Twickenham - the stop outside is closed as one southbound lane is closed and northbound traffic diverted through the bus lane. I pointed this out to two ladies who were waiting for a bus and had not read the sign - they would then walk about 400 yards to the Town for the next stop. The point is that the obstruction is only directly opposite the bus stop; it would have been easy to place a 'dolly' stop about 25 yards away in the bus lane beyond the next junction. Are such possibilities no longer considered? This is a particular bugbear of mine, bus stops needlessly closed off and no dolly stop even though there is plenty of space for one. The case you mentioned sounds typical, it sounds like the signage was inadequate and expecting people to walk 400 yards to the next stop is just ridiculous. |
|
|
|
Post by redbus on Oct 21, 2018 19:28:54 GMT
The question of temporary stops has been raised before. At lunchtime I was at the Alexander Pope pub in Twickenham - the stop outside is closed as one southbound lane is closed and northbound traffic diverted through the bus lane. I pointed this out to two ladies who were waiting for a bus and had not read the sign - they would then walk about 400 yards to the Town for the next stop. The point is that the obstruction is only directly opposite the bus stop; it would have been easy to place a 'dolly' stop about 25 yards away in the bus lane beyond the next junction. Are such possibilities no longer considered? This is a particular bugbear of mine, bus stops needlessly closed off and no dolly stop even though there is plenty of space for one. The case you mentioned sounds typical, it sounds like the signage was inadequate and expecting people to walk 400 yards to the next stop is just ridiculous. Maybe it is my imagination but TfL used to be much more customer focussed and tried hard to provide an alternative temporary stop. Indeed it was unusual for them not to. Nowadays it seems common not to provide a temporary stop, their attitude seems to have changed. I have even noticed that places where temporary stops used to be placed, now the stop is just closed with no replacement. I think there is room for improvement. |
|
|
|
Post by snoggle on Oct 21, 2018 19:30:54 GMT
Maybe it is my imagination but TfL used to be much more customer focussed and tried hard to provide an alternative temporary stop. Indeed it was unusual for them not to. Nowadays it seems common not to provide a temporary stop, their attitude seems to have changed. I have even noticed that places where temporary stops used to be placed, now the stop is just closed with no replacement. I think there is room for improvement. *Vast* room for improvement. I completely agree that TfL's approach to temporary stops has changed for the worse. |
|
|
|
Post by busaholic on Oct 21, 2018 22:15:29 GMT
This is a particular bugbear of mine, bus stops needlessly closed off and no dolly stop even though there is plenty of space for one. The case you mentioned sounds typical, it sounds like the signage was inadequate and expecting people to walk 400 yards to the next stop is just ridiculous. Maybe it is my imagination but TfL used to be much more customer focussed and tried hard to provide an alternative temporary stop. Indeed it was unusual for them not to. Nowadays it seems common not to provide a temporary stop, their attitude seems to have changed. I have even noticed that places where temporary stops used to be placed, now the stop is just closed with no replacement. I think there is room for improvement. Default position now = don't provide a dolly, unless forced to do so Default position previously = do provide a dolly, unless forced by circumstances to admit defeat Of course, it used to be all one organisation for whom everyone worked, which had its defects and downsides, but it had a lot of pluses too, and this sort of thing was where you could see 'common purpose' (not forgetting its old friend, common sense).
|
|
|
|
Post by redbus on Oct 21, 2018 23:03:13 GMT
Maybe it is my imagination but TfL used to be much more customer focussed and tried hard to provide an alternative temporary stop. Indeed it was unusual for them not to. Nowadays it seems common not to provide a temporary stop, their attitude seems to have changed. I have even noticed that places where temporary stops used to be placed, now the stop is just closed with no replacement. I think there is room for improvement. Default position now = don't provide a dolly, unless forced to do so Default position previously = do provide a dolly, unless forced by circumstances to admit defeat Of course, it used to be all one organisation for whom everyone worked, which had its defects and downsides, but it had a lot of pluses too, and this sort of thing was where you could see 'common purpose' (not forgetting its old friend, common sense).
If the default position now is don't provide a dolly unless forced to do so, who can force them? |
|
|
|
Post by ronnie on Oct 21, 2018 23:22:46 GMT
This is a particular bugbear of mine, bus stops needlessly closed off and no dolly stop even though there is plenty of space for one. The case you mentioned sounds typical, it sounds like the signage was inadequate and expecting people to walk 400 yards to the next stop is just ridiculous. Maybe it is my imagination but TfL used to be much more customer focussed and tried hard to provide an alternative temporary stop. Indeed it was unusual for them not to. Nowadays it seems common not to provide a temporary stop, their attitude seems to have changed. I have even noticed that places where temporary stops used to be placed, now the stop is just closed with no replacement. I think there is room for improvement. While using the 113 end to end recently, I was surprised to see that the stop just after Bond Street (eastwards) is closed; hence there is effectively no stop available near Bond Street eastbound! One needs to head to selfridges or Oxford Circus to catch a hua - which is quite ridiculous in my opinion |
|
|
|
Post by vjaska on Oct 22, 2018 0:17:01 GMT
Default position now = don't provide a dolly, unless forced to do so Default position previously = do provide a dolly, unless forced by circumstances to admit defeat Of course, it used to be all one organisation for whom everyone worked, which had its defects and downsides, but it had a lot of pluses too, and this sort of thing was where you could see 'common purpose' (not forgetting its old friend, common sense).
If the default position now is don't provide a dolly unless forced to do so, who can force them? I don't think that is the case as my local bus stop has been shut for nearly 2 months and most of the time, a dolly stop has been placed and in two different locations as the roadworks progressed taking up the original staff. My feeling is maybe staff cuts and what they class as priority cases are maybe why dolly stops are not always used - the Brixton Hill works were part of a TfL consultation which maybe makes more of a priority than just regular works? |
|
|
|
Post by sid on Oct 22, 2018 6:13:04 GMT
Maybe it is my imagination but TfL used to be much more customer focussed and tried hard to provide an alternative temporary stop. Indeed it was unusual for them not to. Nowadays it seems common not to provide a temporary stop, their attitude seems to have changed. I have even noticed that places where temporary stops used to be placed, now the stop is just closed with no replacement. I think there is room for improvement. Default position now = don't provide a dolly, unless forced to do so Default position previously = do provide a dolly, unless forced by circumstances to admit defeat Of course, it used to be all one organisation for whom everyone worked, which had its defects and downsides, but it had a lot of pluses too, and this sort of thing was where you could see 'common purpose' (not forgetting its old friend, common sense).
I think the first thing to tackle is why so many stops are needlessly closed off in the first place, this being a prime example: www.flickr.com/photos/154741497@N03/26184722398/in/album-72157690392822912/There used to always be dolly stops provided except in the few instances where there really is no safe place to put them, one such example was when the East Croydon interchange was closed and there really was nowhere to put a dolly stop for the 119 and 466, other routes stopped nearby in either Dingwall Road or Cherry Orchard Road. There have been reports of dolly stops being stolen but in many cases they can be chained to a lamp post. |
|
|
|
Post by snowman on Oct 22, 2018 6:13:21 GMT
Default position now = don't provide a dolly, unless forced to do so Default position previously = do provide a dolly, unless forced by circumstances to admit defeat Of course, it used to be all one organisation for whom everyone worked, which had its defects and downsides, but it had a lot of pluses too, and this sort of thing was where you could see 'common purpose' (not forgetting its old friend, common sense).
If the default position now is don't provide a dolly unless forced to do so, who can force them? The stupidity is someone is still going to the stop with a van, and using a stepladder to put a hood on the stop. If this part of the process had also stopped then the lack of dolly stop would be understandable. But the way it stands now have visit to do half a job, so saving is marginal. My guess is something else has changed such as only using dolly stops at wheelchair ramp compatible locations. |
|
|
|
Post by Pilot on Oct 22, 2018 13:19:47 GMT
Any 200MMC drivers can elaborate why the brakes are so jolty? Some buses are better than others but in most cases the brakes are pretty terrible as much as the driver tries to make it smooth it's just not happening and most passengers who change over from 400 hybrid or something feel surprised that they can't even walk or stand up while driver is performing a bus stop. Like every day I see people close to falling over while walking on bus to or from the seat. I think these buses are somewhat dangerous, I know few drivers who said the same thing and they give 100% to make it a smooth and slow stop and yet the braking just 'lags' and jolts before you come to a stop, like it's using more of engine braking than actual brakes.
|
|
|
|
Post by redbus on Oct 22, 2018 18:04:40 GMT
If the default position now is don't provide a dolly unless forced to do so, who can force them? The stupidity is someone is still going to the stop with a van, and using a stepladder to put a hood on the stop. If this part of the process had also stopped then the lack of dolly stop would be understandable. But the way it stands now have visit to do half a job, so saving is marginal. My guess is something else has changed such as only using dolly stops at wheelchair ramp compatible locations. I agree that something has changed. My suspicion is that it comes down to staffing levels. Perhaps TfL simply don't have the level of staff to assess each bus stop closure and work out where they can put a dolly stop. I suspect they might just do this for what they determine are important or easy stops. Another possibility is that the rules have changed as to where dolly stops can be sited. |
|
|
|
Post by rambo on Oct 22, 2018 19:03:49 GMT
Any 200MMC drivers can elaborate why the brakes are so jolty? Some buses are better than others but in most cases the brakes are pretty terrible as much as the driver tries to make it smooth it's just not happening and most passengers who change over from 400 hybrid or something feel surprised that they can't even walk or stand up while driver is performing a bus stop. Like every day I see people close to falling over while walking on bus to or from the seat. I think these buses are somewhat dangerous, I know few drivers who said the same thing and they give 100% to make it a smooth and slow stop and yet the braking just 'lags' and jolts before you come to a stop, like it's using more of engine braking than actual brakes. Alot of the time its the gearbox smashing down through the gears. I know a driver who got a bad driver assesment for harsh braking, he fought it because the bus had been reported for gearbox problems loads of times, and the assesment was scrubbed. |
|
