Bendy Bus May 9, 2004
Posted by Andy Roberts in : London, movie clips, transport , trackback
My journey to work has changed.
On rainy days, or when I’m a bit pushed for time I dispense with the pleasant walk across the Thames and catch a bus to connect Liverpool Street Station with London Bridge. Suddenly now, there is a good chance this will be a new style “Bendy Bus”.
So what does a bendy bus do
that a good old routemaster double decker, or a modern “low floor” single doesn’t? Well it bends in the middle, that’s obvious, so has the capacity of a double decker without the stairs, and can still go round corners. But London is a unique city in having main streets without any of the low bridges, tunnels or overhanging buildings which rule out double deckers practically everywhere else in the world. So what’s the point of articulation? People flow is the answer. You can embark or alight through any of the three pairs of fast opening doors, whereas on the double decker, the people coming down the stairs or standing in the aisle can sometimes impede the queue at the bus stop from getting on at all. So, unless you have a pre-pay oyster card or a book of savers there’s no need to form a procession past the driver’s cabin. There’s no facility for taking cash, so less opportunity for argument when some one gets on with a twenty quid note and there’s no change.
What is it like onboard a Bendy Bus?
Because of the multiple door access and double compartment the bendy has more of a ‘tram’ feel to it, which is fine. Unlike on older buses, access through the doors and aisles is spacious and the individual seats are amply proportioned. The only problem is with the ride quality. The articulation is not just on the horizontal plane, but also happens to a not inconsiderable extent on the vertical as well. This is probably something to do with the hydaulic suspension which allows the boarding step to get close enough to the kerb for the dreaded oversized pushchairs which modern day pre-school children insist on riding in. So every time the bendy bus goes over a bump the whole thing kind of snakes up and down a few times, which is enough, I would imagine, to make some people feel quite sick.
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It did make me feel slightly sick just watching the internal view:(
Perhaps the real thing would be better.
I’ll have to try it out sometime.
There’s no place for Bendy Buses in London, They are too long for London streets and designed for the continent where there is more space. What’s wrong with normal double deckers? Also they are heaven for fare dodgers.
It will be interesting to see what happens with bendy buses in London. Obviously a strategic decision has been taken to use them on more and more routes through Central London and no doubt that policy will be seen through, apart from anything else because the vehicles themselves have been bought (or a commitment made to buying them). However they are clearly unpopular and I am not sure that unpopularity is something that will fade with time.
Of course they have access advantages and are ok for short journeys but I wonder if transport planners even thought much about the qualitative difference between standing on a comparitively fast and smooth-running tube train for 20-30 mins and the same much slower, far bumpier journey on a bus that can take an hour or more. To talk about enhanced comfort when so few seats are provided is ridiculous.
It wouldn’t surprise me if, once the policy has run its course (over the next ten years or so) and the vehicles begin to wear out, they are quietly replaced with double deckers.
How will people pay? Will there be conductors????
transport for london are losing thousands of pounds every week by people not paying there fare. They catch fire. And what is wrong with the good old routemasta