please empty your brain below
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So, New Buses have half the passengers for twice the staff salary of bendy buses. Great thinking, Boris.
Simon | 01.03.12 - 2:39 a.m. | #
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You DID find the bus then..... :-)
NLW | 01.03.12 - 6:20 a.m. | #
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I hope when you got off you didn't bother to wait for a bus stop and just hopped off the back when it slowed at traffic lights.
Barry | 01.03.12 - 7:28 a.m. | #
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What ever you say, it looks fantastic.
Michael in the Netherlands | 01.03.12 - 8:52 a.m. | #
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Whatever you say, it was a manifesto pledge, a manifesto the public voted for and a pledge that a politican delivered on.
And that in itself is something unusual. If only more politicans did the same.
Jordan D | 01.03.12 - 9:25 a.m. | #
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Expect Boris to make a HUGE amount of his handful of buses in the forthcoming election. Cos frankly he hasn't got much else to crow about.
Will enough people ride the bus to be suckered in? Doesn't matter - it will play well with the Boris-voting burbs.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 01.03.12 - 9:34 a.m. | #
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it's too soon to know, but it'd be interesting to find out from Revenue how many people skip their fare when riding on one of these - on the bendy's you used to continually see so many people not touching in. the new double-deckers on the 207 (formerly bendy) route are just not as busy. only then can a cost comparison about this new bus be made ...
Geofftech | Homepage | 01.03.12 - 10:01 a.m. | #
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Lovely post. It's important to remember that most people don't give a damn about the politics, and if the new bus makes their lives a bit more bearable, maybe it's not so bad. It's also a lot cheaper than the two-week-stratford-sports-day and will probably have more influence on the average Londoner's life.
Tom (Tiredoflondon) | Homepage | 01.03.12 - 10:14 a.m. | #
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Still hate the rear view - it needs a window in the top deck.
Timbo | 01.03.12 - 11:34 a.m. | #
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They have made a rule change for touching in. Now Travelcard holders *must* touch in. On Bendies this was optional.
This, apparently, will reduce the level of perceived fare evasion! (Why they never made the change on bendies is another issue…)
Dan | 01.03.12 - 12:45 p.m. | #
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It's a shame for the need for the frequent "health and safefy" announcements. Do the Routemasters still running on the heritage routes have them? If not, I fail to see the reason to have them on the new bus. But overall I think this is a good thing although it is crazy the member of staff at the rear doors can't also check Oysters or sell tickets.
Jon Combe | 01.03.12 - 1:00 p.m. | #
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DG: do you know if anyone in London marks International Bus Driver Appreciation Day? I want to check if it's 15 March this year. No, this is not a PR thing. It is for an enthusiast who wants to mark it. Cheers.
Karen | 01.03.12 - 2:05 p.m. | #
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I'm just glad they're continuing to put more buses on the road that are fitted with air conditioning.
From your pictures, the design of the Boris Buses is actually quite cool. I like the diagonals of the front and back windows.
(In news from abroad, the New York Times is running a magazine story this weekend attempting to explain Boris vs. Ken and other "quirky" London things to Americans. A mildly amusing read: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/04/magazine/explaining-londoners.html?ref=magazine)
Georgia | 01.03.12 - 4:47 p.m. | #
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Have they switched the text in the destination blind to yellow, or is that just a tint in the photographs? On Monday the text was white and it looked very good (and made it easier to spot the bus at night from afar).
dg writes: In the original full size photo, the destination blind is very definitely white. And yes, it works well.
Dean | Homepage | 01.03.12 - 5:33 p.m. | #
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I've not ridden on it yet but I did have a look round it on one of its visits to the suburbs. And despite myself, I really liked it.
ned | 01.03.12 - 6:43 p.m. | #
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http://www.busandcoach.com/featurepage.aspx?id=6502&categoryid=0
I'm certainly looking forward to trying it out. It's amusing how the left are slagging it off for employing too many staff :-)
Mikey C | 01.03.12 - 9:54 p.m. | #
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My view is that we should encourage innovation and radical design. But that also means taking risks - in this case a risk that the bus wil be a white elephant and never be ordered. If that is the outcome Boris should gain some respect for at least trying. But will he have the courage to bin the design if it is not economic?
Ian Brooker | 02.03.12 - 2:16 p.m. | #
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Went on it today. Picked it up at Essex Road - between stops of course!
What a disappointment - upstairs was stiflingly hot and decidedly claustrophobic, with the dark maroon interior cladding, complete absence of a rear window, and what windows there were being tiny (shallow) and non-opening - what genius specified air conditioning - it's difficult enough to get aircon to work when you open the doors at every stop, but on a vehicle with an open platform.....?
I retreated downstairs, where the windows are a bit bigger - curiously more so on the left than on the right but it was extermely noisy - the engine sounded as if it was driving a large air compressor (the sort that power the drills that dig up the road), with no let up, even when the bus stopped.
I also noticed that of the 22 seats downstairs, twelve were raised up and therefore difficult for the mobility impaired to use. It seems TfL think all mobility impaired people will bring their own chairs!
I got off at Sadlers Wells, and walked the rest of the way to Holborn.
I'm glad I don't use the 38 very often.
Later in the day I got another open platform bus, on the 15 - so much better in every way.
Timbo | 15.03.12 - 5:14 p.m. | #
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My God, that last post (by Timbo) makes the NBFL sound like total pants! so its dark, stiflingly hot, very noisy, with crap seats too! Maybe I won't travel into Hackney for a spin after all? Interesting about the Air Con not working (again), that was an issue on the 1st day of service, and according to Tinbo its still on the blink! what a shame ,I really thought this bus was the real McCoy and a worthy repalcement for the iconic Routemaster, but it seems like it most certainly is not "according to Timbo" :-(
Mark Johnson | 15.03.12 - 8:44 p.m. | #
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