please empty your brain below
And it runs the whole time on diesel because its expensive batteries weren't properly tested and don't work properly.
And it's lost its 'Hop On, Hop Off' Unique Selling Point because, predictably, the (non) conductors have been withdrawn.
And it still has the 'Happy Bus' three-door boarding so highly regarded by fare dodgers, the same system that helped to banish the Bendies to an early retirement by the sea in Brighton.
And the Dangleway is still running on empty at half speed from Nowhere North to Nowhere South, because no-one ever uses it as a form of transport.
Yup, London's Best Ever Bus (the original Routemaster) is far, far too expensive...
"We don't particularly care what you think, as we have already costed this out and decided what to do, so unless you come up with a creative reason for us not to do this, don't waste your time responding."
In general I think you're right - a consulation is "we're going to do this unless you have an actual showstopper". Occasionally politicians get involved (the "Wimbledon Loop" saga) and turn things rounds, but I have seen instances of this where it is evident that the councillors have simply counted the pieces of paper without considering the arguments contained therein (200 people deprived of a Saturday morning kickabut trumping 30 people who can't get a school place)
But it can work - I may not have been the only person who pointed out that the original DartCharge proposal,requiring payment for the Tunnel by midnight the same day, potentially could give a driver only two hours, late at night, to pay - charges apply for any crossings made before 10pm - but I still feel a small twinge of pride when I see the signs saying "pay by midnight TOMORROW"
In the event they got enough feedback or the right feedback to make them not introduce the changes.
It became a election issue the local constituencies, so the stated reason was that the consultation was timed to coincide with this year's general election.
My feedback on the changes included how to use the same reduced number of buses they wanted to use (a reason that they decided to obscure in the proposals) to provide better alternative services than they proposed.
I think consultation feedback that tries to solve the problems they perceive (even if you don't agree that they are problems) in innovative ways is a good way of deflecting bad plans.
One problem with the Heritage Routemaster routes is that they have had extremely poor performance levels as low frequency services. Now there may be all sorts of reasons as to what the causes of that are but no operator is going to sign up to run a service at a stated level of performance if it considers it impossible in the light of prevailing traffic conditions. I therefore think the retendering of route 15H is what forced the issue of what frequency can run reliably and how much TfL want to pay given the need to refurbish the buses. Having a 100% spare vehicle coverage (10 buses when only 5 are needed for service) doesn't come cheap either.
I understand the attachment to the Routemaster but the Heritage routes were / are disproportionately expensive at a time when many other bus services were deprived of enhancements for years due to funding constraints.
@ Alex - the Finchley Rd proposals were pulled entirely as a result of the General Election and the political furore that followed in several marginal constituencies. I fully expect TfL to come along with revised proposals, aimed at achieving the same overall ends, at some point. The cost savings are probably too great to ignore plus it 'd take more buses out of Oxford St.
The inevitable "pedestrianise Oxford St" related bus changes will probably be the means to reduce frequencies on a vast number of routes serving Zone 1 including the Finchley Rd corridor.
There is an issue about whether the Thameslink Stn. at West Hampstead is now a more important commuter destination than Finchley Road, of course if they can build a pedestrian link between Hackney Downs and Hackney Central, then there is no reason not to build one between Finchley Road and the Thameslink platforms at West Hampstead - the area between the two largely consists of car parking, the columns to support the walkway would only remove a handful of parking spaces, and be more useful to Londoners than another vanity project like the garden bridge.
And remember what an outstanding success that design was, out side London only one operator bought any, (Newcastle based Northern General), and they did not have open platforms...
The first 250 or so original Routemasters had no opening front windows after that they decided to fit them.
The first 30 or so original Routemaster had faulty steering columns and had to be taken off the road for months to fix.
The early original Routemasters had poor automatic gearboxes which led to them being called "Jerkmasters"
The original routemaster which ultimately was argueably the best bus ever has teething troubles just as the NB4L has today.
Not only that but you spend a long while going round the block from the exit of Finchley Road Stn. only to find yourself when you reach the footpath only a few yards away from the northern end of the Finchley Road platforms.
They never, well, hardly ever, intend to listen to what people say about whatever the 'consultation' process might be.
Yes, I'm a cynic, but that's how it appears to work!
In my opinion then best thing they could do with Finchley Road tube station would be to create a northern entrance directly into the o2 centre car park. Sainsburys may even be interested in paying some of the cost as it's currently a huge walk to the store from the station entrance. It could even be a relatively cheap way of making the station step free (footbridge and 3 lifts) than trying to completely rebuild the current entrance.
If you go to Tower Hill when there are reasonable numbers of visitors around (i.e. almost any day of the year!) you will see every w/b 15 bus completely beseiged by tourists. If nothing else the 15H does actually provide some valuable extra capacity from Tower Hill towards the West End as the buses start empty from Tower Hill. If the 15H was cancelled then TfL would have to do something about the loss of capacity from Tower Hill.
[1] new contract starts in a fortnight.
Will the "refurb" include those cute little light bulbs? I'll be disappointed if not!
And the wind-up windows. The replacement hopper ones look wrong, especially at the front: the Routemaster's happy 'face' needs the right eyelids !
And don't forget the tobacco-coloured ceiling, and the claret seat covers and interior detail...
BTW, shouldn't it be 'defurbed' ?
{/ klaxon}
Oh absolutely. Maybe it should be refered to as a "retro-refurb"?
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