please empty your brain below
A well balanced report which should please most of your audience.

Yes of course the whole Superloop scheme is a gimmick, but it does seem to be quite a well-chosen one, from which quite a good number of passengers will benefit. Paris does the equivalent much better, with trams, but at a far greater capital cost.

Malcolm of Kent | 26.11.23 - 8:18 a.m. | #

Roger's also been for a ride on the SL10, and his in-depth report also involves multiple paragraphs of analytical words and photos, not a prolonged phone-shot video.

His thoughts on the mass-produced map leaflet:

"It admirably demonstrates TfL’s marketing people’s obsession with broad brush branding over dull detailed information that’s essential to communicate to passengers (and the all important potential passengers) if you want to grow the market for bus travel."

diamond geezer | Homepage | 26.11.23 - 8:33 a.m. | #

According to the LOTS website...

dg writes: already changed that, thanks.

I see the SL10 has been favoured with rather newer (and electric) buses than the 14-year old dinosaurs on the SL7

Timbo | 26.11.23 - 9:07 a.m. | #

But how easily would I have found it if I had rocked up using Google Maps or other bus App?

RogerB | 26.11.23 - 9:17 a.m. | #

I am so glad there is another generation of BWLB pracitising their skills - even you wont be here forever DG. Where will we get our bus fix then?

John G | 26.11.23 - 9:40 a.m. | #

Journey times, looking at londonbusroutes.net, the first SL10 on Mon-Fri is scheduled to take 21 minutes from Hendon Stn. to Harrow, but this has jumped to 39 minutes by 0654, then 32 minutes by 1016, remember that the SL10 is still stuck in the same traffic as the 183 and the ability to overtake one loading at a bus stop will be restricted, 'limited stop' or not.

The 183 and SL10 appear to have the same timings between Hendon and Harrow, which leans towards someone doing the best they can without any other information.

I assume that there might be a new timetable based on road times in the near future.

Still Anon | 26.11.23 - 9:48 a.m. | #

Assuming it runs the way the SL7 does, the wait isn't to even out the service between the buses per se (though it can have that effect). Because the SL7 was once hourly and then half-hourly, it has always rested at each stop when ahead of schedule. If you're on time, you'll never miss the bus. Though it may be late, or occasionally vanish entirely. I think the idea was that it was helpful for early morning (thus the bus would be more likely ahead of schedule) passengers headed to Heathrow. It would make sense to adopt that for all the express routes.

Chz | 26.11.23 - 9:54 a.m. | #

...but the SL10 is a high frequency route, not something you'd set your watch to catch, so doesn't need to be a slave to the timetable.

diamond geezer | Homepage | 26.11.23 - 9:57 a.m. | #

Perhaps the bus was being held back because there was no space at the terminus? I suspect that sometimes happens.

dg writes: not here.

What is more ridiculous is when a bus is taken out of service three stops before the terminus only to then run empty to it, and then go back into service…. Seems particularly pointless when there was almost no-one left on board.

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 26.11.23 - 10:21 a.m. | #

RogerB - Yes SL10 is in the apps. TfL is good at updating their data for new routes and properly coded apps get the new routes straight away.

The SL1 is due to start on December 9th. Multi-coloured roundels have already started to appear on Walthamstow bus stops.

Dan | 26.11.23 - 10:32 a.m. | #

Great review, and very balanced. Sadly the SL8 hasn’t been given these fantastic new electric buses!

Matt | 26.11.23 - 10:41 a.m. | #

Considering there are passengers still keen to board the bus at its penultimate stop, having a timetable makeup two stops earlier doesn't sound too ridiculous.

Patrickov | 26.11.23 - 11:57 a.m. | #

Passengers expecting to alight at non-serving stops never ceases to amaze me.

I could understand there being confusion if the 183 had been rebranded X183 (as was the case with the 140) but a completely different designation should make people stop and think if it is the bus they need!

I live in Harrow and am happy to have 2 new routes - even though I rarely need to use one and never the other! Anything that will ease the congestion at the bus station!
Though yesterday was also the turning on of the Christmas lights so potentially extra busy.

Cornish Cockney | 26.11.23 - 1:17 p.m. | #

If this was to be truly a service to replace use of cars (ULEZ compliant or not), then not directly serving one of the biggest car traffic generators, Brent Cross shopping centre, is a real miss (and serving Brent Cross was specially requested as a comment in the consultation).

Two buses is too hard! Especially if the interchange is not well sheltered. Just covering the exterior (Hendon way/BX flyover/A406/A5) would not have added much time although the walking routes to the various retail areas is not great (and BCW train station is not good for the main shopping centre and there isn't an intermodal hopper for SL, also requested in the consultation)

Same might be said for Northwick Park hospital (500m to nearest stop is too long for some, especially to a hospital).

NB: Brent Cross still has free all day parking. So still a car traffic generator

MilesT | 26.11.23 - 2:50 p.m. | #

Southern Heights I have been thrown off a bus before it's terminus because the driver said his shift had finished. Would like to know what the rules are concerning this practice and why they never tell you this when you board a bus or change the destination blind.

Tones | 26.11.23 - 3:22 p.m. | #

Google maps currently has a glitch and is calling it SL1

Sinners | 26.11.23 - 4:49 p.m. | #

Google maps was showing SL1 prior to 25th November, I assumed TfL knew what the route number was, but this might be a computer thing, knocking off the 'unnecessary' zero, or human error.

Still Anon | 26.11.23 - 10:48 p.m. | #

The formatting in how you publish seems to have changed this week, is this going to continue?

Amber | 27.11.23 - 7:44 a.m. | #

Dan - Thanks, I tried it on Google Maps and I think it comes up with the right route but calls it SL1. So I would probably have let a couple go by before I realised I should be on the SL10.

RogerB | 27.11.23 - 9:15 a.m. | #

Just coming back from a trip to Paris. Perhaps the difference between TfL and elsewhere is best illustrated by this. TfL's app is explicitly simple, an emphasis is made on their design language, sometimes omitting useful information (e.g. searching by bus route or for next buses at a stop more than 500m away) and better ways of presenting information. The RATP's app seemed to do a better job at all this, and even integrated electric scooters and bikes, which strikes me as something TfL would like.

TfL: sometimes too much style over substance.

But definitely a good shout that they made over SuperLoop was not spending money on buses which try too hard to pretend to be trams or spend years digging up the streets for full bus segregation when it is sometimes not warranted. Though perhaps this is just because they don't have the money anyway.

matthieu1221 | 27.11.23 - 8:20 p.m. | #











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