Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Meet the new London routemaster
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Clive Carter on
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All she did was try to get off between stops
How does this differ, materially, from attempting suicide? I ride a motorcycle but I wouldn't dream of taking an insane risk like dismounting a moving bus. There are idiots in this world. The Darwin Awards chronicles those who take absurd risks.
Many parents will end up buying a car/using it more
Is there any evidence for this? Buying and owning a car in London is becoming ever more expensive.
I'm excited about the new bus and look forward to using it; I doubt it'll be deployed widely for commuters and pram pushers, but I think tourists in central London will love it.
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Permalink Reply by RuthE on
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Clive, is that a good reason to get rid of the bendy bus and spend all this money on the new buses just to appeal to the tourists and a train-spotter style nostalgia for the route master?
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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on
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What has always impressed me is how popular the articulated buses seem to be with women.
It's also an eye opener to read Clive writing without qualms about squandering money.
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I would have thought that London was a big enough city, indeed the biggest in Europe, that it was large enough to accommodate more than one type of bus. I can see that from one view (economies of scale), it would be most efficient to have a single kind of bus throughout London. But I can easily think of some stretches where the ultra-long bus is highly suitable – and equally, intersections where it would end up jack-knifed.
The W5 route runs past my door (and stops near Harringay railway station, near Stroud Green library) but this even this small bus is close to its limits on some intersections.
The merits of different bus types might be controversial, but generally speaking the bus services in London are excellent.
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Permalink Reply by matt on
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1. Old routemasters were always full up top. The stairs to the upper deck, located at the back of the bus on the old and the new routemasters make it essier for people to quickly get to top deck, rather than having the stairs located in the middle of the ground floor as they are in current double deckers.
2. The development monies for any product design project are always high. This one also involves relatively new engine technology. £8m is certainly not unusual and to be expected. The monies are recuperated from sales to private bus companies who buy dozens at a time.
3. London and the UK have often led with art & design whether it be in fashion, architecture, music. A Brit designed the new Reichstag after all. Adding a new routemaster to London's roads fits perfectly in with the city. It's functional as well eye catching. The bendy buses are shall we say rather germanic; all function and no flare. But of course there's room for many bus designs in Europe's biggest city.
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4. Another problem with the old routmaster was for those standing in the narrow isle on the lower deck. When it was full, those standing at the front near the driver would have to squeeze pass a long line of people, shopping bags and dogs etc to get off at the back of the bus. With all the fat people nowadays it wouldn't be practical.
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> With all the fat people nowadays it wouldn't be practical.
Ah now I understand why they've created more aisle room and provided more doors. Those designers really are somethinkg
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Norman Foster isn't the only British architect who makes more money abroad than at home, because there just isn't the same investment in the UK.. The Neues Museum in Berlin another example.
Just one small point Matt.. Open Platform buses are now illegal in the EU.. so Boris was/is intending to provoke EU law and is going to have to look further afield for his export sales.. which I doubt will be forthcoming..
The dig about Germany I'll ignore.. just would say that we manufacture & export more goods than the rest of the EU, Norway and all the other non EU European countries put together..
In fact most other countries need German made precision machine tools to build anything - growth in Germany this year 3,5%, exports back to 2008 level, unemployment is at a 20 year low.. the unification blip is over..
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To clarify my point - I think new Open Platform buses are illegal.. The RMs had/have a dispensation I think, being all built pre-1970
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Probably not a problem in China, Brazil and India, the only major economies on the up (just as long as China's property bubble doesn't burst!) and with billions needing to get places.
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*cough* more mercedes cars are sold to China than to anywhere else in the world..
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