bus driver waits for the person running to catch the bus: 62 people annoyed

bus driver continues his journey: 1 person annoyed

As well as the electronic information boards at every shelter (for the sake of the passengers) I think it might be a good idea to have a button to press when you arrive at the bus stop, rather like the buttons for crossing a road. While not accurate, this would at least give some easy feedback with which the operators could plan routes.

Rate This: 0  0

@ Liam:

Sure bendy buses are common throughout various countries, but that doesn’t make them suitable for London’s streets which are very narrow. Anyway, in the space one bendy bus takes up, you could almost have two double deckers.

I’ve also seen plenty of bendy buses blocking up entire roads as they try to pull into a main road. I

Rate This: 0  0

Aside from the drawbacks that have already been pointed out (lack of access for disabled; need to employ two people per bus) it is worth remembering that the Routemaster took 5 years of development from the appearance of the first prototype to it’s introduction into service. That development came at a cost of course, as did the manufacture when it finally went into production. Even to revive the old Routemaster production line would be entirely uneconomic, let alone design a new version from scratch, particularly given the fragmented bus operator setup in London these days (a product of earlier Tory meddling).

Whatever Boris’ charms, his transport ‘policies’ consist of ill-thought out, probably un-thought out pie-in-the-sky. Transport is one of Ken’s strengths; he’s done a really good job. Boris is going to need to do far better than he has so far on this. I’d give Ken an 8 out of 10 for transport; Boris doesn’t even start to approach zero yet.

Rate This: 0  0

I’m also sure that you wouldn’t be so insane to rig opinion polls so it would seem all of Ealing would be in favour of cutting down 1000s of mature trees so Ken could stick a tram in to a new shopping mall (strangely staying mute on the question where the emergency vehicles would go, or on why he polled only people that didn’t even live near the tram zone).

Yes, I can see you could put some sense into it. Let’s face, after Ken things can in my opinion only improve (no disrespect to your abilities!). And maybe you can then finally answer this question for us: if public transport is so good, why does Ken’s office have the highest taxi expenses of the whole government?

Enquiring minds want to know..

Rate This: 0  0

I have been a member of the conservative party for over a year and have never yet been invited to a local event despite having called my local constituency on a number of occasions.

I have created my own discussion groups etc and been very successful with this but think its a bit sad that local politics can be turned into a VIP lounge.

I guess the reason I will vote for Boris is that he takes a frolicsome approach to public discussion and given his own head in matters I think he could do good things.

Rate This: 0  0

Rate This: 0  0

Rate This: 0  0

The result was 10 short films which were put into the Farewell Routemaster DVD.

It’s only available at http://www.farewellroutemaster.co.uk

Have a look at how London responded in the last week of the Routemaster bus

RM 159 by Kevin Dolan

Kevin Dolan’s “RM 159″ is an engrossing tone poem of sounds and images: the deep thrum of the engine, clean ting of the bell and classic design elements of mirrors and handles are set to soothing xylophone music and nostalgic reveries from conductors and passengers.

Bus Kong by Ed Hartwell

Ed Hartwell’s ‘Bus Kong’ is a delicious animated political cartoon that exploits the iconography of the Routemaster, London and a certain giant ape movie with bold witty simplicity, pitching our hero against a feral bendy-bus and an even more sinister foe…

Unlucky for Some by Ben Crocker

Interestingly drawn study of the social and emotional impact of the Routemaster on peoples’ lives.

Moving Musings by Toby Falconer & Caroline Gardiner

“Moving Musings” by Toby Falconer, Caroline Gardiner and Alex Craster, uses a split screen to show both street scenes and talking heads (including a south London kid who notes “there’s not as much bullies at the bottom than the top”)

One Colour Red by Chris Hauke

Interesting concept with good interplay between the interviews/ voiceovers and images.

MGTV by Martin Gooch

Very funny with nice sci-fi twist at the end; clever editing and use of special effects.

38 by Eleanor Thomas

Fluid camerawork with a light, humorous touch.

Routine Master by Max Goldzweig

Funny and well acted, atmospherically shot comedy about what happens when you get a new bus,

The End of the Line by Tom Bainton

Tom Bainton’s “The End of the Line” has George Cole reading a self-eulogy over picture-postcard London scenes (“Since ‘56 I’ve been around – landmark, icon I’ve been called/But I kept my wheels firmly on the ground and went where I was told”)

VOTE FOR BORIS TO BRING BACK THE RM’s

Rate This: 0  0

Rate This: 0  0

Here I was thinking I was the only paranoid nut-job that took too much acid and smoked too much crack in the 1990’s.

‘U’d Love to Know’ – see your GP.

Rate This: 0  0