Borisbus

[Kevo00]

The Borisbus ran out of diesel on the M1

Now I could understand why a prototype could breakdown, and that it would make the news because it is high profile and deemed news worthy.

But I fail to believe that buses running out of diesel is a regular occurrence, or that this one doesn't have a fuel gauge.

It also seems odd, why does the thing needs its batteries recharging at the side of the road when on long journeys?

An alternator coupled to a diesel engine isn't exactly new technology....

The benefits of regeneration on hybrids is always overstated - I would imagine that they will still require a fair bit of diesel in service. Sounds more like incompetence to me - it would have needed diesel at Milbrook anyway surely, so why not pull into London Gateway services and get some?

Random fact: you can spy into the long fast straight at Millbrook from the Bedford-Bletchley line.

I actually live near route 4 in York - in my experience it runs relatively well, but it has a conductor. Also, one might argue that it's a wee bit big for York's chaotic street layout, but I guess York isn't going to get trams any time soon...

[Ed,]

Would have been nice in Swansea instead of the bendy that came with the street layout becoming insane.

Also is there a good reason no one has tried a double decker bendy?

[JamieLei]

Would have been nice in Swansea instead of the bendy that came with the street layout becoming insane.

Also is there a good reason no one has tried a double decker bendy?

It would probably be about as nimble on the London streets as an articulated lorry!

[jvassie]

I wonder if they are going to let any other towns use the same design? or is it just for London?
Wouldn't cities like Birmingham benefit from the same style of bus?

It certainly looks better than what other cities currently manage with...

sorry for such a big hideous pic!

I have travelled on that route multiple times! Quite probably on that exact bus!

[GurraJG]

Would have been nice in Swansea instead of the bendy that came with the street layout becoming insane.

Also is there a good reason no one has tried a double decker bendy?

It would probably be about as nimble on the London streets as an articulated lorry!

Yes, I can't imagine this being very good in London...

[JamieLei]

Would have been nice in Swansea instead of the bendy that came with the street layout becoming insane.

Also is there a good reason no one has tried a double decker bendy?

It would probably be about as nimble on the London streets as an articulated lorry!

Yes, I can't imagine this being very good in London...

Although in the words of Boris, it would indeed look very good on "the wide open vistas of a Scandinavian airport"!

[Dezeero]

As for the Borismaster, I think I'll get used to the appearance, but those headlights have got to go

[61653]

Would have been nice in Swansea instead of the bendy that came with the street layout becoming insane.

Also is there a good reason no one has tried a double decker bendy?

It would probably be about as nimble on the London streets as an articulated lorry!

Yes, I can't imagine this being very good in London...

I can't imagine that being nimble round the M60 let alone Oxford Street, but it would make sense on intercity journeys in the US, Australia, Mexico. Surprised it's not something that's been more widely adopted, but I'm not that familiar with buses, I guess there was a good reason it's not a common thing...

[GurraJG]

It would probably be about as nimble on the London streets as an articulated lorry!

Yes, I can't imagine this being very good in London...

Although in the words of Boris, it would indeed look very good on "the wide open vistas of a Scandinavian airport"!

What's wrong with the wide open vista of an English airport? I know we tend to make things (trains, buses, roads, etc.) larger in Scandinavia, but Boris must've gotten a bit confused about airport sizes there

[ThorRune]

What is the reason so many seem to hate the bendy-busses?

[orudge]

I thought they were fine in Minnesota. Minneapolis and St Paul are somewhat different to London, though, I suppose.

[JamieLei]

What is the reason so many seem to hate the bendy-busses?

Difficulty round corners, trapping cyclists in the bend leading to some fatalities, fare evasion (since you board at any door), a hangover from the introduction days where quite a few caught fire.

Personally I loved them, simply because they were so much faster loading and unloading than normal buses. The ability of them to just absorb over 100 people waiting at London Bridge or Waterloo station in 20 seconds was incredible. With a normal bus it would take well over a minute. I can understand the concerns though but I think they should have been retained on core Zone 1 routes.

[audigex]

With 3 doors and two staircases, though, the new ones shouldn't be significantly worse. 20 seconds or 30 seconds probably doesn't make too much difference.

[Kevo00]

10 seconds over a route soon builds up though.

Jamie is right. End of the day this is a purely political decision.

And the fact that it's a Tory administration that's done it is a rich irony to savour.

[John]

What is the reason so many seem to hate the bendy-busses?

Difficulty round corners, trapping cyclists in the bend leading to some fatalities, fare evasion (since you board at any door), a hangover from the introduction days where quite a few caught fire.

Except of course, they never have killed any cyclists.

But I'd like to see how the new design will stop fare evasion with 3 doors. Oh yes, it has a conductor. I wonder how much he will be able to move around the actual bus during peak time. And just how this "hop-on/hop-off" platform will actually get used. Closed during "off-peak" hours.

Personally I loved them, simply because they were so much faster loading and unloading than normal buses. The ability of them to just absorb over 100 people waiting at London Bridge or Waterloo station in 20 seconds was incredible. With a normal bus it would take well over a minute. I can understand the concerns though but I think they should have been retained on core Zone 1 routes.

Don't worry, when the next major comes in they will probably get reintroduced on those routes. No doubt because the Boris Bus was killing grannies falling off the rear step etc. etc.

I always found it amusing how other cities coped so well with Bendies, but in London it was "a disaster". Ah yes, the Georgian city of Bath clearly has bigger roads than London

Also, love how wikipedia has a redirect on "Boris Bus".

[JamieLei]

Also, love how wikipedia has a redirect on "Boris Bus".

It also has a redirect on "Borismaster"!

[TheGrew]

Bring back the trams I say!

[JamieLei]

Bring back the trams I say!

Although without the racist ladies please!

[TheGrew]

Yeah without the racist ladies would be good
But though my comment was more in jest I think would imagine several of the central London bus routes could benefit from operating a tram system instead of a bus, a tram for example would produce less pollution (well within London anyway), have an arguably higher capacity and perhaps be more appealing for people to use?
The obvious disadvantage would be the level of disruption caused in construction and the expense of the infrastructure (let's hope we don't get another Edinburgh) but I think Londoners are pretty used to transport disruption and it isn't like the tube would be affected by any work.

[JamieLei]

tram for example would produce less pollution (well within London anyway),

Interestingly Prague bans buses from the historic centre but allows trams for that exact reason I believe