Bendy Buses

[Mac66]

Good or bad? Discuss

I don't live in London but ole Ken isn't ordering any more bendys.

Has anyone got a good or bad word to say about these?

 

[HLaB]

Different city, but Dublin spent a fortune on a new Bus Garage to service their fleet of Bendy Buses but by the time it was open, they had been withdrawn from service. I never have any real interaction with them my self.

 

[Tynan]

suppose they can move lots of people quickly, a menace to vulnerable road users and peds

no idea what the reason is for dropping them

 

[gavintc]

From a transport operator perspective they are successful - reduced driver to passenger ratio. However, there are other negative factors - difficulties in operation, risks through articulation etc. I personally think they are less successful than double deck buses and that the Europeans should have adopted our 'mass people movers' rather than vice versa. I remain unconvinced.

 

[domtyler]

They are know as the free bus I think as no one bothers paying to use them so I imagine that passengers like them.

 

[Tynan]

maybe those Europeans have better road layouts and congestion, they always look to big and ungainly to me

and dangerous

 

[magnatom]

I believe our good lady Arch had something to say about bendy buses

View: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BPO6024YKOU

 

[cupoftea]

I think the problem with bendy buses is that there harder for the driver to see all around.

 

[Terminator]

I don't really like them.The acceleration of a snail and lots of blind spots for the driver at a guess.

 

[swee'pea99]

I've never had any problem with them, speaking as a cyclist...you just have to be aware of them and take their particular characteristics in mind when they're around...but I've never understood why they were adopted in preference to double-deckers, which seem to me great testimonies to the power of lateral thinking. The double-decker is a stroke of genius; what's their downside? I just don't get it.

 

[Terminator]

Still perhaps it's better to have that sort of acceleration than that of a ferrari.

 

[LLB]

A few bridges have had be rebuilt around here where double deckers have lost their way and gone under/through them

 

[GrahamG]

I ought to just point out one very good reason for their introduction - personal safety. More importantly, perception of personal safety. They were introduced when bus usage in London was far lower than it is today so there was still the perception that the top deck is home to the usual anti-social behaviour (which it is in most places), single deckers were no good on busy routes so some of the key strategic routes got bendy buses to help grow patronage.

Trust me, for all their ills, if they were introduced in Birmingham it would be heaven - there would be far fewer people smoking doobs, playing mobile phone tunes, shouting/swearing etc. if there were no top deck.

I'm not saying this is a good argument given the negative impact on peds/cyclists, but it is a valid one nonetheless, particularly from a bus user point of view.

 

[Terminator]

I was thinking about the top deck lark but hadn't thought how to put it into words.Generally I avoid buses thats why I cycle everywhere.

 

[GrahamG]

Good point. I hadn't considered that.

We've already got some in Birmingham.

Really? Do you know which route they're on?