Bendy Buses

[domtyler]

Are there many low bridges in London?

There are thousands of bridges in London, many of which are low, why do you ask?

 

[PrettyboyTim]

The insides of bendy buses are nicer than double deckers - the ceilings are higher which means that you don't have to stoop and the inside of the bus is brighter. For those with low mobility the lack of stairs is useful and the buses are easier to get in and out of. I've not been on a bendy bus many times so I can't really comment on how much antisocial behaviour is affected.

 

[Arch]

The insides of bendy buses are nicer than double deckers - the ceilings are higher which means that you don't have to stoop

You should be like me then - short!

Cheers magnatom, saved me putting that link up myself!

Here in York, bendy buses are a bitmad. Our city centre is small and cramped with a lot of tight corners that can't be widened without demolishing historic buildings. The result being that any bus has to take most corners wide, and bendies go even further out....

 

[Molecule Man]

I can't speak from the point of view of a bus user, so my opinion may be somewhat unbalanced, but I hate them.
To be fair, the quality of driving seems to have improved with experience, but I had a few close shaves from them soon after they were introduced.

My main problem with them though is that they appear to contribute quite a lot to congestion in central London. I haven't done any extensive research on this, but frequently I see a bendy bus in a traffic jam going along New Oxford Street and the driver has parked it all the way across the bottom of Bloomsbury Street, blocking the pedestrian crossings on both sides as well as the road, so that nobody can move anywhere.

Actually, junction blocking (and especially parking across pedestrian crossings) is one of my least favourite driver behaviours and is widespread among all sorts of drivers, but when a bendy bus does it it causes particular hassle.

 

[Molecule Man]

I saw a bendy bus completely stuck trying to do a U-turn on Rosebery Avenue once. I don't know how they managed to extricate it.

I can see the advantages from the point of view of passengers, but I don't really think they are suitable for central London, maybe use them for suburban routes.

Edit: this could be the same incident

http://www.bbc.co.uk/london/content/image_galleries/bendybus_story_gallery.shtml

 

[Pete]

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

You know, a propos reversing buses, I was for years under the delusion that trolleybuses couldn't (a) be reversed, or ( turn around in the road without the aid of a turning circle in the overhead wires.

Both wrong: as I witnessed for myself in Bradford (the last place in Britain with a trolleybus fleet). But these were rigid double-deckers not bendy-buses, and the drivers were probably better trained!

 

[domd1979]

Artics are good on high volume routes. They can shift more passengers much more efficiently (carry more people, faster loading/unloading) than double decks. From a road safety point of view, I don't see that they're any different to the types of articulated HCVs on the road.

 

[domd1979]

Indeed. To Castle Vale - nice.

http://www.birminghamuk.com/album/displayimage.php?album=1&pos=52

Not sure, but I think it just might be the 67 route.