Bus Route 12 to get Boris Buses

[Bic Basher]

No confirmed date from TfL, but I understand 12 bus drivers are already training using the Boris Bus/New Bus for London.

However, it's expected that they'll be gradually introduced onto the 12 by the end of March.

[Earl Aelfheah]

The 'Boris Vanity Buses' are rubbish and cost the earth. The price, along with that of the Dangleway vanity project, garden bridge vanity project and northern line diversion (into an overseas property portfolio), could together have funded some high frequency metro services in the SE of London.

[Landy10]

Route 12 has perfectly good buses already. How do they even decide when new buses get put on routes? The 176 buses are horrible and when one goes down lordship lane you actually have to stop your conversation (if having one) because they are so ridiculously noisy! That is the route that needs the new buses!

[KalamityKel]

I think the idea with the "Boris" buses was to introduce (reintroduce?) them to the routes that were previously routemaster buses and in particular those routes that serve particular sections of central London... I really really dislike the term "Boris" buses - it's a bus for goodness sake!

[Penguin68]

No, I think the Boris buses are meant to replace the Livingstone bendy buses - all presumably routes seen as being fashionable or visible. Originally all London bus (within the GLC) routes were Routemaster - and there were no single deck small 'hopper' buses.

Edited to add:- there were some residual Routemaster buses left in service, mainly servicing routes through central London, but I don't know how, if at all, these mapped onto the bendy bus routes.

[Loz]

I quite like the Boris Buses. A bit plasticky on the inside, but generally a good bus.

rahrahrah: what is the cost of a Boris Bus compared to a normal double decker?

[Bic Basher]

The Boris buses are terrible to ride in the summer months. They trap the heat in. despite the open rear platform (which incidentally is closed outside of weekday daytimes, depending on the route) with dodgy air conditioning.

Like the bendy buses, they also give the opportunity for fare fidders and all types of undesirables to board, something which has been eradicated when the normal double deckers returned.

[tomdhu]

Loz Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

>

> rahrahrah: what is the cost of a Boris Bus

> compared to a normal double decker?

The cost of a Boris bus is ?353,000 compared to around ?200,000 for a regular double deck bus.

The difference is as a result of such items as triple entrances/exits, air-conditioning nd a whole lot of fancy frills.

[Earl Aelfheah]

tomdhu Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Loz Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> >

> > rahrahrah: what is the cost of a Boris Bus

> > compared to a normal double decker?

>

> The cost of a Boris bus is ?353,000 compared to

> around ?200,000 for a regular double deck bus.

>

> The difference is as a result of such items as

> triple entrances/exits, air-conditioning nd a

> whole lot of fancy frills.

Plus the development costs. See http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19605280

[DulwichFox]

Boris Johnson is just trying to make a name for himself...

The Boris Bike.

A bike hire system that does not facilitate cycle helmets or require users to wear them. ?

The Boris Bus.

RML: 7874kg ? 72 seats ? 5 standing

NB4L: 12460kg ? 62 seats ? 18 standing

So the NB4L achieves the magnificent feat of weighing 58% more despite having fewer seats.

The Boris Cable Car.. Boris Johnson's 'pitiful' ?60m cable car used by just four regular commuters..

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/boris-johnsons-pitiful-60m-cable-car-used-by-just-four-regular-commuters-8953512.html

The Boris Water Cannon ?218,000 on water cannon he cannot use

http://leftfootforward.org/2015/03/amid-massive-budget-cuts-boris-has-spent-218000-on-water-cannon-he-cannot-use/

The Man is a Genius

DulwichFox

[Salsaboy]

Let's make him PM then.

[Rolo Tomasi]

Re the cable car. Do you have any current data?

[tfwsoll]

The Boris buses also have ridiculously uncomfortable seats. I'm not particularly tall but I find there isn't as much leg room as the standard buses and the seats have very little depth to them.

[goosey-goosey]

Thanks for confirming, Bic Basher. I was wondering what all the plastic Boris Buses were doing up and down LL recently. It's faintly ridiculous of me, but somehow they make me feel more connected to central London. Hmm... maybe Boris has finally worked his snake-oil magic on me.

[titch juicy]

tfwsoll Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The Boris buses also have ridiculously

> uncomfortable seats. I'm not particularly tall

> but I find there isn't as much leg room as the

> standard buses and the seats have very little

> depth to them.

This exactly.

I am tall and the new buses are horribly uncomfortable- whereas the current 12s have really good leg room.

[Nigello]

I hope they will have conductors on them, otherwise the USP of the Routemaster - being able to hop on and off at will - is negated. (Only those vehicles with a conductor on them can have their back door open other than at bus stops.)

[titch juicy]

apparently they have the conductor at busy times

[Earl Aelfheah]

DulwichFox Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The Boris Cable Car.. Boris Johnson's 'pitiful'

> ?60m cable car used by just four regular

> commuters..

...latest I read that had dropped to zero ( http://853blog.com/2014/12/16/emirates-air-line-cable-car-now-has-no-regular-commuters/ ).

I can't find the reference now, but I heard that for the price of developing and rolling out the small number of 'Boris Buses', TFL could have made the entire bus fleet hybrid.

(edited several times because I couldn't get link to work)

[Earl Aelfheah]

The Garden Bridge and the Dangleway both come out of the transport budget btw. Which is why Boris insists (against all good reason) that they're for commuters.

Of course, they're primarily tourist attractions / follys / vanity projects (pick your preferred term) - but the money spent on them results in less to spend on actual public tranport infrastructure.

[Penguin68]

Of course, they're primarily tourist attractions

Considering the revenues coming into London from tourists, expenditure on tourist attractions seems entirely reasonable. You may not like them (nasty foreigners cluttering up the streets) but they are a pretty vital part of London's economy, and a major source of employment.

[Earl Aelfheah]

I have absolutely no problem with tourist attractions (and your implication that I don't like foreigners is a bizarre leap). My point is, they should not be funded from money raided from the transport budget.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Penguin68 - calling me a xenophobe because I disagree with the Mayor's carefree attitude to misappropriating transport funds to pay for tourist attractions, is out of order.

[Bic Basher]

It depends on the route whether they get the 'conductors', the 148 from Camberwell Green doesn't have them at all, with the rear platform door only open at bus stops.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Yes, you're right about the 148. It's another reason I don't think the new Routemasters were a sensible investment.. the 'hop on, hop off' aspect, which was one of the major advantages of the old buses is often missing anyway.

[Earl Aelfheah]

Currently on 148. They're already getting hot and stuffy and we've not hit summer yet. The lack of opening windows / ventilation is horrible