More bendy bus trouble...

Ahem. Up until I was 18, yes sometimes I did only pay child fare. However equally I shelled out £7 a day to get to school and back, which is far more than what should have been charged, especially given the service provided. Contributed plenty to the profits of large companies.

Please don't generalise. Not all kids are fare dodgers.

As for the problem with drivers not wanting to get out their cabs, I find that the drivers here in Edinburgh are more willing to do this if someone is smoking or messing around - whereas in Doncaster they don't want to. Is this anything to do with the fact that Lothian drivers don't carry cash to leave unattended, and have a safety screen to hide behind, as well as radio contact with base - rather than a mobile phone?

Alternatively, and I admit even more expensive, but what about employing a second member of staff to deal with the cash and passengers. With two members of staff one can be a backup for the other in the event of any trouble, and in the majority of cases one can deal with minor disturbances without delaying the bus. Oh, and as a bonus, you get more fare revenue (without putting up fares), less pi$$ed off passengers, service to commuters and tourists and better behaviour. With all of these you might just find that your ridership increases, leading to more fare revenue (without putting up fares). It is not inconceivable also that when the driver is driving and the conductor is dealing with tickets and passengers that the service becomes more reliable - which will itself attract more passengers and therefore more fare revenue (without putting up the fares). When all this is happening, you might find it becomes economic to run more routes and/or journeys and so provide a better service, leading to more passengers, leading to more fare revenue.

Sorry to sound like a stuck record, but conductors would solve the majority of the problems (certainly in terms of number) with bus travel today.

Indeed - that is what happens up here. People are educated in the system, either they have their pass ready or the £1 coin (or £2.50 for a dayticket), they dump it in the farebox and take the ticket as they're walking away. Very efficient - you can load an 85 seat double decker in a couple of minutes compared to the ages it'd take if the driver was faffing with change.

Also, it increases revenue as it's not possible to defraud the company. Like it or not, quite a few drivers do, it contributed to the demise of a local bus company recently.

and make the inmates work for their keep.

Actually, they do! Wekll, except if they are over 60/65 as trhe case may be. Or disabled. Or sick. Inmates are require to work or do education for which they are paid a small amount, or more depending on the jobs. No work, no pay, and extra "time" added on. Sentences under 4 years mean automatic release at half-way, with generally release even over that threshold at 2/3rds sentence completed. Parole was once upon a time able to be considered at 1/3rd sentence, but where it applies is now 1/2.

I really want all buses to be two person operated. Let the conductor deal with the passengers, and the driver the road.

However, TFL [and its predecessors] got rid of them in a cost cutting measure. I dont know anyone who would be against the conductors coming back, except fare dodgers.

One good use for them could be Target Practice on Hackney Marshes... not just footballs either...

Last I heard, the jails in this country's sadly full.

New tender = new buses on many occasions... They maybe increasing the number of vehicles allocated to the 453 and it may well have maintenance etc. advantages to have them all from the same batch.
And as the post says they're going back to TfL (I believe they own most of London's bendies and there's some sort of lease arrangement to the tendered operator). So that means I imagine they'll probably be used to replace the burnt out ones add extra capacity to other routes rather than be sent out of London.

Exactly why First increased the number of "Customer Service Hosts" on the FTR bendies in York (and Leeds, presumably). The automated ticket machine was rubbish and caused huge delays at stops- now the passengers can at least board and the driver (in separate cab) can concentrate solely on driving. According to someone on another forum who is quite senior in First South Yorkshire, he has been informed that the number of passengers on these high-profile routes has increased.

As are things like running early, not setting destination blinds, stealing money from passengers, not following the proper route, yet bus drivers still do them!

"There are hundreds of excuses for running late; there are no excuses for running early"

It's very annoying to be kept waiting for a bus, but even more annoying to miss it because the bus driver wants to get an extra lunch break. Especially when you have a train to catch.

Or being sworn at because you ask for a ticket... then when you complain about the driver, him throwing you off the bus for no reason next time you get on. Fortunately, he's since been fired.

I've been on a placement in Southend this week, and using the local busses made me realise how very very convenient London buses are.

The local busses I had to catch came every 20-30 minutes. There was a que of people at each stop to buy there ticket, which cost me £1.70 for a single to get from Southend Central to my destination. There was just one set of doors at the front of the bus, and the buses were old (but perfectly good). The drivers were all very friendly.

The Oyster system in London has been a revolution IMO, and the frequency and modern design of the buses make them very easy to use.

I came home thinking how good the buses in London are... Cos they are pretty good, compared to other places!

Sounds like a mailbox ;D.

Oh how depressing you make the bus system in Donny sound......

Down here:
1. NO driver smokes on a bus - they get to the end of the journey then hop off if they have time.
2. Using a mobile phone gets you the sack instantly- never mind just the law. Even in a crisis situation you have to shut down, get OFF the bus (not just out of the cab) then call up. Obviously common sense would prevail in an extreme emergency but those are the rules.
3. Nobody runs (more than 2 minutes) early. Inspectors enforce it rigorously - and the ticket machines are connected to the Radar clock at Rugby so there's no excuse!!
4. Drivers get to know (and joke with where appropriate) passengers and vice versa.

And on a technical point all our Volvo Olympians are ex-London dual-doorway buses - converted to single door, so it can be done.
BTW these vehicles are the best hill-climbing buses ever built!!