Getting off the bus

I have to admit, I was rather embarrassed to watch the eight minutes devoted to Britain in the closing ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing. That said, it could have been much worse…

The red bus that formed the centrepiece of the celebrations was a lot swankier than my experience of catching buses in London. With the exuberance of a bull, Lynsey Hanley was prompted to celebrate the bus in a piece for The Guardian. It is the usual anti-car, anti-Jeremy Clarkson drivel, eulogising the wonder, the humanity and the diversity of the daily bus commute. I don’t know where she lives, but after a year of commuting from Deptford to Russell Square on the 188, I had a glimpse of hell. Read on the bus she suggests…I couldn’t hear myself think.

Perhaps things have changed over the last couple of years. Certainly, the part-privatization of the buses is starting to pay off. The underground should be liberalized as well. The experience is becoming far worse than catching the bus. Hosting the Olympics in 2012 will surely be the breaking point. By then I may well have volunteered myself to life in a padded cell and the promise of two hot meals a day.

Maybe Hanley is right. Maybe everyone loves public transport and will flock like sheep to it upon hearing her wise words. Well if that’s the case, then fine. When I am rich enough to afford the various taxes and charges to drive to work, it will be just the buses, the taxis and me on the road. Or am I not alone?

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written by Obnoxio The Clown, August 27, 2008

You won't be alone. There are actually mad people out there who enjoy the act of driving, for a start.

One of the most important things that public transport needs to be is cheap. I can't see it getting any more pleasant if it's cheaper.

It's all about image, I suppose
written by Letters From A Tory, August 27, 2008

Wouldn't it be nice if we all had buses turn up looking that clean and well-maintained!

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written by Derek W. Buxton, August 27, 2008

Wouldn't it be nice if we had buses! Especially ones that actually took you to where you wanted/had to go at a time somewhere around that required. Watch out for porcine airobatics sometrime soon, or not.

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written by Steve Giess, August 27, 2008

How would liberalizing the Underground impove its capacity? - my experience with it is that you could not get more trains on the lines in central London if you tried.

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written by Blog Administrator, August 27, 2008

Well, Steve, I don't think it's just about improving capacity. The main benefit of liberalization would be better management, which would go a long way to making traveling on the tube more bearable. Fraser Nelson wrote about the privately-run Stockholm tube here: http://www.spectator.co.uk/cof...hts.thtml.

In fact though, real liberalization could actually help improve capacity. A commercial service would have a financial incentive to invest in things like lighter carriages, rubberized track and (most importantly) a modern-signaling system. That would allow them to run more trains, closer together.

The trouble with the London tube is that it only runs about 20-25 trains an hour on most lines - hence crowed platforms and sardine can carriages. In Moscow, by contrast, they run 40-45 trains an hour. I can't see TfL getting us to that level, but maybe the private-sector could.

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written by Steve Giess, August 27, 2008

Re Blog Administrator

Yes, I agree that the only way to increase capacity is to run more trains per hour. If that could be done safely then fine. Presumably the new incarnations of the 'Metropolitan Railway Company' (images of Metro-land by the poet John B. etc, etc) would also make their money on the long distance commute in - as compared to the daytime internal traffic within London.

Reading / London / Stockholm
written by Tom Papworth, August 27, 2008

Actually, I find reading on the bus fine.

What annoyed me about the London element of the closing ceremony was how staid it was. A London bus; an aging rocker; a footballer who has serially failed to win international tournaments; and a non-entity of a modern celeb. What a sorry metephor for our great metropolis that is!

"privately-run Stockholm tube"? That explains it! Two years in Sweden and all I heard from my ex-pat friends was how great Swedish public transport was. I suspect they'd eat their words if they knew it was privately run!

Written by Philip Salter
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
I have to admit, I was rather embarrassed to watch the eight minutes devoted to Britain in the closing ceremony of the Olympic games in Beijing. That said, it could have been much worse… The red bus that formed the centrepiece of the celebrations was a lot swankier than my experience of catching buses in London. With the exuberance of a bull, Lynsey Hanley was prompted to celebrate the bus in a piece for The Guardian. It is the usual anti-car, anti-Jeremy Clarkson drivel, eulogising the wonder, the humanity and the diversity of the daily bus commute. I don’t know where she lives, but after a year of commuting from Deptford to Russell Square on the 188, I had a glimpse of hell. Read on the bus she suggests…I couldn’t hear myself think. Perhaps things have changed over the last couple of years. Certainly, the part-privatization of the buses is starting to pay off. The underground should be liberalized as well. The experience is becoming far worse than catching the bus. Hosting the Olympics in 2012 will surely be the breaking point. By then I may well have volunteered myself to life in a padded cell and the promise of two hot meals a day. Maybe Hanley is right. Maybe everyone loves public transport and will flock like sheep to it upon hearing her wise words. Well if that’s the case, then fine. When I am rich enough to afford the various taxes and charges to drive to work, it will be just the buses, the taxis and me on the road. Or am I not alone? Bookmark Comments (7) Subscribe to this comment's feed ... written by Obnoxio The Clown, August 27, 2008 You won't be alone. There are actually mad people out there who enjoy the act of driving, for a start. One of the most important things that public transport needs to be is cheap. I can't see it getting any more pleasant if it's cheaper. It's all about image, I suppose written by Letters From A Tory, August 27, 2008 Wouldn't it be nice if we all had buses turn up looking that clean and well-maintained! ... written by Derek W. Buxton, August 27, 2008 Wouldn't it be nice if we had buses! Especially ones that actually took you to where you wanted/had to go at a time somewhere around that required. Watch out for porcine airobatics sometrime soon, or not. ... written by Steve Giess, August 27, 2008 How would liberalizing the Underground impove its capacity? - my experience with it is that you could not get more trains on the lines in central London if you tried. ... written by Blog Administrator, August 27, 2008 Well, Steve, I don't think it's just about improving capacity. The main benefit of liberalization would be better management, which would go a long way to making traveling on the tube more bearable. Fraser Nelson wrote about the privately-run Stockholm tube here: http://www.spectator.co.uk/cof...hts.thtml. In fact though, real liberalization could actually help improve capacity. A commercial service would have a financial incentive to invest in things like lighter carriages, rubberized track and (most importantly) a modern-signaling system. That would allow them to run more trains, closer together. The trouble with the London tube is that it only runs about 20-25 trains an hour on most lines - hence crowed platforms and sardine can carriages. In Moscow, by contrast, they run 40-45 trains an hour. I can't see TfL getting us to that level, but maybe the private-sector could. ... written by Steve Giess, August 27, 2008 Re Blog Administrator Yes, I agree that the only way to increase capacity is to run more trains per hour. If that could be done safely then fine. Presumably the new incarnations of the 'Metropolitan Railway Company' (images of Metro-land by the poet John B. etc, etc) would also make their money on the long distance commute in - as compared to the daytime internal traffic within London. Reading / London / Stockholm written by Tom Papworth, August 27, 2008 Actually, I find reading on the bus fine. What annoyed me about the London element of the closing ceremony was how staid it was. A London bus; an aging rocker; a footballer who has serially failed to win international tournaments; and a non-entity of a modern celeb. What a sorry metephor for our great metropolis that is! "privately-run Stockholm tube"? That explains it! Two years in Sweden and all I heard from my ex-pat friends was how great Swedish public transport was. I suspect they'd eat their words if they knew it was privately run! Write comment This content has been locked. You can no longer post any comment. Powered by Azrul's Jom Comment for Joomla!