Typical, you wait for ages for a blog and then...
Everyone knows the old saw about waiting for hours for a London bus and then three turning up at once.
Well I can offer a new updated version.
Here goes:"Typical, you wait for ages for a bus. It turns up and then half way home it stops for no good reason." OK, so maybe it's not quite so catchy as the original - it's work in progress really - but the phenomenon is just as irritating.
I'm usually a cyclist but when it's wet or I'm carrying something bulky home I get the Number 27 from Kensington High Street to Hammersmith. This is not as frequent as I would like but it's a tolerably reliable service, run by the French transport company Transdev.
In recent weeks however, it has developed a most annoying tic. We will arrive at a stop, let the passengers on an off as normal and then...nothing. The doors shut and we wait. And we wait. And we wait.
One of those computer generated female voices tells us that the bus "is being held here for a few minutes to better regulate the service." Whatever that means. It doesn't last that long but the collective groan of irritation around the bus when it happens is palpable. I'm sorry, but the only "better regulation" of the service I want after a long day at the coal face is one that gets me home more quickly.
Enquiries at Transport for London reveal that it is all to do with a new initiative called the ibus tracking system. This is a kind of superior satnav for buses, that allows controllers to follow the exact path and location of all the double and single deckers in their charge.
If there is a danger of "bunching" - the classic three turning up at once syndrome - then the central TfL brain orders the bus in danger of catching up with the one in front to halt. Well excuse me but as a relatively regular user of the service I had never been aware of a major bunching problem before.
No, I suspect over zealous "Blakeys" (apologies for obscure cultural reference impenetrable to anyone younger than 45 - just google it) desperate to play with their new toy. If that is the case - get over it.
Think of me, the poor, over worked hack looking forward to a brief reminder of what my children look like. Every minute being "regulated" on the bus is a minute less quality time with the family. Bunching or no bunching I just want to get home.
If the voice is computer generated I'm going out with an android. Troubling...
Posted by: Mark | 05/02/2008 at 09:45 AM
This is designed to make buses run to timetable, i.e. if the bus is running ahead of schedule this will inconvenience passengers further down the line waiting for it. This is especially crucial at times of less frequent service, e.g. at night or on Sundays when a reduced service operates. It also minimises the risk of the bus catching up with the one in front, thus leaving a longer wait for those waiting for the one behind. It's known as common sense.
Posted by: Ruth | 05/02/2008 at 12:56 PM
The reason the service is reasonably reliable is because buses are monitored and regulated.The bus may be held so that passengers that would normally have boarded the bus do not miss it.
This ensures that not only is the bus on time but that no one bus is overcrowded.That way all have a pleasant journey home which considering the cost of travel is i believe the least the public can expect.
Buses have always been regulated by officials, Roadside and iBus is just a more efficient way of controlling routes.
Anything that improves Londoners lives is to be applauded ,or we could go back to three together and then nothing for 20 minutes.
I know which i would prefer.
Posted by: Buswoman | 05/02/2008 at 08:51 PM
It does seem as if only staff from TFL and me read your blog. Even so I think you should be within your rights as a passenger that once you have got on a bus it should take you to yor destination as swiftly as possable. Anyway next time take a Licensed Taxi.
Posted by: Thomasthetaxi | 14/02/2008 at 02:57 AM
Any other driver of a vehicle would be done for "stopping where waiting is prohibited" if passengers were not boarding or alighting at the time of the alledged offence. M'lud.
Posted by: Les | 05/04/2008 at 05:58 AM