In Defence of Bendy Buses...and more

Above: A modern replacement for the Routemaster? (see below)

In defence of bendy buses

According to today's Evening Standard, Boris Johnson vowed today that if he was elected Mayor of London, his first act would be to scrap bendy buses and replace them with a modern day Routemaster.

Bendy buses come in for a lot of criticism, and as a passenger on bendy buses for the last few years I feel moved to blog in their defence.

I think the greatest benefit of them is that they can deal with large numbers of people very quickly, and they do get you there faster.

The three sets of doors, and the ticketing, mean that people can get on and off extremely quickly. Anyone who doubts this should go down to London's Waterloo station at morning rush hour and watch the crowds streaming out of the station and on to the route 521 bendy bus. (The stream of people organizes itself into three queues, one for each set of doors at the bus stop. Buses arrive every few minutes, and the queues move forward much more quickly than they would otherwise).

I like the fact that bendy buses have plenty of room inside. There is room to walk around at non-peak times, and they almost feel more like a train than a bus.

Because of their size, they also tend to be driven more smoothly and much less aggressively than other buses, making the journey more comfortable and safe.

The approach to ticketing is controversial - you need to buy a ticket before you board, which is a hassle if you're in a rush and the ticket machine is broken. However, this is a policy issue which has nothing to do with the design of the bus. There are many other types of bus for which you need to buy a ticket in advance. And equally, if they wanted to they could easily introduce a conductor on the bendy bus who could check tickets and accept cash fares, just like the old Routemasters.

The question about cyclist safety is a serious one. Bendy buses (and any other long vehicles such as articulated lorries) obviously need to be sensible when overtaking cyclists, and shouldn't do it on a left-hand bend or corner.

In general though, all road users have to take responsibility for safety and I think the attitude of the drivers and riders is a much more important safety factor than the buses being slightly longer. It's worth pointing out that hundreds of cyclists act recklessly every day, while I've hardly ever seen a bus driving dangerously.

Yes, bendy buses have fewer seats and more standing room, but that's because it's an urban mass transit system - it's designed to move very large numbers of people relatively short distances, with lots of people getting on and off quickly.

So basically I don't mind bendy buses at all, and actually quite like them.

A new Routemaster?

Having said all that, the most interesting part of Boris Johnson's suggestion was the opportunity to create a replacement for the Routemaster - a new type of bus unique to London, which could once again become part of the city's identity.

We had a go at modernizing the form of the Routemaster (pls see image above) by making it slightly bigger and slightly more blobby and streamlined. Two points to make here:

1. Tickets. The driver can't sell tickets to people getting on. So either people will need to buy a ticket before getting on (like the bendy buses), or there will need to be a conductor (like the old Routemasters).
2. The Door. Many Londoners remember the adrenalin rush of running and leaping on to the rear platform just in time before the bus left, or jumping on and off in traffic. This was great fun, but extremely dangerous, and in the 21st century we felt we had to draw a sliding door at the back, which would open at bus stops only.

If London does build its own new bus type, should the new design try to emulate the shape of the Routemaster?

Perhaps not. The original was strikingly modern when first produced, and acquired its character over many decades as a backdrop to people's lives.

I feel there's a strong argument that the best vehicle designers in the country should produce something completely new and extraordinary - efficient, accessible, safe and fit for purpose but also unexpected, unique and distinctive.

Comments

[Annabanana]

Also to the credit of the bendy bus is the increased accessibility for disabled people. Bendies are far easier to get on and off for people with impaired mobility (the step on the Routemaster was pretty high) and they were completely unusable for people in wheelchairs (whereas bendies have neat little ramps and nice wide doors).

Of course the downside of this is that the bendies then get packed with huge three-wheeler buggies, who park them in the wheelchair spaces....