Mayor of London

[Dame Starry]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett (and kids travel free in contrast to when I was young and children were counted as adults at 14 - why?)

Quite simply because people had to leave school at 14/15 years of age and go to work for a living so, obviously, they were considered adults even though they couldn't smoke (legally), vote or get married.
Then the school leaving age was raised and University became accessible to all, but I assume the public transport fare system took a while to catch up with that.

DS x.

[Mark O]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Most routes seem to be still using the same one-man-operated buses that they've used for the last 10+ years Steve

Absolutely!..........

[Mark O]

A 'traditional' Routemaster anyone?!!..........

[penfold]

Originally Posted by Dame Starry Quite simply because people had to leave school at 14/15 years of age and go to work for a living so, obviously, they were considered adults even though they couldn't smoke (legally), vote or get married. Then the school leaving age was raised and University became accessible to all, but I assume the public transport fare system took a while to catch up with that. DS x.

Thirty years and counting, outside of London, Dame Starry....

[Dame Starry]

Originally Posted by penfold Thirty years and counting, outside of London, Dame Starry....

That's quite true, penfold, but I wasn't making excuses for anybody as to why it went on for so long - for the answer to that, you will have to ask the bus companies! I expect that, after privatisation, it was exploited by those who took control.
I merely gave you the reason as to why 14 year olds were originally classified as 'adults' - that is why I singled out that line specifically.

DS x.

[dremble wedge]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook How many routes have bendy buses? I only ever see a few of them. Most routes seem to be still using the same one-man-operated buses that they've used for the last 10+ years

The 73 and the 38 (which are the ones I used when I lived there) used to be Routemasters and are bendy now.

[christoph404]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook There's an aspect of horses that you're not considering. It would certainly count as pollution and the old horse drawn rag & bone man used to collect it with a shovel and bucket and then offer it to people for the roses If everyone in London rode a horse we'd be up to our necks in it - literally Steve

Being a country boy from a rural town in Scotland, I quite like the smell of horse dung, much better than exhaust fumes......nice big deep breath now...ah...lovely

[christoph404]

Originally Posted by penfold As was the regular sight of seeing the bottom half of Routemasters being extracted from under railway bridges.....less entertaining for those on the top deck, I would imagine....

I think the routemaster bus drivers in London got to know the low clearance bridges in London and managed to avoid them most days.

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by christoph404 I think the routemaster bus drivers in London got to know the low clearance bridges in London and managed to avoid them most days.

Except when they were diverted onto other routes and didn't follow the signs properly or were a new driver learning the route and got it wrong ...

Most buses avoided low bridges most days. But there were (and still are) quite a few that were hit over the years.

Steve

[Steve Crook]

Originally Posted by dremble wedge The 73 and the 38 (which are the ones I used when I lived there) used to be Routemasters and are bendy now.

I think I've only ever seen them around Victoria. And both those routes terminate at Victoria. Bendy buses certainly aren't all over London

Steve

[Dame Starry]

Originally Posted by dremble wedge The 73 and the 38 (which are the ones I used when I lived there) used to be Routemasters and are bendy now.

Route 38

Route 73

DS x.

[christoph404]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook I think I've only ever seen them around Victoria. And both those routes terminate at Victoria. Bendy buses certainly aren't all over London Steve

Apparently there are approx 350 bendy buses in London, 5% of the fleet but they cause 20% of the accidents. One of the reasons they lose money is that they have double the rate of fare dodging than other kinds of buses, you can get on the bus without passing the driver or having to show him a travel card, and if you don't feel like swiping your Oyster card then no-one is really going to make you, unless an inspector comes on. I've never encountered a bus inspector in London in 20 years of living here and I use the bus quite a lot. And for fare dodgers who favour the back of the bus, well the back of the bus is so far away from the driver that he hasn't a clue whats going on anyway. Its also difficult for the driver to judge whether everyone is on the bus or not, many passengers have complained about being stuck in the doors as they shut simply because the driver can't see from his mirrors properly whether people are on are not. Also if that 60 foot long bus happens to pull up at a bus stop and another bendy is already there, well you end up having to sprint down the street from the stop to get on the wretched thing!

[Mark O]

Originally Posted by Steve Crook Except when they were diverted onto other routes and didn't follow the signs properly or were a new driver learning the route and got it wrong ... Most buses avoided low bridges most days. But there were (and still are) quite a few that were hit over the years. Steve

Yes, the main-line Railway Bridge at Finsbury Park station over Stroud Green Road is one place where Double-decker Buses won't 'fit'........been a fair few incidents there over the years!

[CaptainWaggett]

Originally Posted by Dame Starry Quite simply because people had to leave school at 14/15 years of age and go to work for a living so, obviously, they were considered adults even though they couldn't smoke (legally), vote or get married. Then the school leaving age was raised and University became accessible to all, but I assume the public transport fare system took a while to catch up with that. DS x.

I started secondary school 6 years after the school leaving age was raised to 16 (it was raised to 15 as a result of the 1944 Act though I'm not quite sure when it kicked in). I think it had more to do with the fact that schoolkids, unlike pensioners, aren't really in a position to complain about fares. My memory tells me that cheap fares up to 16 was a GLC initiative but I could well be wrong about that since it didn't affect me.

[Dame Starry]

Originally Posted by CaptainWaggett I think it had more to do with the fact that schoolkids, unlike pensioners, aren't really in a position to complain about fares.

Why would schoolchildren want to complain about fares when it was their parents who had to find the money?
Over a certain distance, fares to and from school were, invariably, paid for by the local authority as, indeed, mine were.

I couldn't have cared less what fares cost until I went to work and had to pay them out of my own pocket!

DS x.