Can I suggest that you take a look at the dictionary definition of “normal” and ask yourself whether a working day (ie not a bank/public holiday) on which demand on the bus network is known to be at least 20% below the average for a working day meets this?
They differ from "normal days" as listed above
I remember my mother seeing a bus laying over at the terminus and sounding off about buses being "always empty".
In the same manner - Mobileye is only fitted on some LTs (Transport UK springs to mind who pretty much have it fleet wide). ISA isn't on every LT but some operators have had it installed and it has the speed limiter sign on the dash. My understanding with ISA on the LT is however it does not *usually* cap the bus to the local speed limit, but instead will produce a loud alarm sound if the bus is speeding over the limit with a prominent APPLY BRAKE warning in amber on the dashboard. This will only deactivate once the bus is under the speed limit again. It's a unique form of ISA compared to other buses. If I can ever find a photo or proof of it, I'll try remember to post it here!
It has been said above but mainly to do with the fact that a major chunk of workers in London will be off for the festive period. Even leisure activity falls between Christmas and the New Year for a variety of reasons; not limited to, but including financial pressures as a result of spending a lot of money at Christmas, people just wishing to recharge at home or perhaps being away from London for the festive period (perhaps out in the country, or out of the country). A lot of places close for the festive week or have limited opening hours, too. In (now) 2026 with the advent of home-working as well, the few office workers who are working will probably likely be able to work remotely from home or somewhere local and at more flexible times than the usual 9-5.
We have Mobileye on our (newer) fleet here in Queensland in Australia and from a driver perspective it is just simply annoying. It is indeed aware of the road speed limits however it is not foolproof as I have seen a few mistaken speed signs when driving on a Busway next to the highway. It doesn’t actively alarm with speeding at least on our fleet, but as soon as you cross a white line it goes off.
www.standard.co.uk
Bill Cahill, MD of First Bus London was recently interviewed by The Standard. It's a comprehensive piece but I've quoted just the first few paragraphs for brevity.
Electric buses: Sadiq Khan warned of delays getting diesel vehicles off the road
Mayor warned that removing all diesel buses from London by end of decade is ‘next to impossible to achieve’
If it helps, the bus age profile is in the annual TfL bus fleet audit.
The newest diesel double deckers still operating on the TfL network are Arriva's 65-reg Enviro400s. They have a bit of an uncertain future in London, as they're slated to be replaced by BD11s this year, but theoretically could operate on another new contract up to 2030 with no issues. Not very relevant, but before Sullivan's exited the London market, their 2017 diesel Enviro400 MMCs were the newest double decker diesels on the network, and I believe the last double deck diesels ever ordered for TfL services.
Could the ieTram Bus work for the 170 or possibly the BYD B12? The only other option is rerouting.
The last diesels were the SDE class short 9m enviro200 for the K1 contract in spring 2020 (then operated by RATP)
Another bulge has longer term consequences, the desire to be all low floor by early 2006 saw huge numbers of buses bought early 2000s, then virtually nothing new for 2 years to mid 2008. Then these early low floor all needed replacing around 12-13 years later, hence around 1000 buses each year mid 2015 to mid 2018, before dropping off to few hundred for next few years to 2024
The clearance on the southbound side of the Lombard Road bridge is 3m. An ieTram is 3.3m and the BD12 is 3.2m. The only currently available EV that comes close in the Enviro 100EV, at 3.1m, but to accommodate this the bridge would need replating (I am assuming that there is more than 10cm of wriggle room!) but this would also require a change to established practice for determining height restrictions.
It is possible for the 170 to be rerouted or even altered so it avoids Lombard Road?
Diesel single deckers like the E200MMC are far easier to move on though than hybrid double deckers, as so many operators around the country use E200 type buses, often secondhand.
Yes I agree, and I could also easily see a kind of fudge where reference is made to main network etc, rather than whole network. Or maybe apply the target to all of inner London, with outer London couple of years later (what is inner and outer could be bit vague politically).
The northern side clearance is 3.2m, high enough for a BYD single-decker. Could the southbound buses also use this, aided by traffic lights for a southbound bus lane?
In theory yes but I suspect it would cause traffic chaos (not that this seems to worry those in power any more!).
If you click on the link and have a look around it quickly becomes apparent that in both directions, the road has been built to travel under the lowest section of each railway arch.
Yes 18 of the BDE class have entered service on 31, (strictly 14 of route 31 batch and four from Route 18 batch), although none have been used on 18 as that is currently operated by the non electrified Park Royal garage, which is on a short lease and due to close for redevelopment
