Does the bus industry have a widespread cultural problem?

[mangad]

The NBfL (aka Borismaster) was a Boris populist idea to have a dedicated bus for London. Lots of the usual wiffle. Having a two person crew was never cost effective and two staircases were folly. Cancelling the Western Congestion Zone - more Boris populism that was very short sighted, as was his war on bendy buses.

If I remember correctly, Johnson won most of his votes in the outer London boroughs. Boroughs that didn't have bendy buses and would not get the Roastmasters...

Basically a bus policy voted for by the people who didn't use those particular buses ...

 

[PeterC]

If I remember correctly, Johnson won most of his votes in the outer London boroughs. Boroughs that didn't have bendy buses and would not get the Roastmasters...

Basically a bus policy voted for by the people who didn't use those particular buses ...

It's a long time since I retired but back then there were a lot of people using the bus as the final leg in there commute from the major rail termini.

 

[JohnofWessex]

I suggest that the obvious problem buses have is that they are mostly used by less well off or economically inactive people - try finding a working age man on a bus in Bristol when I was on them in the evenings 30 odd years ago.

as a result we end up with the usual poor services for poor people

 

[mangad]

It's a long time since I retired but back then there were a lot of people using the bus as the final leg in there commute from the major rail termini.

Oh that definitely happened. And I suspect still does. And quite likely the first leg too. It's a long time ago now but when first moving to London I remember my first tube strike and needing to do quite a long bus journey. And having to wait nearly an hour before I could get a bus in central London. And when I finally did, the bus completely emptied three stops along at Charing Cross station! I was going much further but so many people had waited an hour to do a trip they could have walked in 15 minutes.

But anyway, if they were doing the last leg they'd never end up on a Roastmaster. And if they were doing the first leg they may well have seen how the bendy buses just ate passengers so quickly compared to double and single deckers!

 

[contrex]

go to the toilet

I once had a ride from Keynsham into Bristol with Abus and as we got into Bristol I became the only passenger, top deck at the front. I noticed the youngish driver was really pressing on. Not taking risks, driving impeccably, but everything timed to the millisecond. When we got to the end of the journey, I said to the driver, 'Thanks, that was a brilliant run, I really enjoyed it!'. He grinned and said 'I've been dying for a piss since Brislington'.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 30 Jul 2026 ==

I suggest that the obvious problem buses have is that they are mostly used by less well off or economically inactive people - try finding a working age man on a bus in Bristol when I was on them in the evenings 30 odd years ago.

as a result we end up with the usual poor services for poor people

I don't drive (don't want to) and have a bus pass. I'm a retired Civil Servant on occy and State pensions, have two savings accounts and an ISA, and I spend a lot of my income every month in various ways, e.g. shopping, bills, etc, and I dispute that I am 'economically inactive'.