London Bus Stops

[ess]

How come every other part of the country has a picture of a bus on the bus stops but London doesn't?

 

[Busaholic]

The picture of a generic bus dates from National Bus Company days and these were used to replace the selection of bus stops offered (or not) by individual bus companies, a few of which were magnificent, the majority functional and the rest a downright disgrace, often containing absolutely no information beyond the name of the company serving the stop, and even that was sometimes decades out of date!
London Transport from its beginnings in 1933 treated every aspect of bus (and underground) travel seriously and adopted its own design of bus stop, request or compulsory, including a separate appropriately-coloured one for Green Line coaches, or a half-and-half one for buses and coaches. 'E' plates with numbers of the buses serving that particular stop were also provided where appropriate and timetables were almost always displayed, in the case of very frequent routes with first and last buses and approximate frequency. The NBC 'solution' was thus not needed by LT whose standards were far in excess of this minimum. The precise placing of bus stops was also very important for LT (none of this 'just chuck one down a few feet from the junction' seen in some municipalities) which I can attest to when for a few weeks around 1972 when I was responsible for the overseeing of the West London ones: conversion to opo meant every single stop on such routes had to be scrutinised, in some cases shifting a few feet, in others a completely new position or splitting into two stops for different routes and, thankfully in the majority of cases, they were still fit for purpose. Moving the stop meant consulting the relevant London borough and the Met Police and arranging the physical move, if there was a shelter too this was an entirely different department! Oh, yes, and the union had to be informed via a Traffic Circular (LT thought of everything!)

 

[MotCO]

One thing that intrigues me - why are the plates for route numbers on LT bus stops called 'E' plates?

 

[ess]

Interesting. Thanks.

What's an example of a magnificent bus stop?

 

[W-on-Sea]

A long way from the UK, but some of these are genuinely magnificent bus stops
http://herwigphoto.com/project/soviet-bus-stops/

 

[Busaholic]

Interesting. Thanks.

What's an example of a magnificent bus stop?

I really put that in for the sake of not being entirely Londoncentric, and knowing that some bus companies like Southdown and some of the municipal bus operators took great pride in getting bus stops right too: I can't think of any offhand but if I find any links I'll post them. Bus shelters too, and not just in rural areas, can be quite elaborate sometimes, but LT central area (red) buses went for the functional and any with fripperies were usually provided by somebody else, like a residents' group.

 

[Deerfold]

One thing that intrigues me - why are the plates for route numbers on LT bus stops called 'E' plates?

I think that's because they were originally Enamel.

 

[CatfordCat]

In answer to the original question, bus stops outside London increasingly don't have a picture of a bus - I assume it is no longer a requirement (or maybe it was only ever a recommendation not a requirement)

e.g.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wirewiping/14472068943 - Reading Buses 'Leopard' service

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/902298 - Buckinghamshire CC bus stop

 

[Deerfold]

Similarly, Greater Manchester stops do not have buses on them - they have the TfGM logo on.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3007109

Some Oxford stops do not have a bus on them either.

 

[radamfi]

Similarly, Greater Manchester stops do not have buses on them - they have the TfGM logo on.

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/3007109

They do have a picture of a bus on the other side though. It was the same with the previous GMPTE bus stops.

 

[Busaholic]

One thing that intrigues me - why are the plates for route numbers on LT bus stops called 'E' plates?

The truth is out there somewhere, the truth being that nobody has come up with a definitive answer and probably never will. The plates, which fitted into purpose-built holders and were all of the same size, were certainly made out of Enamel on steel, hence some believe this is what 'E' stands for, but LT had codes for everything and it could well be that Alan Turing et al would never have been able to crack it Bus stop flags were coded A and B and it could be an extension of this letter series.Freemasonry was also rife among LT management and I understand codes and symbols are very much associated with this practice, with the wish that the general public are not made privy to it all.

 

[Teflon Lettuce]

The truth is out there somewhere, the truth being that nobody has come up with a definitive answer and probably never will. The plates, which fitted into purpose-built holders and were all of the same size, were certainly made out of Enamel on steel, hence some believe this is what 'E' stands for, but LT had codes for everything and it could well be that Alan Turing et al would never have been able to crack it Bus stop flags were coded A and B and it could be an extension of this letter series.Freemasonry was also rife among LT management and I understand codes and symbols are very much associated with this practice, with the wish that the general public are not made privy to it all.

does that mean if I wear a butcher's apron, roll up my left trouser leg and brandish a haddock I get priority boarding?
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

How come every other part of the country has a picture of a bus on the bus stops but London doesn't?

I believe that part of the Transport Act 1985 specified what bus stops should look like, on the basis that they are road signs and should be of a standard format. As that act didn't cover "London" as defined under the London Regional Transport Act 1984 London was allowed to keep it's own bus stop signs.

Once again one rule for London and another for everybody else...

 

[Busaholic]

does that mean if I wear a butcher's apron, roll up my left trouser leg and brandish a haddock I get priority boarding?.

I'd imagine you'd get the bus to yourself, but you also might have to drive it.

 

[pjnathanail]

How come every other part of the country has a picture of a bus on the bus stops but London doesn't?

In answer to the original question, bus stops outside London increasingly don't have a picture of a bus - I assume it is no longer a requirement (or maybe it was only ever a recommendation not a requirement)

e.g.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/wirewiping/14472068943 - Reading Buses 'Leopard' service

http://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/902298 - Buckinghamshire CC bus stop

I don't know about historically, but certainly now bus stops are governed by the Traffic Signs and Signals General Directions 2002. Bus stop signs are dealt with on page 154 of this document (all pictures so can't quote any text), and it does indeed say that bus picture may be omitted.

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2002/3113/schedule/5/made

 

[AM9]

The picture of a generic bus dates from National Bus Company days and these were used to replace the selection of bus stops offered (or not) by individual bus companies, a few of which were magnificent, the majority functional and the rest a downright disgrace, often containing absolutely no information beyond the name of the company serving the stop, and even that was sometimes decades out of date!
London Transport from its beginnings in 1933 treated every aspect of bus (and underground) travel seriously and adopted its own design of bus stop, request or compulsory, including a separate appropriately-coloured one for Green Line coaches, or a half-and-half one for buses and coaches. 'E' plates with numbers of the buses serving that particular stop were also provided where appropriate and timetables were almost always displayed, in the case of very frequent routes with first and last buses and approximate frequency. The NBC 'solution' was thus not needed by LT whose standards were far in excess of this minimum. The precise placing of bus stops was also very important for LT (none of this 'just chuck one down a few feet from the junction' seen in some municipalities) which I can attest to when for a few weeks around 1972 when I was responsible for the overseeing of the West London ones: conversion to opo meant every single stop on such routes had to be scrutinised, in some cases shifting a few feet, in others a completely new position or splitting into two stops for different routes and, thankfully in the majority of cases, they were still fit for purpose. Moving the stop meant consulting the relevant London borough and the Met Police and arranging the physical move, if there was a shelter too this was an entirely different department! Oh, yes, and the union had to be informed via a Traffic Circular (LT thought of everything!)

I grew up in the LT area and always thought that bus stops elsewhere were rather unhelpful. In my younger years, Eastern National bus stops were just cast metal plates about 8x10 inches with the words 'BUS STOP' in relief and outlined in black against a white background. They would fade into the background at about 100ft.
LT bus stops were large, had the roundel that was recognisable from three time the distance and as you say, you could tell whether it was request/compulsary from that distance.
Here in St Albans, most buses were LT Country Buses of Green Line. We are still quite well served but I imagine that things would have been much better organised 50 years ago (I didn't live here then).