Seat locations on the bus from worst to best

[GusB]

The topic of the thread is seat locations, not the comfort or otherwise of the actual seats themselves. The thread title has been amended to clarify this.

 

[Fenchurch SP]

A former colleague once said he sat behind the stairs on the top deck so he could look at the womens backsides or down their top as they went up or down.

 

[PeterC]

It very much depends on the bus.

Outside of London the only deckers that I tend to use are on the Oxford park and ride. On those I always prefer to be upstairs at a table seat. The one I avoid is the sofa as I often feel a little queasy using it.

As a general rule I just pick a seat that appears to have a decent amount of legroom. That rules out the upstairs front on a lot of dockers.

 

[DunsBus]

It very much depends on the bus.

Outside of London the only deckers that I tend to use are on the Oxford park and ride. On those I always prefer to be upstairs at a table seat. The one I avoid is the sofa as I often feel a little queasy using it.

As a general rule I just pick a seat that appears to have a decent amount of legroom. That rules out the upstairs front on a lot of dockers.

A lot of dockers?

Does that mean you've got to be craned out of the seat?

 

[johnw]

Not my favourite seats, but everytime a see a Gold Stagecoach Scania /EnVito 400 go past my house with the rear passengers with their feet on the seats at the back…..

 

[route101]

Worst seat in a decker, backwards row of two on older citaros!

 

[Strathclyder]

Single decker (best): from the rear wheel arch and the back row (mainly thinking of First's B7RLEs here) or a bay of 4 near the rear (First's Renowns spring to mind here).

Double-decker (best): front of the top deck, right above the driver.

Worst seat overall: ones with barely any legroom to speak of.


And not to drag this thread off-topic again (perhaps it'd be best if this tangent was split off into a thread for worst seat types/designs as opposed to where they're positioned in the bus), the First seats as discussed above were standard-issue across the board for new vehicles entering the fleet from late 1999/early 2000 to the end of 2002 and wasn't confined to any one body/chassis combo the company ordered.

 

[Pinus contorta]

Donkeys years ago it was not much fun (if the bottom deck was full ) sitting up stairs, as I had contact lenses that were no good with all the smokers all chugging away.

 

[PeterC]

Donkeys years ago it was not much fun (if the bottom deck was full ) sitting up stairs, as I had contact lenses that were no good with all the smokers all chugging away.

I never noticed the smoke when I was young. The back upper deck seat with arm rests on an RT was my favourite. Downstairs I went for the bench seats over the rear wheels.

 

[D9006]

Best seat I’ve ever hand as a passenger is lower saloon near side front on a routemaster with window down listening to thrash on a Leland engine one

 

[Drogba11CFC]

Top deck, front row, nearside. Especially between Four Marks and Ropley when the Watercress Line is running.

 

[Snow1964]

TfL have got rid of the middle seat (both upstairs and downstairs) on back row on buses delivered since few months ago, so one of the nicest located seats are no more

Apparently is a safety thing, worried passenger will fly out the seat in a crash and hit the first person standing in the aisle (not that I see how the person standing will be upright if the crash is enough to eject passengers from their seats)

 

[py_megapixel]

TfL have got rid of the middle seat on back row on buses delivered from few months ago, so one of the nicest located seats are no more

I remember when I went on school trips as a young child being told that we weren't allowed to sit there. Apparently the issue was that with nothing to stop them, a sudden stop could send a child flying down the length of the bus!

 

[route101]

TfL have got rid of the middle seat (both upstairs and downstairs) on back row on buses delivered since few months ago, so one of the nicest located seats are no more

Apparently is a safety thing, worried passenger will fly out the seat in a crash and hit the first person standing in the aisle (not that I see how the person standing will be upright if the crash is enough to eject passengers from their seats)

Issue with them seats if its busy you will have to let people out from your left and right.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Issue with them seats if its busy you will have to let people out from your left and right.

Overall I'd rather they installed decent legroom throughout the bus, which has the advantage that people with luggage can put it by their knees/feet. The buses used on the 205 seem to have better spacing than others which really improves things. People are not getting smaller.

 

[Mikey C]

Overall I'd rather they installed decent legroom throughout the bus, which has the advantage that people with luggage can put it by their knees/feet. The buses used on the 205 seem to have better spacing than others which really improves things. People are not getting smaller.

London Buses for the last 20 years have generally all had decent legroom upstairs, indeed the Borismasters are probably the most cramped.

 

[Titfield]

Overall I'd rather they installed decent legroom throughout the bus, which has the advantage that people with luggage can put it by their knees/feet. The buses used on the 205 seem to have better spacing than others which really improves things. People are not getting smaller.

I dont think you can install decent leg room as you may install say air conditioning.

 

[Bletchleyite]

London Buses for the last 20 years have generally all had decent legroom upstairs, indeed the Borismasters are probably the most cramped.

The 205s are considerably better spaced than the standard to allow for cases by passengers' knees, given that it connects a number of stations.

 

[MotCO]

Overall I'd rather they installed decent legroom throughout the bus, which has the advantage that people with luggage can put it by their knees/feet. The buses used on the 205 seem to have better spacing than others which really improves things. People are not getting smaller.

I am 6ft 5in tall, and find it impossible to sit comfortably on most seats on buses, other than sitting at an angle and taking up two seats. I literally cannot fit in most seats. The exceptions were the Leyland National which, in London at least, had ample legroom, or any inward facing seats, but that means that I may be narrowing the 'throat' for passengers to board. I have not tried the 205s, but they sound promising.

 

[Martin1988]

I remember when I went on school trips as a young child being told that we weren't allowed to sit there. Apparently the issue was that with nothing to stop them, a sudden stop could send a child flying down the length of the bus!

We were almost always allowed to sit there on school trips although my mum tells me that at the primary school she works at they're not.

On long coach journeys it varies depending on the type of vehicle and the passenger loadings. On a tour coach I prefer to sit right at the back if its not too busy but if the service is full or if its an NX style coach with a toilet at the rear I prefer to sit at the front. Earlier in the year I did a Flixbus journey sat on the rear seat in between two other passengers. There was hardly any room for me and my backpack and at one point I had to stand up as the person next to me wanted the loo.

Another advantage of the front seats on a busy coach journey is that once you reach the end of the journey you can get straight off whereas right at the back you are often on board for several more minutes.

 

[lxfe_mxtterz]

On a double decker, personally the best seat by far is any along the front row on the upper deck - I tend to prefer the nearside, however, as on some buses the offside "seats" aren't proper seats, but plastic moulds built into the body of the bus (*cough cough* Enviro 400) or have very limited legroom.

On a single decker, my seat of choice is often any along the first row of seats on the raised section towards the rear of the bus, as they give an excellent view.

The second row of seats (only slightly higher than the first row) on the raised section of the newer style Enviro 200s (such as the one pictured) are fantastic, however, with the window ledge being the perfect height to double up as a footrest.*



* The only issue with these seats is the location of the black bar under the opening window which is also at the perfect height to obstruct your view(!)

 

[Mikey C]

The best seat on older London single deckers like Pointer Darts, E200s and Wright Cadets is near the back on the offside, where the emergency exit used to be. Loads of legroom! Indeed on the Wright Cadets, the wheel arch made a lovely footrest

 

[py_megapixel]

The best seat on older London single deckers like Pointer Darts, E200s and Wright Cadets is near the back on the offside, where the emergency exit used to be. Loads of legroom! Indeed on the Wright Cadets, the wheel arch made a lovely footrest

"older" - ha! Out in the sticks there's still plenty of those E200s whining and rattling their way around, and there's no sign of them being replaced any time soon. In my mind, some of them are still pretty much new! But yes, the emergency exit row does have the most legroom even in non London ones, at least on the Stagecoach examples.

 

[TRAX]

Closest to the engine.

 

[DanT2014]

Some good seats:

• On a bus travelling east or west, seats with north facing windows are cooler
• Front of a decker is cool
• Back of a single decker was traditionally said to be good, as some kids found that this was cooler when the bus went over a bump in the road
• The driver’s seat
• Exit rows have more legroom

Some rubbish seats:

• On a bus travelling east or west, seats with south facing windows are roasting sometimes
• At the very front of a bus with pensioners. You’re more likely to be asked to give up your seat, and standees will envy you and get in your way
• Wheel arch seats have rubbish legroom
• Any seat that has become detached from its base. I have seats like that before.

 

[Ken H]

On the old back loaders in Leeds. Upstairs at the back. You could look down at the top of the conductors head or twiddle the blinds (but I never did that). or even open the emergency door to chuck out paper aeroplanes (I definitely did that!)

or at the front so you could pretend to drive. I still like sitting at the front upstairs.

I also liked the sideways seats over the wheels just inside down stairs. Little old ladies would sit there with their feet off the floor!

Some later buses had a heater outlet at the front in the middle. So on a cold day was a good place to warm your hands.

Then we got AEC Swifts and single decker Daimler Fleetlines. Always sat right at the back on those. The Daimlers had a step up to these seats so you were really high up. On the West Yorkshire

On the school bus, many kids travelled kneeling on the seats, so a group of 4 -5 could chat. Often squeezed 3 on a seat.

On the West Yorkshire Road Car Bristol RE's (ECW body), sitting behind the driver was good so you could watch him drive and issue tickets.

On modern single deckers I find the seats towards the back are too high for me so I cant see out of the window, as I am quite tall.

 

[route101]

On a single decker, seat on left hand side on raised section for view out front. I almost never sit at the front or any side ways or backwards facing seats. The seats on the wheelarch are uncomfortable.

 

[Mikey C]

"older" - ha! Out in the sticks there's still plenty of those E200s whining and rattling their way around, and there's no sign of them being replaced any time soon. In my mind, some of them are still pretty much new! But yes, the emergency exit row does have the most legroom even in non London ones, at least on the Stagecoach examples.

There are plenty of aging E200s in London

The reason I said older, is that the rules changed around 2010?, so that buses didn't need an emergency exit at the back, and could have one in the middle on the offside, so removing the need for a roomy emergency exit seat row (and cramped rows in front!)

 

[E27007]

For interest, front seating rows of the upper deck, that is also where fellow bus entusiasts are found, for ride comfort, a seat which is at the mid-point of the wheelbase, where effects of pitching over bumps and road irregularities are least felt, worst seats, those facing a glass partition, in an impact, passenger head/face first against a sheet of laminated glass, how can this be safe? Do not H&S , or Construction and Use Regulations have any rules about such partitions?

 

[MaidaVale]

Made a quick simple diagram of what I consider the best seats onboard a typical* vehicle

Certain reasonings:

2nd on Single Decker - Cab wall blocking the already minimal view out of the windscreen
2nd on Double Decker - Other side takes priority as is more isolated, however often the other side has less comfortable seats so these are fairly interchangeable
AVOID - On certain models, these seats below the raised areas can be a trap for having peoples feet sticking through

*Typical vehicles only as some high spec vehicles (for instance with tables, or an onboard sofa such as with Uno or Warringtons) the best positions may be massively different. This can also vary per vehicle on comfort levels as some specs may have less comfortable seats infront of the stairs or by the driver as previously mentioned.