The Route Masters: Running London's Roads (BBC2)

[radamfi]

Just read on another forum that the 343 is being improved, planned for some while.

 

[GodAtum]

I wonder what form of transport is safer in London? I reckon it goes from:

Bus (most safest)
Car
Cycle (least safe)

 

[jon0844]

I've noticed that some people (including the lady stuck in traffic) don't want to use public transport under any circumstances: a good example being my next door neighbour who drives 20 miles each way to work, despite the existence of a parallel train service.

Unfortunately, you can't change people's minds easily

Why would you want to? We actually need some people to put up with congestion on the roads to keep extra seats (or standing room) free on the train!

 

[radamfi]

What I thought was eye-catching was that there was a definite emphasis from the Director of Planning on having more 'sticks' to discourage private motoring. This is in contrast to the much vaunted scrapping of the road user 'hierarchy' at the start of the Johnson mayoralty. If this translates into a significant reallocation of road space to buses and cycles, then there will definitely need to be a change in driver behaviour!

 

[Drsatan]

Why would you want to? We actually need some people to put up with congestion on the roads to keep extra seats (or standing room) free on the train!

She mentioned once that she didn't like driving 20 miles to work, so I suggested that she take the train. However, she said she 'wasn't used' to trains.

 

[RJ]

As I understood from the programme, not every bus coming to this stop (I don't know where it is) is full. During the film clip, the main problem seemed to be people diving in the exit doors which were being opened to let people off. This seemed to indicate that the extremities of the route could maybe stand losing 2 (or, at a pinch, 3 but no more) services per hour. I always believe that if you operate a service which, at some point on it's route, is virtually inaccessible, you have to do something, quickly. (Even if it's only spreading the misery around more evenly!)

I must say, on a more general note that even though I don't live in London (and don't watch that much television) this series has been a 'must watch' for me.

I drove the 343 twice last year. I hated that route - too many humps and prone to overcrowding as it has lone sections through dense residential areas in Peckham and Brockley. I'm sure another factor in the inadequacy of the service is the pants buses that are used, specifically the Volvos as shown in the programme. I see they filmed in a freshly repainted/refurbished vehicle! During my guest stints on the route, I kept failing the buses and had them taken off the road due to defects such as the wipers not sticking to the windscreen. The engineers were nice enough to bring me a replacement bus whose rear doors took 9 seconds to shut, so I lost heaps of time with that bus. Also had controllers telling me to do bizarre things, such as take on all passengers from the bus in front of me (as we were running together) in the Aylesbury Estate area, then telling me to terminate short at Peckham Rye! The other bus was not curtailed so I had to deal with the backlash from the passengers.

Sometimes as a driver you don't bother challenging people for getting on through the back doors. Especially on oversubscribed night routes where people left behind have to wait 30 minutes for the next bus!

 

[bicbasher]

The 208 solution is needed on the 343 route especially between Peckham and Elephant & Castle. This was solved by extending the 320 to Catford via the 208 route allowing the 208 to operate along the whole route every 12 minutes.

The question is, which route should be diverted along the 343 route to ease the pressure, there's a choice of two routes. 12 or the 171. I'd go for the 171 as the 12 would continue to provide a bus every 3 minutes along Peckham Road and Camberwell Church Street to the E&C.

As mentioned by the Abellio driver in the documentary, they could increase the PVR, but it still wouldn't solve the problems where it's the only route on the Aylesbury Estate and North Peckham.

 

[londonbridge]

What's happened to the final episode? Thought it was a six part series, all five episodes on iplayer expire on 30th July, no sign of part six in the listings anywhere.

 

[deltic]

I used to live on the 343 bus route (a couple of bus stops away from the one filmed) when it used to be the P3 which was a single decker running every 15mins - its now a 24 hr hour bus route with 10 buses an hour in the peak using double deckers - shows the amazing growth in bus patronage in London.

Instead of waiting for the P3 I used to walk to the Walworth Road where you had a bus a minute at least to take you to Elephant

 

[harry42]

Why wasn't the 6th on last night?

 

[anthony263]

Why wasn't the 6th on last night?

They seem to be having a 1 week break between some episodes.
I hope they dont do the same when the tube series 2 is aired later this summer

 

[radamfi]

I realise that

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b02znsx2/episodes/guide

says there are six episodes but the fifth episode was titled 'The Future' and it looked it was rounding off the series. Maybe there were only five after all? It isn't on for the next two Tuesdays:

http://www.mydigiguide.com/dgx/wbl....http://www.digiguide.com/general/liteads/eg1/

http://www.mydigiguide.com/dgx/wbl....http://www.digiguide.com/general/liteads/eg1/

 

[anthony263]

Pehrpas there are only 5 episodes.

Never mind chanel 5 are broadcasting the 1st episode of their series on First Great Western next month according to the radio times.


http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2013-07-15/sneak-peek-first-great-western-train-series-on-channel-5

 

[jon0844]

There was something very odd about this series, given how there was stuff removed on the future showings/iPlayer.. suggesting that there were some people threatening legal action against the BBC.

Even the episode last week wasn't available on iPlayer when I looked the next day (is it now?) and perhaps had more editing to remove faces? Goodness knows what might be up with the final one (and every guide said it was six parts).

Still, I'm sure the BBC will show a final episode if there is one but will probably have this down as something to use as a filler, meaning it could turn up anytime.

 

[radamfi]

Even the episode last week wasn't available on iPlayer when I looked the next day (is it now?)

It is there now. You have 13 hours left to watch it.

I watched it on iPlayer last Tuesday a few minutes after the end of the scheduled broadcast.

 

[jon0844]

It must have been delayed again, which caused the previous episode to never be available via iPlayer on Sky (or indeed YouView) - even after it was available via the website and some other apps. In the case of Sky, it was shown but failed when you tried to download it, every single time (and tried on more than one box).

And why the ridiculously quick expiry time? Does the BBC just want to get rid of it ASAP?

At best, it might be planning to edit the whole thing again to release to foreign markets or a DVD/Blu-ray - at worst, there were some problems behind the scenes we don't know about.

 

[transmanche]

The episode guide on the BBC website says, "There will be 6 episodes. More information coming soon."

 

[radamfi]

Just read on another forum that the last episode will be on later in the summer.

 

[edwin_m]

It's a series about buses. There are no programmes for ages then two or three come along at once.

 

[anthony263]

There is talk on one of the bus forums that the company currently filming the series on First Great Western are also going to start filiming a series on East Yorkshire Motor services and have been looking for some bus enthusiasts to interview

 

[jon0844]

Yeah, perhaps the programmes were bunched up a little too much and someone at the BBC decided to regulate the service.

FWIW, it wasn't just about buses though. In fact, it was a bit of a mish mash, and it seemed odd to cover buses properly after having done night buses (as if they're fundamentally different). There must have been loads of footage and no real idea on how to break it all up from the outset, or only a very simple idea.

 

[swifty]

There is talk on one of the bus forums that the company currently filming the series on First Great Western are also going to start filiming a series on East Yorkshire Motor services and have been looking for some bus enthusiasts to interview

Indeed, although First Great Western was produced by TwoFour, East Yorkshire is being produced by The Garden Productions.

If you're from the area and want to take part drop an email to buses@thegardenproductions.tv.