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Return of Routemaster in doubt says transport chief
Katharine Barney, Evening Standard15.05.08
The Mayor's plans for a newgeneration Routemaster may not happen, his new transport boss admitted today.
Kulveer Ranger, Boris Johnson's director of transport policy, said that a design competition would be launched - but if no bid was good enough they would look again at the pledge.
He added that although Mr Johnson is very keen to bring in a new-style bus in place of bendy buses, they would not press ahead with the idea for the sake of it.
Mr Johnson made phasing out bendy buses a priority, initially saying new Routemasters would cost £8million to run with conductors. However, he later admitted the figure would be nearer £100million.
Mr Ranger said: "It's almost a fact to say Londoners are not happy with bendy buses. We want to develop a bus that is safe, reliable and has that extra bit of style and panache.
"The Routemaster was, and indeed still is, an icon and we need something that has the same iconic status."
But in a departure from Mr Johnson's policies, Mr Ranger said the new design would not necessarily be " hopon, hop-off" with a conductor, as on the old Routemasters.
He said: "Whether or not we have a conductor depends on the design of the bus. We want people to be creative. Our brief is very flexible.
"Anything is possible. We'll set some sort of ball-park figure but we can't say how much it will cost at this time. Let's see what comes back.
"The plan is to have them on the roads by the end of his first term but we're not doing this just for the hell of it. If we find there are initially no suitable bids we will review [the policy].
"A major problem people have is the need to stick to things even if it is clear it is not working - like the 10p tax."
He said any plan would have to have clear benefits and be viable. In a visit last week, mayor of New York Michael Bloomberg also warned Mr Johnson to get rid of any manifesto pledges immediately which looked unlikely to work.
Mr Ranger said his work would begin with reviewing and undoing the mistakes Ken Livingstone had made before any radical changes could start.
He said this meant reviewing the extension of the congestion zone.
"The congestion charge has become a bit of a muddle. It's not clear what the purpose of it is and there have been a lot of conflicting reports," he said.
"We will consult people who live [in the extension zone] and nearby. We will have a clear approach to things.
"That Ken said the consultation was a farce was disrespectful. The Mayor is supposed to be representative and we have to listen to people."
Mr Ranger will join the team in a few weeks after finishing his job as a senior management consultant for the Nichols Group.
He went on: "I'm taking lots of deep breaths at the moment and trying not to drink too much coffee. It is a huge challenge. I'm not sure Ken Livingstone got everything wrong but we will have to unpick a lot of things."
He will advise transport commissioner Peter Hendy on Mr Johnson's policies and will also be working with previous mayoral candidate Steve Norris in his new position on the board of Transport for London.
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Reader views (36)
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Yes, we do have Oyster cards so at first blush it looks like having bus conductors would be an obvious waste. But think not only of disabled access but also of fare dodging (yes, even with oysters) and the often malevolent atmosphere on the buses these days. Bus conductors not only help to stop fare evasion but also act as a reassuring presence/disincentive to rowdiness that the London transport system so desperately needs. Having them would also be entirely consistent with Boris’s strategy to reduce serious crime but tackling low-level disorderliness. Furthermore, if they could make the old Routemasters greener then I’m sure they’d be immensely popular and not just for reasons of nostalgia/London identity.
- Adam James Tebble, London, England
Ct, SE London if the conductors trial in the 70s and 80s were successful by now all the conductors would still be around by now, but they are not. I don't see the point of having conductors around now that most bus travellers are carrying Oystercards to my eyes they were the biggest killers, can you imaging how bored the conductors work will be. And another problems with conductors is that bus operators over the years if not decades were struggling to hire more conductors with pay rate not as good as drivers. In other words how or where can you hire more people? who will be willing to do the conductor work? The so-called "pay peanuts get monkeys" springs to mind.
- George, London, UK
Conductors can work quite successfully on ordinary two door double decker buses. For a period in the late 1970's and early 1980's new two door double deckers were introduced on to routes 36 36A 36B 53 and 63 with bus conductors and were very successful. Why not replace the bendy buses with larger tri-axle double deckers with conductors which are readily avaiable in the UK from UK bus body builders like Dennis (Enviro 500) and Wright Bus (Eclipse). These would be very welcomed on to London's busy bus routes.
- Ct, SE London
