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FOLLOWING the brilliant success of its efforts to defend Lee Jasper, LDA croynism and Ian Blair, the London Left has hit on yet another sure-fire electoral winner. As Boris prepares to launch his new Routemaster, Labour members of the London Assembly have started a campaign to save the bendy bus.
There's a certain mad nobility in the way Boris's opponents seem determined to strap themselves to the most unpopular causes going. You wonder what's next a support group for double-glazing salesmen? A bid to rehabilitate that misunderstood feminist icon, demonised by the Right-wing media, Rose West?
On the "Boris Watch" website, among the most unintentionally hilarious in London, one tireless Johnson-basher, Tom Barry, explains how the Mayor's opposition to bendy buses is actually part of a sinister, global neo-conservative conspiracy: "The overlap between neo-conservatism and the bendy jihad is interestingly close ... my theory is that after [Ken] Livingstone spotted the US was on the way down and thought London should court the next economic superpowers, people wedded to the US way of politics and money got worried."
But let's do the Bendy Bus Preservation Society the favour of examining its arguments. Last week Val Shawcross, Labour chair of the London Assembly's transport committee, claimed the extra expense of replacing bendies on just the first three routes to be converted would be £12-£13 million a year. "The Mayor seems determined to press ahead with his plans, whatever the cost to Londoners," stormed Shawcross.
I don't know where the originators of this figure, a "watchdog" called London Travelwatch, also Labour-chaired, got it from. They don't say, and it rather sounds as if they made it up. But if they, or Shawcross, knew how to use a computer, they could, through the magic of the internet, find the actual figures, diametrically at variance with theirs, in about a minute.
Each bendy route was competitively tendered; each operator was also asked to tender for operating it with double-deckers; and the tender results, published on the TfL website, show that the bids to run the routes with bendies were in every single case higher, sometimes by seven figures.
One bendy route alone, the 29, is costing us £1.6 million a year more than it would have done to keep double-deckers. Collectively, the double-deck routes converted to bendies are costing about five per cent more in their new guise.
And for this extra money, the bendies have brought lower frequencies and seating capacity as on the 73, where the number of buses on the route fell by a quarter over the old RM days and peak-hour seats by half. Then there's service quality, which is judged on the ratio of the scheduled waiting time and the actual waiting time. On this measure, three of the worst four routes in London are operated by bendies.
The link between buses and the forces of neo-con evil is, I confess, not terribly clear to me. But the link between bendies, rotten passenger service and poor taxpayer value is all too clear. And if London Travelwatch really is, as it claims, "the voice of the London traveller", it should be making that link.
In fact, of course, few London travellers have even heard of London Travelwatch; and it certainly seems to have made no attempt to ascertain their views before pronouncing on their behalf.
The Bendy Bus Preservation Society is clinging, out of misplaced nostalgia, to a transport relic from a vanished age (Ken's mayoralty). The real "voice of the London traveller", a certain politician elected by no fewer than 1.1 million London travellers not six months ago, should firmly ignore its partisan bleating.
The way we live now, again
DICKENS' Little Dorrit, which started its TV adaptation yesterday, has a theme for the times and a plot as complex as any default credit swap. Let us simply say that thanks largely to bent financiers, the characters enjoy many reversals of fortune and the Treasury (aka the "Circumlocution Office") gets a bum rap. The bankers may all be dodgy but in the enfolding autumn gloom, this series looks certain to be a banker for the Beeb.
Local cinemas get the heave-ho
IF Dorrit's getting you down, why not go and enjoy a film at your local cinema? Go soon, though, because yet another part of what's individual and unchained about Britain is at risk. When the major distributors start phasing out celluloid in a few years' time, the UK Film Council fears that up to 300 of our smaller cinemas may not be able to afford new digital projectors and will end up with no films to show. I collect little cinemas in out-of-the-way places - the Rex at Wareham, the Cinedrome at Padstow, the Plaza in Skipton. London arthouses, too, are on the block. The thought of them closing is another blow to the life of our communities and the once-rich texture of our country.
Reader views (25)
You really are so selective in your attack on the bendy; the facts are much more complex than your 'research' suggests.
Your come-uppance will likely come with the 507/521 Red Arrow routes; it would be funny if the highly successful bendy Citaro was replaced by standard single deck Citaros; greater costs per tender, per passenger mile, per almost everything, just to staisfy your Bendy-phobia.
And it'll be a joy to see how your simplistic comparisons work when applied to Boris's Blunder Bus - I'd guess it'll be more expensive on virtually every conceivable metric.
- Andrew Heenan, London, UK
Las Vegas is just in the process of having new bendy buses being delivered.
- Chris Moseley, St Albans
I only travel by public transport - tube and bus. The behaviour on all buses is bad. People dodge the fare on all buses.
Since bendys have been introduced on routes I use it is easier to get prams on, almost always not possible on the normal double deckers in busy periods... and the frequency has increased. For mums (and dads) with prams who use public transport, I doubt you will find 1% who want them phased out.
I have never seen one survey that says PASSENGERS WHO ACTUALLY USE BENDY BUSES want them phased out. It is usually people who think you can use Nectar cards on buses, cab drivers and generally people who look down on us who use public transport who want to get rid of them. I didn't like Ken and don't like Boris but Ken was right about bendys.
- Saunaing Tic Gill, London
Dear Andrew and Boris.... I supported you because of Ken's arrogant, unpleasant way of 'going on' during the latter part of his reign.
But on Bendy buses... I prefer them because the 'centre of gravity' is lower, meaning that the passenger does not get thrown around as much as in double deckers. I cannot be alone in finding it almost impossible to make my way along the top deck of the bus whilst it is moving, and descending and ascending the stairs. How many accidents per year are caused by this alone? Anyone know?
- Ivegotanasbo, London
As a working cab driver, not just an observer,I have to contend with these unsafe, underused and badly driven monstrosities. Ken first got the idea for bendy buses on a trip to Las Vegas.
Clark Country has now banned the bendy bus in favour of the double decker. I think Boris is to be commended for banning this vehicle in central London where it is not fit to be used as public transport. Half the buses are unused at times outside the rush hour and only add to congestion.
Boris should next think about the Rickshaw bikes that tear about at night unlit and driven by people who have obviously not read the highway code. These death traps ( called quaint by the last mayor Ken) have also been banned in Las Vegas after a mounting number of fatal accidents.
- Thomasthetaxi, harrow
Mr. Gilligan - can I add my voice to P Watts' call for a statement on your practice of posting supportive comments about yourself under undeclared pseudonyms at the Guardian and elsewhere?
Since you took the time to attack me by name in this article, complete with misattribution and misquotation, it would be, I suggest, reasonable to ask why you yourself feel the need to hide behind artificial characters.
- Tom, London
Mr Gilligan: why are you so obsessed with bendy buses? Why do you persist with your assertion that articulated London buses are unpopular when there is no evidence to support that? If they are so unpopular, why has the number of passengers surged upwards on routes converted to artics? If they are unpopular with cyclists, why is this issue not one of the priorities of the London Cycling Campaign (while campaigning against motorcycles in bus lanes is)?
You seem to seek to paint your opponents as being obsessed, and to be not interested in the facts but you seem a bit obsessed with the issue yourself and not very interested in seeking facts that undermine your case. I have no strong feelings one way or another about different types of bus, but I am interested in decision-making being done using real facts and not unproven assertions. There would appear to be a good case for using articulated buses on a few, very busy routes because the only other alternatives are leaving people behind or very expensive additional buses: this was Ken Livingstone's policy. The assertions made by you, and by Boris, about their unpopularity or their dangers are far from proven. You appear to not understand the figures on costs as you have not taken into account the fact that fewer buses are required on the very busy routes when you use articulated buses.
- Kippers, London
Andrew, do you have any comment on the allegations that you have been leaving anonymous messages in support of yourself on websites all over the internet?
- P Watts, London
Anyone that actually uses a bus prefers a bendy - it is quicker, has more doors, holds more people and doesn't have the half-empty top-deck issue of the double deckers. Do the Gilliganistas care? Of course not. Their warped ideology is more important than practical efficiency.
- Mike, London
Has Gilligan ever considered becoming a Tory MP as he seems to possess the selective history/memory that they expouse.
Firstly, when route 73 went to Artic operation new route 476 was introduced which covers the whole of route 73 north of Euston. Thus more seats/capacity was introduced on this route (and alternative to those who wanted to go upstairs), while route 38 is covered from the Angel, Islingon by double-deck route 56 for most of its route.
As for route 29 (one of the busiest in London) the double deck alternative option included an additional route from Camden Town!
I am still waiting both Gilligan and Johnson to state whether their routemaster option will be used to provide the night bus service and if not where will the buses to provide this vital part of London's growing 24 society come from?
The news that Boris wants to allow motor bikes to use bus lanes imposes new dangers for people hopping off his buses!
Trams are the only viable alternative to artic buses but Boris is not keen on these (perhaps he thinks he will get his bike wheels caught in the tramlines!).
As for a life of 20 years well bus tender awards are for 5 years extendable to 7 years and London now has one of the yougest bus fleets in the world which is 99.99% fully accessible! Boris should cocentrate on improving the infrustructure like bus lanes and stations instead of a bus type which his successor will scrap on safety grounds alone.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
1 - if avoiding paying a fare means jumping off and on, which involves an element of risk, I am happy for a fare dodger to take that risk and then face the consequences of potentially splattery.
Erm, great argument. What about the risk to other road users? You know, the one's doing the splattering/swerving to avoid.
2 - if " 2 double deckers and a bendy bus" turn up a the same bus stop - they are generally going to different places. Routes are either all bendy or all double decker - so that argument is bogus.
You don't catch buses very often, do you? In London, buses often share routes, even if the end destination is different.
3 - the bendy bus offers you 3 wide doors on which to sneak in, as opposed to just one or even 2 with the new one.
Eh? 3 wide doors is a good thing.
4- Grow up - upstairs is not Chav central- stop running away and actually engage. I always ask, people to turn music down, stop eating smelly food and you know what they nearly always oblige - and no I don't live in the posh bit of town - I live in the elephant & castle, and I am tired of paying a fare when nobody else does.
Again, I don't imagine you catch buses very often. Why do you imagine no-one else pays a fair? I have an annual travelcard, and, no, I never swipe it but I bet I pay more than you to travel around.
- K Williams, London
>>>>Ask the people who actually use the buses and you will find that the bendy buses are very popular. They have significantly increased bus usage on the routes that they serve, which surely defines success.
They're popular with the drunk and the drug dealers as they are FREE, so NO it doesn't define success! Duh!
- Robert Stevens, Holborn, Middlesex, WC1
I have just returned from one of my regular visits to Paris where they have lots of bendy buses and double decker buses are regarded as fit for tourist trips and nothing more. They also have an efficient, and reliable underground system in comparison to which London Underground is a laughing stock - a view shared by my American friends by the way. I can't help thinking the two things are connected.
- James, London UK
Bendy buses are terrible and stressful as you never know where the next bus stop is! At least with the charming Routemasters you could alight very close to your destination at any of the plentiful traffic lights which are always on red (just to make sure pollution levels remain high).
- Mc, London
So, Dave is against something that employs more staff? Try to sell that idea to the unions, mate! I dare you!
- Martin, Telford England
"so many people boarding them do not swipe their (Oyster)cards"
How many times do people have to be told that it is only Oyster Pay-as-you-go cards that need to be swiped? I never swipe my Oyster card because it's a travelcard - is this concept not easy enough to understand for those who seem to think that everyone fare-dodges?
- Sn, London, UK
Ask the people who actually use the buses and you will find that the bendy buses are very popular. They have significantly increased bus usage on the routes that they serve, which surely defines success.
Andrew Gilligan obviously doesn't use buses. He certainly wouldn't get very far on one with a Nectar card.
- Tony, Aylesbury, UK
Forgetting the partisan political positions many people want the bendy-bus to represent - I voted for Ken, despite my antipathy for the blasted things, because of what I'd imagined the huge cost of replacing them to be - so I'm intrigued to read in this report about the huge cost of operating them.
Three more arguments against this flexible omnibus of Beelzebub:
1. They're so bleeding long that, often, drivers of "normal" buses pulling up behind them at bus stops can't be bothered to wait for would-be passengers to walk to the entrance, or don't stop at all.
2. They have inspired the lazy and the antisocial to using the entrances on "normal" (i.e. non-Satanic) buses as exits, and fare dodging on these, too, by using exits as entrances...
3. In my experience (as a regular user of the 29 and 73 routes), they proceed along their routes a lot slower than the other types of bus, even though the driver interaction is ostensibly reduced. I daresay this is because the driver actually has to: a. Spend longer being aware of what's going on at ALL the exits; and b. deal with more fare-dodgers.
But who the hell else is going to want these turkeys? That should be Andrew's next report.
- Karli, Tottenham, London
Getting on a bus at Waterloo. Bendy buses board significantly more quickly. Watch it youself and see.
- Rich Johnston, London, UK
Dave a couple of invalid points in your argument.
1 - if avoiding paying a fare means jumping off and on, which involves an element of risk, I am happy for a fare dodger to take that risk and then face the consequences of potentially splattery.
2 - if " 2 double deckers and a bendy bus" turn up a the same bus stop - they are generally going to different places. Routes are either all bendy or all double decker - so that argument is bogus.
3 - the bendy bus offers you 3 wide doors on which to sneak in, as opposed to just one or even 2 with the new one.
4- Grow up - upstairs is not Chav central- stop running away and actually engage. I always ask, people to turn music down, stop eating smelly food and you know what they nearly always oblige - and no I don't live in the posh bit of town - I live in the elephant & castle, and I am tired of paying a fare when nobody else does.
Out with the Bendy - tout suite.
- Jc, se1
Why would one swipe their Nectar card on a bendy bus?
- Edgar Wright, Hull, England
Gabrielle : "So many people boarding them do not swipe in their Nectar cards.."
Nectar cards? I think you mean Oyster, but if you are unable to even get the name of the card right, you probably don't use public transport often enough to notice whether commuters are swiping them or not. Dear oh dear..
- David, London N10
Grr, when is this myth that people who don't swipe an Oyster on boarding a bendibus are fare-dodging going to die? The *only* people who have to swipe are pre-pay Oyster users. Anyone with a paper or Oyster travelcard (i.e. the vast majority of passengers) or who bought a ticket from the machine at the bus stop DOESN'T HAVE TO SWIPE.
- Roy, England
Bendy buses are ghastly, especially in Stoke Newington. My daughter, with two tiny children in her car, almost got annihilated by one of them swinging round its last bit towards her car. PLUS, so many people boarding them do not swipe their Nectar cards - hence the score or so police often hanging around the bus stop at the Angel, checking swipers and non swipers. All very laudable, except I'd prefer them to be sorting out the street muggers who make life intolerable for us.
- Gabrielle, London
So, are these new Routemasters going to have conductors then, to make sure everyone has paid their fare? If everyone is going to be boarding them from the back, without passing the driver, and there are no conductors, then exactly how are they likely to lose less money than the bendys? Furthermore, if you have already had enough of chavs and other pondlife "bus-hopping" without valid passes, then brace yourself as they discover the delights of a bus which you can hop on from the back at any time, make life a misery for other commuters upstairs, tag windows and seats, and then hop off whenever they want without "fear of reprimand" (whatever that is..)
Bleating? Nostalgic for Ken? I don't think so. Fare-paying commuters vote with their feet Andrew - watch two double deckers and a bendy show up along Grosvenor Place, and see nearly everyone head for the bendy. And have you noticed how many commuters would rather be crammed in like sardines in the lower deck of a Double Decker rather than brave "Chav Central" upstairs? I could not care less that Livingstone has gone - bendies are easier to use, and if TfL were that worried about fare-evasion, they should have put conductors on them. The only people really whinging about them are motorists and cyclists - for bus commuters they are just easier to use.
- Dave, North London
