extra Long Buses?

BIG N · Post by **BIG N** » Wed 15 Jul, 2009 5:20 pm

Thats O.K. Blakey, please feel free to continue entertaining me with you interesting tales and thoughts (and occasional rants lol) on the buses of West Yorkshire, I really do find them interesting.One thing I do share with a great many people it seems is the utter disbelief at Metro / First bus in thinking the purple slugs would be of any use in this city.I cannot understand for one moment how they thought a vehicle that would carry less passengers, take up more room and req twice as many crew than a double decker would ever be seen as either useful or financially more effective than a standard decker.You should try travelling on one sometime, just for a one off experience, I live on the number 4 route and if I want to take advantage of my priv card and travel into the city I have to use these monstrosities to do so.The semi circular settee type seating in the rear section that is supposed to hold 5 persons per seat is only really usable by two people, three at most, otherwise you all sit bunched up playing footsie with each other. The wide, spacious isles with loads of space for buggies etc are fine for wheelchairs and prams, buggies, shopping trollys etc etc but not so great if you just want to sit down - there really is a distinct lack of reasonable 2 X 2 seating on these things.My biggest problem though is one of user friendliness to the infirm and disabled, wide, airy spaces are one thing but try suffering, as I do, with bad knees or a bad hip, or worse still try walking down one of these things with a walking stick while it is on the move.This is hard enough for many people on a standard bus with lots of seats and upright poles to grab hold of and help you along, try it on a slug with its big open spaces and few seats, you really can struggle at times and it really is a case of pre-planning your route off the bus before you start moving.

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Fri 17 Jul, 2009 12:28 pm

BIG N wrote: Firstly allow me to shed a little light on the subject of this thread, the appearence of the extended bus stops in and around Leeds and indeed West Yorkshire.These are not to make ready for extra long bendy buses but are in fact as a result of a long consultation period between Metro, West Yorkshire Highways, assorted local councils and Unite.They are simply to allow buses the ability to actually pull into a stop and park along side the curb to allow access for the infirm, disabled, buggies etc etc. The old bays were fine as long as you didn't have cars parked right up to the edge of them which prevented you getting the step up to the curb, the extra length is room to swing in and out of the bus stop - nothing more. Thanks Big N makes sense to a degree but…………I can hardly see the need of great swathes of yellow paint on roads in rural areas where no cars park. There are 3 stops each way between Middleton Lane (Robin Hood) and Wood Lane on the A61. I don't think I have ever seen a car parked on this stretch of road which is mainly surrounded by farm/waste land with a couple of farm houses well back from the road and a couple of small industrial units. The paint used on those stops could just about coat an area the size of a football pitchWill no parking be enforced where it is more needed to be e.g. the centre of Leeds and on some of the busier suburban routes. It doesn't matter how big the painted bus stop is if cars park in it anyway.

BIG N · Post by **BIG N** » Fri 17 Jul, 2009 5:06 pm

tyke bhoy wrote: Thanks Big N makes sense to a degree but…………I can hardly see the need of great swathes of yellow paint on roads in rural areas where no cars park. There are 3 stops each way between Middleton Lane (Robin Hood) and Wood Lane on the A61. I don't think I have ever seen a car parked on this stretch of road which is mainly surrounded by farm/waste land with a couple of farm houses well back from the road and a couple of small industrial units. The paint used on those stops could just about coat an area the size of a football pitchWill no parking be enforced where it is more needed to be e.g. the centre of Leeds and on some of the busier suburban routes. It doesn't matter how big the painted bus stop is if cars park in it anyway. I agree totally with you there tyke bhoy - one of our routes is into Halifax via Hipperholme along the A58 and it is very rare that we stop between Hipprholme and Halifax except for the park, which has a layby type bus sop, however there are three bus stops each way inbetween and all have had these massive boxes painted around them, on the up side it makes them easy to spot for new drivers when approaching them lol.I think its something to do with the whole concept of making bus stops more easily usable and there will be a directive somewhere stating they MUST have the massive yellow box regardless of location.As for the problem of car drivers parking in the marked bus stops, it is something that is very hard to control in reality, both the police and traffic wardens will tell you they are two busy to deal with this even though it is breaking the law, we have approached the police on many occasion with regard to certain well known trouble spots. they might turn up and show a presence for a short period of time but as soon as they dissapear its back to normal again.Perhaps covering bus stops in very busy areas with CCTV or having a similar system that is now in use in London, where the buses are fitted with a camera looking forward and any vehicle using a bus lane or parking in a marked bus stop recieves a fine from the camera download, might work - I don't really know.Having said all that there are the odd times when we can make it work for us - on one occasion I was three minutes early at the bus stop outside the co-op at Drighlington lights heading into town, there were cars parked on the double yellows across the road and two cars parked in the bus stop so I stopped in the middle of the road and put the handbreak on whilst I loaded my passengers.After a minute or so the traffic was backed up in both directions and everyone was getting quite irate, much to my amusement when from nowhere appeared a PCSO who knocked on my window, when I opened the window he asked me if I was O.K. to which I replied "Yes thanks".The conversation then went like this - PCSO - "are you broken down driver"ME - "No everything is fine thanks"PCSO "Well you are causing an obstruction, no one can get passed"ME - "No I'm not"PCSO - "Erm - you are, look at the traffic"ME - "Yes, I can see the traffic, but I'm not causing it am I"PCSO - (long silence) "Erm" (more silence) "How do you mean"ME - "Well if those cars over there wern't on double yellows and these two here wern't in a bus stop there wouldn't be a problem would there"At this point I closed the window.Several seconds later - knock knockME - "What now"PCSO - can you move it please"ME - "Yes, when I am due away in a minute or so"PCSO - "But your causing an -"ME - "We have already been through this havn't we"PCSO - "Yes but-"ME - "Why dont you do something useful and see if you can find the owners of these cars which are causing this obstruction"Then I closed the window as it was time to depart and drove away smiling at all the fuming faces as i passed them.Strange thing was, when I got back about an hour later there were two traffic wardens booking cars and moving anyone on that tried to stop there.

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Fri 17 Jul, 2009 8:54 pm

BIG N wrote: I agree totally with you there tyke bhoy - one of our routes is into Halifax via Hipperholme along the A58 and it is very rare that we stop between Hipprholme and Halifax except for the park, which has a layby type bus sop, however there are three bus stops each way inbetween and all have had these massive boxes painted around them, on the up side it makes them easy to spot for new drivers when approaching them lol. At the risk of going off topic, I drive that way to and from work every day - is there a world record attempt for the longest time ever taken to construct a bus stop going on at the first stop after Hipperholme lights as you head towards Halifax on the A58 (opposite what used to be LCW)?They must have been at that for two years now and it's still fenced off and not completed! The Worst bus drivers park up at the temporary stop there if they're running early, blocking all the Halifax bound traffic.

BIG N · Post by **BIG N** » Sat 18 Jul, 2009 2:06 am

LOL - aint that the truth Ravey, I always wait below the chippy as you come up from Bailiff Bridge.God knows what happened with that stop but your right - they laid the curbs for it then fenced it off for about two years - now after all this time they are finally opening it up - oh and will have to replace all those lovely new un-used curbs with the replacement higher ones lol

rangieowner · Post by **rangieowner** » Sun 19 Jul, 2009 7:11 pm

BIG N wrote: tyke bhoy wrote: Thanks Big N makes sense to a degree but…………I can hardly see the need of great swathes of yellow paint on roads in rural areas where no cars park. There are 3 stops each way between Middleton Lane (Robin Hood) and Wood Lane on the A61. I don't think I have ever seen a car parked on this stretch of road which is mainly surrounded by farm/waste land with a couple of farm houses well back from the road and a couple of small industrial units. The paint used on those stops could just about coat an area the size of a football pitchWill no parking be enforced where it is more needed to be e.g. the centre of Leeds and on some of the busier suburban routes. It doesn't matter how big the painted bus stop is if cars park in it anyway. I agree totally with you there tyke bhoy - one of our routes is into Halifax via Hipperholme along the A58 and it is very rare that we stop between Hipprholme and Halifax except for the park, which has a layby type bus sop, however there are three bus stops each way inbetween and all have had these massive boxes painted around them, on the up side it makes them easy to spot for new drivers when approaching them lol.I think its something to do with the whole concept of making bus stops more easily usable and there will be a directive somewhere stating they MUST have the massive yellow box regardless of location.As for the problem of car drivers parking in the marked bus stops, it is something that is very hard to control in reality, both the police and traffic wardens will tell you they are two busy to deal with this even though it is breaking the law, we have approached the police on many occasion with regard to certain well known trouble spots. they might turn up and show a presence for a short period of time but as soon as they dissapear its back to normal again.Perhaps covering bus stops in very busy areas with CCTV or having a similar system that is now in use in London, where the buses are fitted with a camera looking forward and any vehicle using a bus lane or parking in a marked bus stop recieves a fine from the camera download, might work - I don't really know.Having said all that there are the odd times when we can make it work for us - on one occasion I was three minutes early at the bus stop outside the co-op at Drighlington lights heading into town, there were cars parked on the double yellows across the road and two cars parked in the bus stop so I stopped in the middle of the road and put the handbreak on whilst I loaded my passengers.After a minute or so the traffic was backed up in both directions and everyone was getting quite irate, much to my amusement when from nowhere appeared a PCSO who knocked on my window, when I opened the window he asked me if I was O.K. to which I replied "Yes thanks".The conversation then went like this - PCSO - "are you broken down driver"ME - "No everything is fine thanks"PCSO "Well you are causing an obstruction, no one can get passed"ME - "No I'm not"PCSO - "Erm - you are, look at the traffic"ME - "Yes, I can see the traffic, but I'm not causing it am I"PCSO - (long silence) "Erm" (more silence) "How do you mean"ME - "Well if those cars over there wern't on double yellows and these two here wern't in a bus stop there wouldn't be a problem would there"At this point I closed the window.Several seconds later - knock knockME - "What now"PCSO - can you move it please"ME - "Yes, when I am due away in a minute or so"PCSO - "But your causing an -"ME - "We have already been through this havn't we"PCSO - "Yes but-"ME - "Why dont you do something useful and see if you can find the owners of these cars which are causing this obstruction"Then I closed the window as it was time to depart and drove away smiling at all the fuming faces as i passed them.Strange thing was, when I got back about an hour later there were two traffic wardens booking cars and moving anyone on that tried to stop there. Just what i would have done!! Well done that man!!

LS1 · Post by **LS1** » Sun 19 Jul, 2009 10:22 pm

That's great! well done Big N.I'm sick to death of those b loody taxis that park outside McDonalds at the top of albion Street. Turning Right from Gt George street is bad enough, but today there was a taxi parked right at the top and a bendy bus had to pull in with it's back end stuck right out. This caused traffic to back up all along Woodhouse Lane, and Gt George StreetI was on the bike so just went round it shaking my head at the taxi driver who just shrugged his shoulders at me. I know it's been mentioned before this, but there MUST be something that can be done. It's the nonchelant attitude of them that really annoys me, like they have some given right to be there. Would it really be that hard for them to drive round and park int he rank that is on the Headrow outside Dortmund Square?

Post by **chameleon** » Sun 19 Jul, 2009 10:42 pm

And lest we forget, taxis (not PH cars) have many of the same privileges as busses in Leeds thus deeming them to be an environmentally friendly alternative to the private car.That is, policy considers calling a taxi from town to take you back there is a preferred option to you driving yourself, that is, a car travelling twice the distance. I'm sure someons in authority can explain the logic of this but I can't see it being anything but flawed!

Post by **tyke bhoy** » Fri 31 Jul, 2009 10:31 am

Is it actually illegal to park or lay-up in designated bus stops or will that only come into being with the access legislation. The bus I was on this morning was obstructed from reaching the raised kerb at the bus stop on Bishopgate street, adjacent to the the station, by a private hire cab. The Queens Hotel Loading are was free I think. On pulling away the bus clipped the offside rear of the cab with the nearside front. The cab was wholly within the brightly painted bus stop area. Under normal circumstances the fault would lie with the bus driver's employers but if the cab was illegally parked..............

raveydavey · Post by **raveydavey** » Fri 31 Jul, 2009 9:10 pm

tyke bhoy wrote: Is it actually illegal to park or lay-up in designated bus stops or will that only come into being with the access legislation. The bus I was on this morning was obstructed from reaching the raised kerb at the bus stop on Bishopgate street, adjacent to the the station, by a private hire cab. The Queens Hotel Loading are was free I think. On pulling away the bus clipped the offside rear of the cab with the nearside front. The cab was wholly within the brightly painted bus stop area. Under normal circumstances the fault would lie with the bus driver's employers but if the cab was illegally parked.............. It is illegal to park in a marked bus stop - hence the signs displayed at them all at considerable cost. Trouble is that Plod have neither the resources or inclination to do anything about it and all the council wardens are too busy running round Park Square waiting for someone to go a minute over their time.However, if the private hire was parked and the bus was moving, it's the bus drivers fault. Chances are the PH driver was on to "Dodgepot Claims Direct" within the hour claiming loss of use, whiplash (for him and his 4 passengers), the cost of a replacement hire cab and a ridculously inflated repair bill....and if that sounds cynical, it's because it is.