On 27 June, 14:58, "101.510" <[email protected]> wrote:
> it's better to have 'slack' timings with more chance of a service running to
> time, than no room to breathe and everything always late. It's unacceptable
> to put drivers in a situation where they have to race against the clock
> trying to keep to time.
> Anyone who uses public transport isnt in a rush!
> M

Schedules should be appropriate, robust and have sufficient recovery
time to deal with the unexpected.  There are some schedules at certain
times of the day / days of the week which are just too slack and could
quite easily be tightened with no detrimental effect.

OK I'll "bite" on the rest of your comments.  You say it is
unacceptable for drivers to have to race against the clock - fair
enough but it is equally unacceptable that passengers are treated as
unimportant "lumps" who can be delayed and have drivers' games
inflicted on them for no good reason.  I can assure you that many
people using public transport are "in a rush" or at least have
deadlines to meet in terms of getting to places at particular times
for work, meetings, events or simply the next stage of their
journey.

One example - the Vic Line collapsed in a heap one morning last week.
I opted for the bus to get me into town. A 259 came along promptly but
hardly set the world on fire in getting along the road at a decent
turn despite bus lanes the whole way. I changed to a 29 - a bendy -
which set a good and cracking pace all the way into town. It was an
absolute pleasure to be driven safely but quickly all the way through
Holloway and Camden and into the West End.  No horrendous braking or
sloppy moves - just a smart drive all the way. I then got kyboshed on
a 24 by a bunch of morons on motorbikes (and I say that as a bike
rider) circulating round T Sq "protesting" about parking charges. The
poor bus moved 2 yards in 5 traffic light changes on the approach to T
Sq. I got out and walked.  Now give me bus rides like the 29 one every
day of the week where you make proper progress without rash driving. I
got no sense that we were either early or late on that journey
although I was over an hour late into work.

To treat this genuine need with an "apparent" contempt of "no one is
in a rush" just misses the point about passengers' needs and also that
public transport is there to compete against / provide an alternative
to the private car.

Paul Corfield

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