Thought for the Day

Here’s a thought for bus-lane haters. According to Enrique Amorosa, if everyone is equal in the face of the law, a bus carrying 80 passengers has a right to 80 times the road space of those 80 people in cars.

Cars are a waste of space: here’s why

When someone tells you that the car is an efficient way to deliver people to urban destinations, or a great basis for transport in cities – just show them these images. And if you don’t have trams, a bus will do.
(Derek Thomson, 18 Nov 2013, www.TheAtlantic.com)

How not to miss the bus

One of the things that puts people off public transport is not seeming to be in control. The Illusion of Control is a well-documented feature in psychology, and it clearly afflicts drivers. It’s something that public transport users are less likely to suffer from - often because we seem to have very little control over what’s going on. And that’s because exercising control means getting hold of the information needed to make the right transport choices: buses turning up when they’re not expected, or not turning up when they should do is a major turn off.

Developments in ICT (Information and Communications Technology) now mean that working your way through a timetable has become a lot less necessary. Increasing numbers of bus stops are being fitted with real time indicators which count down when the bus is due, or you can send a text using the code on the bus stop. Even better are the smartphone apps now available. I use Bus Scout, available for Android smartphones (there doesn’t seem to be an iOS version). It’s powered by Traveline, it’s free, and you can download it here. I’ve used Bus Scout all over the place, and it’s usually pretty accurate - sometimes it’s even better than the information provided by the real time indicators at the bus stop. (How can that be?). So now I know when the next bus is due - and still avoid the illusion of control.

New bus lanes in Edward Street: 25 million reasons

Brighton & Hove City Council is consulting on plans for new bus and cycle lanes in Edward Street and a short stretch of Eastern Road (shown yellow in the map above). Which is only right given that, according to the bid document which secured the funding, “Buses travelling through the area covered by this bid carry in excess of 25 million passengers per year.”

The aim of the project is to provide better facilities for bus passengers and cyclists and pedestrians, and reduce delays. It’s great to see that the scheme includes provision for the traffic lights at the junction of Eastern Road, Upper Rock Gardens and Egremont Place to be upgraded to detect approaching buses and give them priority – something sorely needed in the rest of Brighton and Hove if buses are to reach their full potential as the city’s favoured mode of transport. The consultation closes on Tuesday 25 June, and you can have a say here.

Map from Better Bus Areas Bid document, Brighton and Hove City Council.

Babes On The Bus

One of the great things about using the buses in Brighton and Hove is that passengers say “thanks” to the driver when leaving the bus. Doing this in London would probably get you arrested, but it’s one of the things that civilizes life here and underlines the fact that Brighton is not (yet) a suburb of London. (whatever extensions are planned to London Underground, it’s unlikely that the tube will ever head under the North and South Downs to the coast). But back to Brighton buses, where there has been a minor storm after the bus company put a message on its bulletin board headed ‘Speaking to Customers.’ The message read “Please can drivers be aware that some of our customers may take offence at having terms such as ‘love’, ‘darling’ and ‘babe’ directed towards them. “This can be seen by some as being a sexist comment, as a recent complaint has highlighted.” Among the flurry of letters to the local paper, the best was from a punter who said he had no objection to being called “babe.” Signed, A Bloke…

Overhearings

Being a driver means being inside the box, which means you get to choose your own soundscape. On public transport there are fewer choices: you can cut yourself off with an MP3, or you can be immersed in the sounds of other people. Sometimes this is bad, as per the Racist Woman on Tram, ranting on the Croydon Tramlink, captured on someone’s phone, and then posted on Youtube (the woman is now Helping the Police with Their Enquiries). Less virulent, but also annoying is “sodcasting" - some stroppy teenager with a phone playing a tinny version of a song you don't like. But sometimes it can be very entertaining, you just never know. Here’s an exchange overheard on a recent bus ride, featuring an alarmingly cheerful (drunk?) Scotsman, and a bemused Spanish language student (he said he was from Barcelona. Where have I heard that before?):
Scotsman: “Do you know the difference between an elephant and a loaf of bread.”
Boy from Barcelona: “No.”
Scotsman, to everyone else on bus: "Whatever you do, don't send him to do the shopping."
Boom boom.

Bliss and Buses

“I don’t do buses, darling” reads this advert for Cadbury’s Bliss chocolate, seen on the side of a bus shelter: illiterate, stupid and insulting. In a city like Brighton and Hove, buses are used by a high percentage of the city’s population because they are good way to get around. And I’d bet a lot of us bus users eat chocolate, too. But we’ll be making sure it isn’t Cadbury’s Bliss. It’s a mystery how ad agencies come up with this stuff. I recall the equally stupid ads for Stella beer with the strapline “Reassuringly Expensive.” Anyone who’d been to Belgium (where Stella came from) or pretty much anywhere else in Europe where it was on sale could see that Stella was just another lager, usually available at a similar price to every other lager. Only in the UK did the ad agency think it could get away with turning Stella into an aspirational drink based on price. You’d think Cadbury’s might be a bit more canny. Or maybe it’s because it’s now part of US multinational Kraft. Time for a boycott? Bus Users Against Cadbury’s Bliss.