New bus route 501

[RICEY]

there is about 10 bendys now at speke for both the 699 and 501 so there should be plenty. it seems there has been problems with the 501 branded ones as the past few times ive been out on it there has been an interurban one out.
they are fantastic buses in my opinion, dont know what they are like from a drivers point of view(maybe steve can help us out0

[liverpoolman1]

Any chance of a few pictures of these bendy buses in their various liveries? This is for those of us who live far from the city and its buses.

[LPL]

Sept 28, 2011 20:05:40 GMT 1 liverpoolman1 said:

Any chance of a few pictures of these bendy buses in their various liveries? This is for those of us who live far from the city and its buses.

[davel]

I was talking to one of the drivers the other day and he said that the "bendy" buses are just as easy to drive as the ordinary buses. He said that the extra bit just follows the line of the front half rear wheels and cause no problems on corners. I think he said the rear wheels turn opposite to the front to make the cornering easier. In the city centre I should imagine it will be the length not the cornering which would cause the most problem.

[Deleted]

If I think on I'll take my camera to work tomorrow and get some of the standard livery ones together with the new double deckers which are being stored until the begining of Oct.

Wish I could tell you what their like to drive Jordan. I've asked umpteen times for a go but they wont let me near them. I've been told I'll have to wait my turn and that my road could be next - so may not be that long to wait.

There aren't any problems with the Airlink ones its just that some are out of service until their routine checks have been carried out.

LPL, did you actually see one in service on the 699 as there has been an all blue Airlink one on familiarity training for the past few days. It's currently the 699 drivers turn for familiarity training and therefore it could be possible that you may have observed one traveling along the route but not with fare paying passengers on.

[LPL]

As I said it was definitely a 699 and had passengers on.

[Deleted]

The photo's of the standard livery ones and the new double decker as promissed.

[mictheslik]

I've seen a Blue (501 branded) 699 bendy bus in the last week as well....

Sept 28, 2011 12:13:50 GMT 1 mickey said:

students are least likely to complain.

Cue the complaining student......

Went on one of the green ones on Wednesday....honestly not impressed. Was very hot even with all the windows open and that wasn't even full (left loads of people at the stop even though there was enough room for another 20 odd people standing up.) Also the driver didn't open the back doors to help those right at the back alight....it's no joke having to climb through all the people standing up throughout the bus.....

All I can say is there's a reason why London got rid of them....Hopefully my home town of Bristol won't spend £37 million on the things as well.

Hopefully be my last experience of one as I don't have a bus pass this year....decided to walk every day instead

.mic

[Deleted]

Sorry to hear you had a bad experience on one mic. Unfortunately, these have been converted from three to single door bendy buses.

The rear door is solely there for use as an emergency exit specifically designed with wheelchair users in mind. Next time you see one stopped at a bus stop take note of the angle the rear section is on. You will clearly see it tilting toward the kerb. This is to reduce the hight a wheelchair user will have to descend from the vehicle in an emergency.

Single door bendies are a totally new concept and therefore, with regard to the heat and difficulty getting past standing passengers It may be worth while complaining directly to the operator. I know Arriva, welcome feedback (good or bad) and if they can, will do something about it.

I'm not sure if it's true or not but I'm lead to believe the bendies were given the boot from London due to a massive increase in non-fare paying passengers (fare dodgers) . It was all to easy to jump on at the centre and rear doors whilst the driver was distracted (by honest, fare paying passengers) at the front. This resulted in bendy-bus routes being none profitable. Despite the additional increase in costs in providing a more frequent double deck service these routes are now showing in excess of a 7% increase in revenue and this well covers the extra costs involved. Bring on the even easier access Borris Master ;D

Unless Arriva operate in Bristol it's unlikely you will see single doored versions there. However, as from the 5th September Hackney Community Transport took over the running of route 904 and YES, you've guessed it ;D but the three door version . Obviously something you wont be look forward too on your return.

[mictheslik]

Cheers for clearing a few things up...presumeably they're cheaper to run than double deckers? From my limited experience they don't have the same capacity (or maybe they do, but not in 1 door config) and actually people are having to wait longer for buses as they fill up more easily. (I dread to think what the queue at Carnatic is like from 8:00 onwards in the morning....it was bad enough last year with the double deckers)

It would seem bendy buses only really work practically when there's more than 1 door....and then it doesn't work financially.

When I left Bristol there was uproar that the council were taking out a £37 million loan to pay for bendy buses on a route that really doesn't need them.

[RICEY]

nice shots Steve. Never knew the new buses were hiding there. i know some are at green lane and some are at Laird St.
have to pop in on the way home from work one day this week.
when ive been on the 501 getting of at JLA they ahve opend the rear doors to allow us to alight so i guess its only there they can use them