New Dublin Bus GT Class

starviewadams

Surprised that a GT turned up on the 69 last Friday night,my first time on one and it's nice enough.Seats are a bit cramped for my 6'3 frame though,knees took a beating when going over ramps!Handy having the next stop displayed upstairs too.

Middle doors weren't used as the driver couldn't properly pull into the stop at Central Bank thanks to all the taxi's parked up there.

Tarabuses

AlekSmart wrote: »

I've tried this and BOY !!!...does it provoke some extreme reactions....:eek:

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of two doors?

AlekSmart

Tarabuses wrote: »

Doesn't this defeat the purpose of two doors?

Not at all....If I delay by even 10 seconds in opening the front door after addressing the Bus-Stop,I can guarantee one demented individual will hi-tail it for the open centre-doors and attempt to barge through those getting off....I've watched it, and called the individual(s) back only to be told (VERY emphatically) I should'nt be messing them about....:o

One associated issue with Centre Door operation is the inclusion of an added "Safety" interlock which prevents the doors from being armed whilst the Bus is moving even slightly.(If one listens when the doors are operating the cacophony of buzzers and sirens will give some indication of my point)

The RV class was (Thankfully) totally devoid of such safey-safey stuff and that made it a far more crisp and efficient vehicle to operate.

A Flat-Fare and multi-door boarding would end the problem at a stroke.........:rolleyes:

AlekSmart

Karsini wrote: »

That's the problem. You could do something by the book but the Irish psyche just doesn't understand it.

OH the Irish psyche understands it totally,Karsini,but considers itself...different

NiallJS99

AlekSmart wrote: »

Not at all....If I delay by even 10 seconds in opening the front door after addressing the Bus-Stop,I can guarantee one demented individual will hi-tail it for the open centre-doors and attempt to barge through those getting off....I've watched it, and called the individual(s) back only to be told (VERY emphatically) I should'nt be messing them about....:o

One associated issue with Centre Door operation is the inclusion of an added "Safety" interlock which prevents the doors from being armed whilst the Bus is moving even slightly.(If one listens when the doors are operating the cacophony of buzzers and sirens will give some indication of my point)

The RV class was (Thankfully) totally devoid of such safey-safey stuff and that made it a far more crisp and efficient vehicle to operate.

A Flat-Fare and multi-door boarding would end the problem at a stroke.........:rolleyes:

I take it you drive GTs. What route do you drive?

Cookie_Monster

AlekSmart wrote: »

OH the Irish psyche understands it totally,Karsini,but considers itself...different

I really don't think it does understand rather than just choosing to ignore. Maybe back in the day it was a concious decision but it's become so ingrained in many over the years that there is simply no longer any understanding that it's incorrect.

I remember Dun Laoghaire SC on the 7 was always a battle ground for this. 50+ people at the stop at rush hour, bus pulls up, attempts to let a dozen or two people off the middle doors only for them to be swamped by the golden pass brigade waving the passes down the bus to the driver and stating brashly to all "I HAVE A PASS"

foggy_lad

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

I really don't think it does understand rather than just choosing to ignore. Maybe back in the day it was a concious decision but it's become so ingrained in many over the years that there is simply no longer any understanding that it's incorrect.

I remember Dun Laoghaire SC on the 7 was always a battle ground for this. 50+ people at the stop at rush hour, bus pulls up, attempts to let a dozen or two people off the middle doors only for them to be swamped by the golden pass brigade waving the passes down the bus to the driver and stating brashly to all "I HAVE A PASS"

This will only be corrected the same way it was controlled years ago by having inspectors at the worst stops shouting at people to form orderly ques and waving buses on until such a time as passengers que properly

KD345

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

The solution would be to let passengers off first through the center doors first before they take anyone on through the front.

That completely defeats the purpose of having dual door operation. If you only plan on using one door at a time then what is the point of having centre doors at all?

AlekSmart wrote: »

Not at all....If I delay by even 10 seconds in opening the front door after addressing the Bus-Stop,I can guarantee one demented individual will hi-tail it for the open centre-doors and attempt to barge through those getting off....I've watched it, and called the individual(s) back only to be told (VERY emphatically) I should'nt be messing them about....:o

To be fair, I can understand why this might confuse passengers. If a bus pulls up to the stop and only opens the centre doors then I can see why passengers will try to board through there after 10 seconds. They might assume there is a fault with the front doors.

Out of interest, why would you delay the bus at each stop by waiting for passengers to leave by the centre doors before opening the front? You may as well be driving an ALX400 with one door.

foggy_lad

How hard would it be for the driver to request that passengers exit by the centre doors?

AlekSmart

KD345 wrote: »

Out of interest, why would you delay the bus at each stop by waiting for passengers to leave by the centre doors before opening the front? You may as well be driving an ALX400 with one door.

It's in the context 345,of attempting to stimulate a "flow" out through the middle and in through the front.(This in response to posters who suggest that no drivers are using them).

Foggy_Lad: How hard would it be for the driver to request that passengers exit by the centre doors?

Request my ass ....at this stage it's long past the "erm..excuse me,I wonder if you'd mind using the centre door to exit,..."

In spite of the nice lady who asks passengers,via the PA system,in TWO languages to use them,I continually have people walking from the back of the bus,PASSING the OPEN Centre Door to glare in at me when the front door does'nt spring open for them.....

Mind you,as the GT class Drivers Microphone Volume is pre-set to a very low level,the answer to Foggys question (If thats what it is) is Very Hard Indeed

foggy_lad

You could shout it out from your perspex prison AlekSmart

dfx-

I am yet to be on a GT that has used its centre doors. Summerhill is the only garage that I have successfully avoided their GTs so far.

Though I did get GT67 a couple of weeks ago on a surprise 42 service (followed by GT68 on another surprise 27A service, followed by GT26 on the last 69 from the city...couldn't avoid them that day it seems). It seemed to be in poor nick for a new bus and a vibrating window upstairs.

By contrast I had earlier been on VT8, a workhorse, and it was travel excellence by comparison to the newbies.

ballooba

foggy_lad wrote: »

How hard would it be for the driver to request that passengers exit by the centre doors?

You'd hope that passengers would figure it out on their own eventually. Sure you could train rats to learn something like that in no time.

foggy_lad

ballooba wrote: »

You'd hope that passengers would figure it out on their own eventually. Sure you could train rats to learn something like that in no time.

Passengers especially those going to or from work are like zombies and any changes to their preprogrammed routine can result is strange results

The_Wrecker

ballooba wrote: »

You'd hope that passengers would figure it out on their own eventually. Sure you could train rats to learn something like that in no time.

But you try training rats that are I-phoned or Mp3'ed beyond belief.

Rock Steady Edy

AlekSmart wrote: »

If I delay by even 10 seconds in opening the front door after addressing the Bus-Stop

10 seconds is too long. Just opening the centre doors 1 or 2 seconds before the the front ones is enough and means that those that are near them end up leaving the bus before those who persist in going to the front who lose out a second time because they then annoy people by blocking them trying to get on. It's just about incentivising people to change their habbits. If every driver did this, I promise you, you'd quickly change passenger habbits. When all departing passengers have got off, you can close the middle doors again, to stop any chancers.

I was on GT4 early this morning, and when I got on and off the driver was utilising the doors really well.

Chemical Burn

Run_to_da_hills wrote: »

They are probably afraid of scumbags hopping on through the middle door without paying while the driver is concentrating on collecting fares.

The solution would be to let passengers off first through the center doors first before they take anyone on through the front.

NO, have a one way gate thing. I lived in Holland, front flappy gate things open in on the front of the bus to the driver to pay your fare and they open back out in the middle of the bus to let passengers off so passengers getting on don't hinder the people getting off. Things run so much smoother.

LordSutch

Amazing to think that the main recurring issue about the New GT claas surrounds the use (non use) of the Centre/Exit doors!

Why is it turning out to be such a big issue? I mean, what is the big problem with using the centre/Exit doors?

Its not like the two door version was unexpected, it was deliberately ordered & delivered, then we have this blasted
old chestnut about the (non use of the centre doors) from the 1970s reappearing all over again in the 21st century :cool:

I think any bus drivers who don't operate the Centre/Exit doors should be fined, or have pay deducted from their salaries.

thomasj

I was on one of these buses on the 39a this morning.

The bus was packed and there was problems for people getting off the bus with the amount of people standing blocking up the passageway etc but despite there being a notice on the screen to exit the central doors I didnt once see the central doors open.

Tow

At least it yours worked, the GT I was on broke down...

honru

I'm rarely on one of the new buses but it's very disappointing to hear about nonuse of middle doors. Amount of effort to navigate around a packed lower deck because of a single door and the dwell times between stops... just doesn't make sense.

dfx-

I was unavoidably on a couple of these on the 4/7 on Tuesday - I did see AX641 operating laps of the 7, but no luck. One bus using middle doors and voice descriptions of stops (GT8) and one not (GT38)

One thing I wondered about, where is the emergency hammer downstairs?

AlekSmart

dfx- wrote: »

I was unavoidably on a couple of these on the 4/7 on Tuesday - I did see AX641 operating laps of the 7, but no luck. One bus using middle doors and voice descriptions of stops (GT8) and one not (GT38)

One thing I wondered about, where is the emergency hammer downstairs?

The Emergency Hammers are recessed into the Ceiling Panels usually above the designated window with another in the Drivers Cab.

It should also be noted that under the new Whole of Vehicle Type Approval (WoVTA) regulations,Both front and Centre Doors are also designated Emergency Exits.

dfx-

AlekSmart wrote: »

The Emergency Hammers are recessed into the Ceiling Panels usually above the designated window with another in the Drivers Cab.

Concealed like the fire extinguisher above the luggage rack in the VG type?

I saw the hammer in the ceiling upstairs, but must have another look downstairs.

rx8

dfx- wrote: »

Concealed like the fire extinguisher above the luggage rack in the VG type?

I saw the hammer in the ceiling upstairs, but must have another look downstairs.

It's on the drivers side, just in front of the rear axle and in the drivers cab, behind the seat.

the groutch

the new thing, at least on the 7 route, is to use the area in front of the middle doors as extra space to keep buggies.

Cookie_Monster

the groutch wrote: »

the new thing, at least on the 7 route, is to use the area in front of the middle doors as extra space to keep buggies.

:rolleyes:
people...

markpb

the groutch wrote: »

the new thing, at least on the 7 route, is to use the area in front of the middle doors as extra space to keep buggies.

It's not new - people have been doing that on DB buses for as long as I've lived in Dublin.

Cookie_Monster wrote: »

:rolleyes:
people...

Considering people saw the doors not being used for over twenty years, what do you expect? This isn't those peoples fault - it's entirely down to DB and the LAs.

stop

the groutch wrote: »

the new thing, at least on the 7 route, is to use the area in front of the middle doors as extra space to keep buggies.

This should be clamped down on as it is an emergency exit that people will flock to given the lack of exit door at the back.

AlekSmart

stop wrote: »

This should be clamped down on as it is an emergency exit that people will flock to given the lack of exit door at the back.

The key here is to ensure that only a single occupied buggy actually gets brought on board.

The individuals concerned have it fairly down-pat,and will usually attempt to push their buggy rapidly on...then it's Possession = 9/10th's of the law time...

I can guarantee that any driver in the position of attempting to get a buggy folded and stowed when its actually on board faces a tough battle....

Mind you,ensuring that the buggy is folded on the kerb,ensures that the Drivers is still a Bollixks,as will be heard from the onlookers....:rolleyes: