Swiftway - Bus Rapid Transit (BRT)

dfx- wrote: »

I see one of those as being a problem plaguing DB, the off bus ticketing and 'plaguing it' would be pushing it.

DB has two major problems within (at least partly) their control * :

- Most of their buses have only one door that increases dwell time and thus journey times.
- Their fare and ticketing system is far too complicated.
Too many people continue to pay by cash
Even Leap usage requires slow driver interaction.

This all means increased dwell times and journey times.

Also single decker buses tend to be quicker to load and unload, compared to double deckers. Again effecting the journey and dwell times.

* I agree the biggest issue to journey times is traffic and the introduction of more bus gates, bus lanes and congesting charging would go a long way to help this, but it is largely outside DB control.

dfx- wrote: »

With the implementation of mid doors on GTs and them being used along side stop announcements, I fail to see the fuss about them on this forum, especially the doors when they serve to reduce seating capacity downstairs unnecessarily.

There are still a number of problems even with the GTs:
- They make up less then 10% of the fleet.
- The two doors certainly aren't always or even mostly used IME.
- Two doors is still relatively few on such a large capacity vehicle. German double deckers and the new London bus all have three doors.
- Even when they are used, people still aren't use to them, I've seen drivers scream bloody murder at people and refuse to open the front doors until people use the rare doors. Problem is people are using headphones and aren't hearing it and they don't see these buses often enough to know to use the rear door.
- The rear door is badly placed on the GT in my opinion. It should be directly across from the stairway so people coming down the stairs go straight out the door rather then going forward as they are use to.

Kaiser2000 wrote: »

BUT.. that bus and the GT's (they pass my window here every 15 mins or so) are too small for more than 2 doors IMO. You'd need something bigger like the VT's to justify it - but those aren't practical on all routes either.

The new London Bus, is 11.23 meters and has three doors and two stairs.

The GT are 10.7 meters, so only a half meter shorter, not really that big of a difference.

The new London Bus seems to be very well thought out, with real thought given to how passengers move through the bus. The front stairs is placed half way between the front and middle doors and naturally leads people to go up the stairs when boarding. The rear stairs leads directly out the rear door and thus encourages people to use that door when leaving.