Taking the bus just went retro

http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2012/feb/23/routemaster-london-bus-new?newsfeed=true

Yeah its back!

But it wont have the bell on a string

It will be fun to see a whole generation of cardio challenged young try to run and jump on the back of a moving bus, and of course pull your mate on who's a bit slow, while texting....

Even the designer has a proper name engineers name "Thomas Heatherwick" 

He better have a moustache and a penchant for tweed and pipes or I will be dissapointed..

Its very pretty inside.

Ps

For all those who live outside the capital, this is VERY IMPORTANT, like you finding out if your first born has been chosen as the sacrifice come next harvest festival.

Routemasters are cool and this looks like a pretty good reincarnation.

Muttley Jnr and I, when he were a wee nipper, used to spend many a happy day at the London Transport Museum in Covent Garden. A great place and full of Routemasters ... little boy heaven.

Squeakz wrote (see)

what London needs are trams 

.......and trams are from the future right..........?

I cannot speak on the drive quality of anything but my bike and my legs so I defer to your experience. These buses are not though the old routemasters and the problem with London traffic can be seen daily by anyone who commutes.

1 person

1 car

Not moving 

The annals of my mind BDB.  I used to live in a house where we all walked or cycled to work, despite our work being a fair distance away because the buses were shit and expensive.  If anyone was considering taking the bus, we'd all sing this loudly at them.

Looks pretty good ... but I'm not sure why have a conductor whose job does not include taking fares.

Rather spiffy Grauniad tour of the Routemaster

Stephen E Forde wrote (see)

.......and trams are from the future right..........?

Trams most certainly offer less noise and polution than buses, they have also been shown to be cost effective, reliable and work exceptionally well in places where they have been reintroduced such as Croydon.
As you correctly state the problem with London is the number of vehicles with one person in it, adding an even larger vehicle to the queue achieves very little.
The only thing which will encourage drivers out of their cars is if a faster or more cost effective public transport is available. The bus is not it
If a car driver parks in a bus lane and disrupt the flow of traffic, they usually get a ticket. When a car driver blocks a tram, they get towed as the tram is unable to move around it which means its path is usually not blocked by inconsiderate road users.
Imho they should not have been looking at buses they should be looking at alternatives. The extra wages required for the conductors on the new routemasters will no doubt result in further fare increases for the transport user with no improvement to service.

A Second cousin of mine used to drive the old Routemaster. He was a bit of a case though.

At the end of one route they used to park up and then when they set off they went around a roundabout to head back down the route.

 On day he was about to set off and he could see somebody running for the bus, they were coming towards him. He started off but slowly,  tempting them into thinking they could make the leap onto the platform at the back. They were level with the bus and approaching the platform at the back, so he just nudged the speed ever so slightly so that they accelerated with one final effort as the goal came into sight.

Then the moment they leapt, he floored it, They arrived at the platform and grabbed the Pole to pull themslves on but the combined speed of the bus and theirs, remember they had been running past the front of the bus so were going in the opposite direction, meant they grabbed the pole but their momentum caused them to swing around the poll and then straight off the back of the bus ending up sitting on the road.

 As I say a bit of a case, not sure if he waved at them as he went around the roundabout and headed off back down the road.

With the extra health and safety these days i am surprised they brought them back.