[Berta]

Final destination for London double-deckers

Traffic woes ending run of famed buses

By Alana Semuels, Globe Correspondent | December 9, 2005

LONDON -- The fabled Routemaster, the red double-decker bus that has graced London streets for half a century, makes its final journey today. Its distinct silhouette has been scrapped for a sleeker, bendy bus that can accommodate more people.

Many in London are waxing nostalgic about the Routemaster because of its long history and old-fashioned boxy exterior; its jovial conductors; and hop-on, hop-off service. They say the city won't quite be the same without the icon that has graced movies and tourist brochures, and is as much a symbol of London as a red telephone booth or a corner pub. But Mayor Ken Livingstone, who once declared that only a ''ghastly dehumanized moron" would get rid of the bus, decided that it was time
for the Routemaster to go.

It is just one of many changes in the way people get around Britain -- or try to, in some of Europe's worst traffic. Livingstone also created and then enlarged the ''congestion zone" and raised the daily charge to £8 ($13.89) per day for private cars traveling through central London. He also has created incentives for people to ride buses and the subway, and is talking about a car-free 2012 Olympics.

Outside of London, congestion on small country roads is prompting other unusual ideas. Officials last week announced a £7 billion pilot scheme to test the feasibility of ''road pricing" in selected areas of the United Kingdom. Road pricing would use advanced technology to track cars on the roads and charge them based on mileage, time of day, and congestion of the area in which they are driving.

But if Steven Roberts is any indication, it is going to be a tough sell to get Britons out of their cars and onto the public transportation system, even with the most innovative measures. Roberts, an investment banker, does not like to use the Tube, London's subway system, which he describes as, among other things, ''jam-packed, stinky, smelly, super hot, and just unreliable."

So every morning, Roberts's commute to work is a bit like a video game. He leaves his house in southwest London by 6:30 a.m., and his mission is to drive all the way across to east London's Canary Wharf by no later than 7 a.m., when the congestion charge takes effect. If he is late, takes a wrong turn, or gets stuck in traffic, he gets charged. And he does not leave the office until 6:30, when the congestion charge ends.

In London, Europe's biggest city, the transportation problem is becoming a crisis. Its population is expected to grow by a whopping 800,000 by 2016 to more than 8 million, increasing the demands on transport by 28 percent.

Aided by former Boston T guru Robert Kiley, who has served as the head of London's transport network since 2001 and will step down in January, Livingstone has been pushing people to use public transportation. He says the congestion charge, introduced in February 2003, has cut traffic, reduced commute times, and provided much-needed funds to divert back to public transportation. In July 2004, he raised the price from £5 to £8, and in September he proposed extending the zone to encompass more of London's neighborhoods. Livingstone has gotten more people on buses by offering free bus passes to people under 16, putting more buses on the roads, and by establishing special bus lanes within the city.

Still, the Tube, London's underground system, is plagued by delays, and train drivers are threatening to strike over working conditions. It is not unusual to go to a Tube station and find that your destination is not accessible because of engineering work or a breakdown.

Policymakers blame the crisis on chronic underfunding of public transport. Britain has invested 30 percent less per capita on transportation than other European countries in the last 25 years, according to the Confederation of British Industry, an employers' organization. The organization also found that more than half of UK businesses think that the country's reputation as a place to do business has been harmed by transport problems, and the majority expect it to worsen.

''The British want European-style public services but with American-style taxes, and so Britain ends up with a highly stretched public transport system," said Tony Travers, director of the Greater London Group at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Fares have also been raised repeatedly to generate more money to invest back in the system. The average British family spent about £60 ($105) on transport per week in 2004-2005, more than they spent on food, recreation, housing, and health, according to the Office of National Statistics. London has one of the most expensive public transportation systems in Europe. ''What we've then got in London is people being priced out of cars and priced out of public transport," Travers said. ''What I'm not so sure about myself is the impact on the long-term desirability of London as a place to live."

Outside of London, small roads, unreliable trains, and an increase in cars have also fueled congestion. There are 25 million cars on the roads of Britain, and the government has predicted that the time spent in traffic could increase by 20 percent in the next few years. ''As people get richer, there's more traffic and more people on the roads. We simply can't provide enough road capacity to deal with it, and so congestion's going to get worse," said Stephen Glaister, professor of transport and infrastructure at Imperial College London.

Congestion on the roads appears to be driving some to public transportation.

Rail passenger demand grew by 44 percent in the West Midlands over the past decade as people looked for alternative ways to get to work. This overloaded the rail system to such an extent that the trains are simply not long enough to accommodate all of the passengers, said Heather Crocker, transport adviser to the development agency for the region.

To offset this increase, rail companies announced a pricing system that rewards people for traveling in off-peak times, and budget fares on some trains to London.

Even this might not be enough. In Birmingham, the train station is often so full that authorities have to close it for fear of dangerous overcrowding. Talk of a congestion charge, coupled with the increasing rail problems, prompted the local paper's editorial page to sum up what many in Britain are feeling: ''No trains, no cars, how do we get to work?"


© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company


But Mayor Ken Livingstone, who once declared that only a ''ghastly dehumanized moron" would get rid of the bus, decided that it was time
for the Routemaster to go. Never make hyperbolic statements while in public office.

[STYWOMBORGOSY]

Never make hyperbolic statements while in public office.

haha - are there any pols who don't?

[Barbshowers]

The Western Extension of the Central London Congestion Charge: to come into force 19th February 2007

[citalopram]

So...what's your opinion, Nick?

I know thw Routemasters have retired to tourist routes, but they haven't just been replaced by bendy-buses, have they? There are still plenty of red double-decker lines that aren't Routemasters, right?

[Kryfamid]

So...what's your opinion, Nick?

I know thw Routemasters have retired to tourist routes, but they haven't just been replaced by bendy-buses, have they? There are still plenty of red double-decker lines that aren't Routemasters, right?

I'm all for the congestion charge and the extension of it. The result from the current Congestion Charge has been:
- Economic growth hasn't faltered
- The number of accidents has fallen
- Air pollution levels have dropped significantly
- Congestion on the streets is lower
- Bus travel times have decreased
- Use of public transport has increased
- Revenue is being created which is being used to increase bus services, new trains, modernisation of stations, etc...

To sum up the growth in public transport in London:
Bus ridership in London (already at 6mn each day: as many as those that take London Commuter Rail and the London Underground combined) is soaring at around 40% (2001-2011).

London Commuter Rail is seeing a renaissance as rolling stock being rapidly updated (the average commuter train is now around 14.29 years old in London and the surrounding metro and falling) and the year on year increase usage of London commuter trains is around 54mn.

Currently 121km (75.1miles) of heavy rail is being built in and around London (CTRL, East London Line, Piccadilly, Heathrow Express + DLR) which would add to the whopping 5,081km (excluding trams) of heavy rail route km already in London. More lines, routes and extensions are approved or proposed meaning this figure will only continue to increase. On another note, London is also re-building its once vast tram network (once one of the largest in the world), which is expected to encircle the entire city eventually.

So I'd say its pretty good. Obviously with London where the streets are far more confined, it made more sense because the road capacity in Central London compared to Lower and Mid-Manhattan is far greater. That said, New York should employ it, just like most cities should where public transport exists.


Regarding the Routemasters, they were getting old and didn't comply with modern safety regulations and only managed to stay running simply because it would have been too expensive to renew the entire fleet (London's weekday operating bus fleet is somewhere around 6,800 - half or more are probably double deckers). The result was that the Routemasters were gradually phased out and replaced either with the higher capacity bendy buses or new double deckers

This bus, the new Alexander Dennis Enviro 400 were first released to the world in January 2006. London ordered 56, the first replaced the exact bus lost in the 7th July bombings (which was itself a doubled decker). Other double deckers are also continually being built for London from a variety of different bus manufacturers. Ramps actually descend from the base of these double deckers meaning wheelchair bound passengers can use double deckers.




So while times move on, the red double decker will remain an icon in London and will do so for the forseeable future.


One of the coolest new modes of transport, are the new Network Express coaches in operation in and around London....just look at the snazzy little lift: just opens out from one of the steps! Its things like this, that people are returing to public transport in their droves.

[Freefspruptpx]

Another innovation being developed are 'streetcars': they look like trams, operate a bit like trams but are bendy buses. This model being tested is in the London commuter town of Reading (due west of London Heathrow Airport).

[HaroTaure]

Seems like a natural for Manhattan, which has fewer than 20 automobile access points.

the UK Government will eventually extend road charging to the entire road network. They will do this by the mandatory fixing of transceivers to vehicles from which satelites can track the movement of the vehicle; when it went, the time it went, the speed it went and charges will apply accordingly.

The UK is already the most surveiled country in the world. The Government will know who is in the vehicle so they will surely know why you went and who you went to see....

Be careful what you wish for.......


(also as a GSXR1000 owner - the speed thing is truly scary!)

PS - those Routemaster buses can be bought for $8,000 - Bargain!

[Ferkilort]

That is what I am thinking...


If we do this, the units used should be local tranceivers not GPS units.

That way, while you are in the city, you do have your speed tracked and all that crap, but once you are out on the highway, Big Brother is not watching you.

I just would feel more uncomfortable with a device that would be able to see where you go at all times in that you would always be tracable and every move you make, if it one day disagreed with whoever was in charge, could be your last.

[C7JjVczP]

I just would feel more uncomfortable with a device that would be able to see where you go at all times in that you would always be tracable and every move you make, if it one day disagreed with whoever was in charge, could be your last.

That device is called a cell phone

[!!Aaroncheg]

The current road charging scheme works by number plate recognition but GPS transceivers are cheaper and can track your every movement but.....you want to know something REALLY scary? The UK government are to make bio-metric ID cards compulsory. The latest specs include RFID readers that can be read from as far as 500 metres with the right (government) transceivers so they will also be able to track your movements in or out of your vehicle. They will be linked to multiple government databases and the police are building their own database which they intend will hold the DNA of every UK subject. Some (in the UK) will think I am exagerating but consider this fact; the police already hold the DNA of 35% of British black males....

They are able to take the DNA of every person they arrest regardless of whether they charge them and it is at their discretion if they destroy those samples. So far, no police force has destroyed any sample and currently hold DNA samples of children as young a eight years old. It will be natural to add this biometric data to the ID cards or even simply link that database with other government databases linked to ID cards.

You may think "British suckers" for allowing this (it wasn't in any party's manifesto) but don't feel too smug; one reason given by our government was that it's being done to satisfy the requirements of the US government and many of the companies bidding for the contracts are US corporations.

Of course if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. Do you.

[Plaumpholavup]

Of course if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear. Do you.

Yup, that's what they say. But it doesn't take high tech. In Cuba they do it with a Madame Defarge in every block. They call this the Committee of Defense. Nothing to hide = nothing to fear.

[HunterM]

That device is called a cell phone

It still is not precise unless you turn on the GPS on the unit.

Two things would worry me about that.

1. They actually make a law making it mandatory to have the GPS on at all times.
2. They already have something on there that says that they can turn it on themselves remotely if they "need" to.

I know what you are saying though, and the whole thing creeps me out.

[freeringsf]

GPS systems are already common on some car models (ie if it gets stolen, the tracker is turned on and it can be traced). Even my laptop has one: think I went OTT with that one.

That said a GPS based system does have problems, but has benefits: the UK is moving towards a pay as you go society and its unfair that some users of the roads pay equal amounts as those that may use it far more often. This way you offer a modern flexible cost for using UK roads. What better way to charge people, than to charge people on how busy the road is and what time of day it is. The scope means that you have greater control over the money which could be increased to allow for greater investment into public transport.

This is all moving towards Minority Report type vehicles: ie you don't drive as its all controlled by a computer and the speed is controlled to ensure no accidents take place and to allow for higher capacity usage of busy roads. Sound crazy, but this is gradually becoming more and more a reality. What we need to do is provide as much input into the lengthy discussions that will take place so that possible concerns can be noted.


Regarding ID Cards, currently if you are stopped, you could be either taken into custody for questioning or asked to go to your local police station within a certain number of days. These cards would essentially negate this requirement to go to a police station as essentially the card is bringing together current databases into a single database, rather than many which opens the chances of greater corruption and inacurracies. What I'm against is the cost and I personally believe the card should go further, ie an all encompassing passport/drivers licence, etc which again means fewer databases delays for the person in question. On the continent, ID cards have been used and Britain used to have them only until 'recently'. In the ideal world, we wouldn't need these things because nobody would do no wrong, but generally I believe the card is about the amalgamation of databases and creating a system that is less open to corrupt influences due to less access to these multiple databases.

[Fluivelip]

Add on to this all of the surveillence cameras going up around the various cities (London, New York +): if they want to soon they'll know whenever you blow your nose.

[RalfDweflywex]

Regarding ID Cards, currently if you are stopped, you could be either taken into custody for questioning or asked to go to your local police station within a certain number of days. These cards would essentially negate this requirement to go to a police station as essentially the card is bringing together current databases into a single database, rather than many which opens the chances of greater corruption and inacurracies. What I'm against is the cost and I personally believe the card should go further, ie an all encompassing passport/drivers licence, etc which again means fewer databases delays for the person in question. On the continent, ID cards have been used and Britain used to have them only until 'recently'. In the ideal world, we wouldn't need these things because nobody would do no wrong, but generally I believe the card is about the amalgamation of databases and creating a system that is less open to corrupt influences due to less access to these multiple databases.

You could not be more wrong about this and I suggest you go to http://www.no2id.net/ and explore all of the arguments.

The police have no power to take you into custody without being arrested. I don't understand what you mean about avoiding corruption as I have never encountered this in the UK. Except.....the driver vehicle & licensing agency has been illeagally selling private details of driver license holders and their vehicles to private companies. Except...the government claimed that ID cards would help combat terrorism; the London bombers were British nationals who didn't try to hide their identity and Italy, France, Spain, Germany have had ID cards for years and have had at times, chronic terrorism. Except...the government then claimed the cards were now not an effective weapon against terrorists but against the explosion in ID theft and that therefore, they were for our protection. They later had to apologise for putting out misleading and exagerted data on ID theft.

As to inaccuracy in databases you are naive in the extreme if you have confidence in their infalability. Read these forums and you will find examples of indivduals who have be renditioned by the American government and tortured in Egypt and Syria becuase thyey were erroniously on a database. Of course they can be accurate in other ways; in the last election the labour party, the party behind ID cards, used a powerful database which could predict with 94% accuracy the way housholds would vote and taget those households INDIVIDUALLY. ID cards linked to such databases could be used to curtail your travel on i.e. World Economic Forum events in i.e. Edinburgh, Arms exhibitions in London Docklands, Visits by controversial presidents, i.e. Chinese, American, labour disputes, anti government protests. You think this will never happen? It already has; inthe '80's whole towns were road blocked by the police to stop trade unionists moving around the country, Demonstrators were stopped from going to the exhibtion centres to protest about the arms industy (Britains third largest industry), during the visit of the Chinese premier the police ripped out of the hands the citical banners of protestors and held them in custody until the visit was over. During the Econimic summit last year train movements were constrained and road blocks set up to prevent people getting there from other parts of the country. ID cards and databases will enable these things to be done with surgical accuracy at the touch of a button (you will need an ID card to buy a rail/bus/plane ticket) but of course, if you have nothing to hide you have nothing to fear and mistakes will never happen to you. Will they.

I could go on and on. In Europe they live by the old "Code Napoleon" in which the state is supreme and the citizens are subbordinate to the state. The ONE defining characteristic that generations of Britains fought for going back to magna carta and before is personal freedom in its truest sense. That the sate is subordinate to the citizen and as individuals, we have freedom to go about our business unmolested by agents of the state. It is what defines us as a nation. We gave this quality to America.

I am afraid that you just do not seem to recognise that the imposition of ID cards and their associated databases fundamentally changes these true freedoms in changing the relationship between the state and the individual. I am shocked in your bovine like complicity and acceptance of ID cards in exchange for some minor convenience in your personal life.

I for one will not be marched by a political party down to an "approved government centre" for registration, have my biometric data taken against my will and told to pay £400 for a license to live in my own country!

Costs of the ID cards have been cost by the London School of Economics at £19 billion/$33 billion, greater than NASA's space shuttle budget. The author of the authoratative LSE report into the true costs of ID cards recently stepped down citing the kind of government harrasment that led to another respected government advisor commiting suicide ove a certain Iraq (dodgy) dossier - you know who I mean....

Sorry if thise seems like a British only theme but as I said, our government says its being done partially at the behest of the US government so you ought to start asking what they have in store for you.

[wrefrinny]

Sorry if thise seems like a British only theme but as I said, our government says its being done partially at the behest of the US government so you ought to start asking what they have in store for you.

Freedom is being eroded everywhere by available technology. If it can be done it will be done. Not even constitutional assurances prevail against a government hell-bent on surveillance of citizens; Bush has already proved that with his illegal wiretaps.

You can also thank Osama bin Laden; he pretty much determines the tenor of the times.

[pitoufsd]

You don't have to be arrested to go to be escourted to a police station, eg drunks to spend a night in the cell, those willing to be taken to the police station, etc...

I wouldn't exactly call that website balanced and without more balanced views we go to the other extreme of under-security. We need to get a balance which appeases to all sides.

I also don't believe that they will combat terrorism, they do have scope for aiding against external actors acting within the UK, but this is not their main benefit. One good example is 'NHS tourism' would be radically cut.

With more single databases you increase the human interaction with these databases which can thus increase the chance of these databases being corrupted or errors popping up.

Personally I'm unsure how they could be used against you moving around the world or visting arms exhibitions (but then again I'd hope that there are added security checks to ensure that you're actually associated in the business of buying guns).

Also if you did your history, you'd know that trade unionists caused enough trouble as it was. Not only were their actions damaging the economy, but they began to target areas which were still economically active. You see, there has the be a line drawn: freedom and security. You can't allow groups taking law into their own hands to enact revenge on individuals who don't believe their philosophy. That said, you can't allow the state to govern all our actions and the only way forward is an equal balance: state and individual.

I believe in peaceful protest, but like usual there are always fringe movements who spoil it for everyone and the result was that anarchists and the like destroyed the equilibrium. During the G8, there were 21 complaints about the police force, but around 20 police officers were injured, including two police horses and 40 police vehicles. You can't have unlimited movement because had this been the case, even more people would have been injured and the chance of violent protestors and police crashes would increase.

Essentially the problems that you have now would most likely continue in the future, but the chance of this happening would decrease as you'd have fewer databases with fewer human interference.

I think you don't understand Europe that much, for a start a few countries already have ID Cards and have had them for many years. Police activities also don't have to be publicly disclosed to the extent that they are in Britain, for example speed cameras and mobile speed cameras have to be clearly identified with signs and coloured in luminous yellow in the UK, in some countries in the continent its tough luck if you happen to go over the speed limit where unidentified speed cameras might be.

I believe people should continually ensure that the state and police are in check, but admissions should be made on some fronts, while issues should be raised in others.

I should note though that we can't allow people to go about their business if it interferes with the liberty of others. We can't allow others to rape or murder because its their right: we have to create a balance that creates a safe society with evolutionary boundaries.

I personally believe the costs could be made more efficient by amalgamating together drivers licences, passports, etc... This way you bring together numerous departments which could be cut down red tape and thus human interference.

By all accounts that individual committed suicide for his errors in life; I'm okay with whistleblowers as long as they fully take into account their own actions in creating the problem.

Also I find it so annoying that people somehow align the UK with the US, simply because we share a few security concerns, when the UK is fully independent from the US. If anything France it could be argued has closer parallels with the US. Remember our country is more than just security.


Remember though: this was a thread based on the Congestion Charge and like it or not: its been a complete success.

[piramirra]

Add on to this all of the surveillence cameras going up around the various cities (London, New York +): if they want to soon they'll know whenever you blow your nose.

You mean the ones that can do things like track your face baced on thermal imaging and compare it to a central database?

It IS big brother. And I do not care what people say "If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to fear".

What I fear is that what I am, and what I believe would some day be said to be "unacceptable" by whoever is in charge. If that happens, you become a criminal while doing nothing different and you are subject to search and seisure even before you get to your car/bus in the morning.

Abuse of power is documented in almost EVERY human political system. How would it be any different now?

[RaicickKida]

I agree -- 100%.

One of the most frightening aspects of all of this is that younger people growing up today know no other world than the one that is being constructed by those in power. No doubt to many all of this seems "normal".

And as long as these breaches of privacy and personal security do not appear to directly touch the masses then there will be little or no uproar.

[Grieryaliny]

Words that are so true, and so chilling! The new reality is being constructed in increments; individually the incremental changes are not enough to rouse effective opposition. Point A to Point B seems like not much of a stretch, likewise B to C, but when you look up and realize you are at Z, what monumental changes have occurred, by now irrevocable!


As for Osama, whose reality and goals I do not doubt, I nonetheless have to say he has been fulfilling the role of Goldstein for this regime.