Especially when the moron that designed the Manchester buses thought it would be a good idea to put the heater controls underneath the bus, so the can only be adjusted during scheduled maintenance . 25C outside and the heater next to me is melting my legs.
Slow clapping .
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Mentioned in a book I read recently the population of Britain is more likely to travel by air than by bus. Speaks volumes. Not sure how the buses stack up around here, my visits have generally been very occasional and restricted to when I've drunk too much to care.
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So you missed my old acquaintance Andrew Gilligan in the Telegraph on Saturday taking a holiday travelling around the West Country on £28 worth of Rover bus tickets?
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Nice to hear he's still around, I often wonder if he's been vindicated yet ?
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I've found the buses ok in North Wales, expensive but they turn up when they say they will do and they are frequent enough although I suspect the service might not be as good in the winter.
What type of bus did you travel on Alfa? The newer Stagecoach Enviro 400s are very comfortable, but some of the older MagicBus and Finglands buses are awful. I suspect the heating issue was a fault, as I've never been on a bus with heating on in the summer.
I suspect that people who live in big cities use buses far more than people that don't. I use the buses at weekend when I go drinking because it is far cheaper than a taxi, I can get there and back for £3.70 (the price of a day rider).
Personally though most the time if I need to use public transport I will take the train or tram and I do go out of my way to avoid using buses.
I had access to my sisters bus ticket last week and I had to pick up some money from Gorton (around 6-8 miles away) could have got a direct bus there, but it takes well over an hour on the bus, so I drove.
If it was a tram I would have gone by tram.
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>>So you missed my old acquaintance Andrew Gilligan in the Telegraph on Saturday taking a holiday travelling around the West Country on £28 worth of Rover bus tickets?>>
Wouldn't cost me a penny.....
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>> I'm not a public transport person
>> the population of Britain is more likely to travel by air than by bus
Chris Moyles once gave the reason for his dislike of flying as "not because it might crash, more because it's essentially public transport."!
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Wed 6 Jul 11 at 12:24
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It is ridiculous that, as the driver of a bus, I cannot control the saloon heating. Mind you, I suspect that you weren't on that bus for too long, AF? I had to drive an elderly Volvo Olympian today that had the cab heater stuck on hot. There was a big heater matrix underneath my seat that was too hot to touch. Not too bad when I was on the M61, as I got plenty of ventilation from the window. But as soon as I got stuck in the traffic jam caused by the roadworks on Salford Crescent it became unbearable. And I was on that bus for three and a half hours.
There are some bus companies around that seem to give two hoots about their passengers, providing leather seats, air conditioning and wi-fi even on double deckers. Sadly, the company that I work for don't. At least, not around here...
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I thought you worked round Southport? A bit different to innercity Salford. And Olympian not seen one of them in a long while, they were some of Firsts newer buses when I was at Salford!
I think Stagecoach in Manchester has phased them all out now. I remember when they were bought new circa 1996-1998 before the Tridents took over. Of course the Tridents are now long gone too.
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>>I thought you worked round Southport? >>
The Southport and surrounding districts Arriva buses do have the heating turned off at this time of the year...:-)
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>> I thought you worked round Southport?
I live in Southport, Ratts. I work for Stagecoach at their Chorley depot, and was driving the X61.
>> And Olympian not seen one of them in a long while, they were some of Firsts newer buses
>> when I was at Salford!
Our depot still has thirteen Olympians that are used on school services, on the X61 Manchester to Blackpool route, and as spares for our Scanias. First still do have some Olympians - they're 'P' reg ones that were actually new to Stagecoach.
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>> as the driver of a bus, I cannot control the saloon heating
Most of our lorries have only a vague relationship between the hot/cold controls and the heater matrix flap. Fine in the winter, but pretty uncomfortable at this time of year! Even with the fan turned off, at 56mph you get a reasonable breeze of warmth coming through.
I once drove a 4 week old LDV Maxus, the heater was stuck on hot in that too :(
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"I once drove a 4 week old LDV Maxus, the heater was stuck on hot in that too :( "
I am just surprised that something actually worked on a Maxs - even if it was when it shouldn't have been !
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I'm not a public transport person - R.P.
