Bozza’s Bollo

Boris who?

Well Mayor Boris Johnson got some sound bite headlines as he claimed he was planning to confront President Obama over millions of pounds owed by the US embassy in congestion charges, during his visit to London. But as is so typical with Bozza this turned out to be sound without substance or all “piss and wind” as they say in the parts of the country Bozza is unfamiliar with, like Liverpool.


Boris Hall

Several embassies refuse to pay the charge for driving in central London, claiming they are exempted from local taxes. The total bill stands at £51m. "Maybe when President Obama's hors d'oeuvre plate is whisked away he will find a bill for £5.5m," he said. The US embassy said it considered the charge to be a "direct tax".


Bozza signing a petition against Tube Ticket Office closures

Speaking to Vanessa Feltz the mayor said he may be "shepherded away" from Mr Obama but added: "If I get the chance to I will remind him that the US owes us £5.5m in congestion charge.”I think if they are going to have the representation here in London then they should pay the charge for driving and using our streets.


The Con Charge

So 'No representation without a congestion charge' is the slogan." Several embassies refuse to pay the £10-a-day charge and the £120 fine incurred through not doing so. The charge was £8.00 a day when Boris was elected in 2008 promising not to increase it. But Mr Johnson said: "It is not a tax, it is a charge for services and I think we should test this in the courts. That of course is NOT what Boris said when running for election as on this clip;



The American Embassy says;

"Our position on the direct tax established by Transport for London in 2003, more commonly known as the congestion charge, is based on the 1960 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which prohibits the direct taxation of diplomatic missions."

I once had a Law Lecturer who said the best guide to the Company’s Act was to read it so in the same spirit I actually read Article 23 of the Vienna Convention;

Article 23

1. The sending State and the head of the mission shall be exempt from all national, regional or municipal dues and taxes in respect of the premises of the mission, whether owned or leased, other than such as represent payment for specific services rendered.

2. The exemption from taxation referred to in this article shall not apply to such dues and taxes payable under the law of the receiving State by persons contracting with the sending State or the head of the mission.

Seems plain enough to me but unlike Bozza I’m not an Oxford educated Classics Scholar – maybe our fearless Mayor, that scourge of burglars, Greeks, piccaninnies, Scousers and embassies would understand it better if it was in Latin?


Boris who?

So file this one away along with all the other Bozza Bollo entries like I’m going to get a strike free deal on the Tube, I’ll introduce the Bicycle scheme at zero cost to Council Tax payers (£43 million and rising), I’ll get rid of Bendy Buses ditto and I won’t increase fares above inflation. Yeah, yeah, yeah!

Stockwell Bus Garage

Stockwell Bus Garage - A Public Transport Cathedral


I have always had a soft spot for Will Self ever since he was caught powdering his nose with Colombian snuff on the then Prime Minister’s John Major’s campaign plane in 1997. Now the writer and loyal Stockwellian has proposed Stockwell Bus Garage (designed by Adie, Button and Partners, with the engineer A. E. Beer) as his choice for London's Most Important Building. He was speaking as part of a series of Royal Academy lectures on 14th March 2011 at the Geological Society, Piccadilly. Self's appreciation of the garage as grown from passing it every day. It is, he says, "a working building, integrally connected to London’s public transport".


Will Self himself

It is certainly a good choice for this is a Titan amongst bus garages with the buses housed in cathedral like surroundings. Stockwell Garage is a large bus garage in Stockwell, London. It was designed by Adie, Button and Partners, with the engineer A E Beer, and was opened in 1952. Stockwell garage was built to replace Norwood tram depot.



It is typical of much of the concrete architecture built in the post war reconstruction period in London around the Festival of Britain. There was a steel shortage, so concrete was used to support the roof. However, the opportunity was taken to create a bravura piece of reinforced concrete design. The 393 ft long roof structure is supported by ten very shallow "two-hinged" arched ribs. Each rib is 7 ft deep at the centre of the arches, 10 ft 6 in at the end, and spans 194 ft. Cantilevered barrel vaults between, topped by large skylights, span the 42 ft between each pair of ribs. The vaults are crossed by smaller ribs to prevent torsion. Seen from the outside, the main arches are visible as outward-leaning buttresses, with a segmental curve to each bay forming a flowing roof line. The garage provides 73,350 sq ft of unobstructed parking space and could originally house 200 buses. At the time of construction it was the largest unsupported area under one roof in Europe. Since 1988 the garage has been a Grade II* listed building reflecting its importance in post-war architectural and engineering history.




So top marks to Will Self for publicising this wonderful example of inventive post-war utilitarianism. Many wonderful bus garages have bitten the dust for as part of privatisation of London’s Bus services those so clever people at HM Treasury decreed that bus garages should be sold off in another short term asset stripping drive. Clever Wallahs at the Treasury, not only have their policies messed up Britain at large and put us in hock to scores of ludicrously expensive PFI’s but their diktat on selling off garages has meant it is practically impossible to retender bus routes. As Treasury Wallahs don’t use buses they didn’t realise that they need to go asleep near to their customers at night. And bus garages are a bit like buses, BIG!

Many have already been sold off, Battersea is a spectacular apartment complex along the Thames, Victoria is a supermarket with yuppie flats over. Stockwell is a wonderful space which could be adapted to many uses in the right hands if it ceases to be a bus garage. Let us hope that Will Self’s eloquent advocacy and the Grade II* listing ensures that this magnificent space is utilised and loved for years to come.

All the world’s a circle?

Well a year ago this poster wouldn’t have been unusual because the Circle Line was what’s the word, a Circle! But then the most historic and iconic Underground line in London (and the first Underground Line in the world) will underwent a radical revamp in operations where the Line known as the Circle will became a T-Cup or Lasso depending on your preference! The Circle line was extended to Hammersmith from 13th December 2009 and which almost doubled the frequency of trains between Hammersmith and Edgware Road. On the Tube map the Circle line is shown as a single line. However it shares tracks with the District, Hammersmith & City (H & C) and Metropolitan lines and any disruption on these lines can cause delays to the Circle. As Circle line trains moved around the line without a fixed terminus any delays were compounded over time, and made it harder to offer a regular or reliable service.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2009/12/squaring-circle.html

From December 13th last year, Circle line trains now start in Hammersmith, run along the current Hammersmith & City line to Edgware Road and then do a clockwise lap of the Circle line and head back to Hammersmith. They then do the journey anti-clockwise. That was with the exception of last weekend when the Circle Line once again lived up to its name again!



The photo above and the truly wonderful one below are courtesy of The Fact Compiler on The Railway Eye Blog which is on my Blog Roll on the sidebar and is an invaluable source of fact and gossip from the UK Rail industry.

http://railwayeye.blogspot.com

For more on the Circle Line see;

THE GREAT CIRCLE LINE JOURNEY

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-circle-line-journey.htm



Willersley Tunnel (Northern portal), near Matlock Bath, Christmas Day 2010

The Bare Tube

Well Flash Mobbing gets a whole new meaning with the second "No Trousers on the Tube" day which was held yesterday and is an import from New York (where else?) which has been holding a “No Pants on the Subway” day for the past ten years. Last year the organisers claimed over 30 Londoners took part. The 2nd Annual No Trousers Tube Ride in London took place on Sunday 9th January. 3,500 people participated in New York and thousands more in 50 cities across the globe.

Full details can be found on;

http://improveverywhere.com/


Agent Eppink preaching for “Pro-Pants” in New York

The day originated in New York in 2002 as 'No Pants on the Subway' and has become a worldwide event in which travellers are invited to travel on the underground without trousers. The day of trouser-free travel was started by a group called Improv Everywhere in New York but it is now a global event. One of the places the event took place this year was Zurich, where scores of trouser less people were seen riding trams through the city's streets. For the third year in a row, there was a counter-contingent. The “Pro Pants” group was back once again to try to convert the trouser less to their pants-based religion. They went all out this year with pamphlets, sandwich boards, and free pairs of trousers.


London style

This year around 100 people braved the cold weather to ride the capital's underground system in their pants yesterday as part of the annual No Trousers Tube Ride: London. The thrill-seekers made the journey on the Bakerloo Line from Charing Cross to Paddington and back surrounded by bemused commuters who had no idea what was happening. The group event was a meticulously organised affair, with participants told to meet in front of the two fountains to the left of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square at 3pm sharp.


Justin Timberlake Tweets in support

Organisers then divided people into groups before everyone headed to Charing Cross Tube station. Once inside, they gathered on the northbound Bakerloo Line platform and got on the front carriage, where they removed their trousers and put them into a bag they had brought with them. They were instructed to pretend they didn't know each other and not to talk to other trouser less Tube passengers.


New York style

The two requirements for taking part in the event are a willingness to take your trousers off on the Tube and the ability to keep a straight face about it. Organisers say the bizarre spectacle is to promote more silliness in the world and give people something to laugh at.


New York's finest

I need hardly emphasise that this event is entirely unofficial, is not to be encouraged, probably breaches your conditions of carriage and if you meet a Police Officer on the Tube they would be fully entitled to take down your particulars.

http://www.flashmob.co.uk/index.php/site/page/no_trousers_tube_ride_london/

Poems on the Underground turns 25

One of the most satisfying moments on a crowded Tube Train is when suddenly you stop thinking of the Aussie controlled haversack banging into you every time its owner moves or the blast of sound from the zombie commuter with the ridiculous headphones unconscious of your presence. Between the strap hangers your eyes alight on a Poem on the Underground cab card and as you read you are transported to a different place where there are fields of daffodils, floating clouds and babbling brooks. You have discovered, been delighted and most possibly gone on your way happier because of one of the most successful Public Art programmes, London’s famous “Poems on the Underground.”



In fact, this is a scheme which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Poems on the Underground were launched in 1986. The programme was the brainchild of American writer Judith Chernaik, whose aim was to bring poetry to the wide ranging audience of passengers on the Underground. Judith Chernaik, together with poets Cicely Herbert and Gerard Benson, continue to select poems for inclusion in the programme which provides relief and interest to the commuters who make over 3.5 million journeys on the Underground each weekday.

For more on Poems on the Underground see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/06/poems-on-underground.html

Love or hate poetry, its aim was certainly met, with the ninth edition of the scheme’s eponymous book, Poems on the Underground (published 1999) having sold more than a quarter of a million copies and followed shortly by a tenth edition in 2001 – a definite indicator of Poems on the Underground’s success. The poetry programme’s success was such that since then, public poetry is now shown on public transportation systems around the world, from New York to Shanghai, including Dublin, Paris, Athens, Stuttgart, St. Petersburg, Moscow, San Francisco and Barcelona. A newly compiled volume, Best Poems on the Underground, was released in 2009.

Verses from John Keats, Thomas Hardy and Seamus Heaney are among those to be displayed on Tube trains as part of a project its 25th year. Extracts are printed on cards above the seats on trains, and this year's selections will appear from this month.



Among the works is Lines to a Movement in Mozart's E-flat Symphony, which Hardy wrote after hearing the minuet from the composer's Symphony No 39. The Keats poem featured on London Underground trains will be an excerpt from Endymion, written nearly 200 years ago. And there is a translation of Loving the Rituals, by the 4th Century Greek poet Palladas. The organisers have asked two poets who were included in the first year of the scheme to be part of the latest collection.

Seamus Heaney's work Colmcille the Scribe is reprinted, while Grace Nichols appears again with For the Life of This Planet. Riddle by Gerard Benson, the poet laureate for Bradford, completes the list of six poems.



In addition to Poems on the Underground, the LU hosts Art on the Underground – a scheme launched 11 years ago that has enabled artists to produce original artwork to brighten up the Tube network. You can see the artwork on various billboards that occupy the walkways in stations, as well as covering the long station tunnel paths, and on the pocket paper Tube maps that are issued every month or so. Just like its sister scheme, Art on the Underground also gave rise to a book [Platform for Art, Art on the Underground]. And who could forget the buskers that line the subways? There are around 39 busking pitches across the Tube stations showcasing a variety of music throughout the week.



But are these schemes necessary, or just a waste of LU time and commuters’ money? Judging the public reaction the Underground is right to spend a little on cultural activity such as these. Poems like Out There by McKendrick have the ability to make a big impact on its readers, just as music and artwork can have a profound effect on its consumers. Whilst poems on the London Tube are not necessary, they certainly make a welcome change from the hoards of adverts we are constantly bombarded with. And whilst Terry the tone-deaf trumpeter might not be the next Louis Armstrong, he certainly makes the daily London commute a less boring affair. As a commuter myself I know the Triffids need extra stimulation on their daily trudge!

Though we take it for granted, and frequently curse it to high heaven, the London Underground is a wonder. The Tube network is the oldest and longest underground railway system serving a major city. Its history goes back to 1863, its conception even earlier.

For the full story see;

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/01/great-circle-line-journey.html

Wonga is all wronga

It says something for the value of London Underground’s Brand (the second most recognised in the UK) and which is also widely recognised internationally that TfL has allowed it to be devalued by having its New Year’s Eve Travel sponsored by an usurious short term loan company called Wonga. Set up by two South African ex-Investment Bankers and backed by three Vulture Capital funds Wonga has the air of a short term get rich quick scheme for all involved, except the unfortunate and vulnerable customers. Mindful of the opprobrium rightly heaped on usurious money lenders Wonga craves respectability and brand recognition by sponsoring the new boys in the Premier League Blackpool FC and now the London Underground Brand and New Year’s Eve in London has been hijacked by them in a disgraceful abdication of moral authority by a publicly owned and accountable transport system who, according to the posters on The Underground, are bringing you free New Year's Eve Travel "in partnership with Wonga.com."



The move has been criticised by London Mayoral challenger Ken Livingstone and Labour MP Stella Creasy, who called on Boris Johnson to step in and cancel the deal. She said: “Evidence tells us that the average level of debt amongst Londoners is rising, with many now facing unemployment in the New Year as well as struggling to make ends meet given the high cost of living here. I hope the Mayor will change his mind on taking their cash.”



Now sponsorship is hard to find particularly as previous sponsors are excluded by the “No Booze on the Tube” policy (Fosters, Bacardi) and bankers now longer sponsor (NatWest, ING Direct, Barclays) but should Bozza Johnson really be encouraging London's most desperate and needy to get themselves into even more debt over the Christmas period? And how does this tie in with the Conservative party's pledge to "tackle Britain’s' debt culture"?


CEO Errol Damelin (ed_wonga on Twitter) in his St. John's Wood office - they don't have much local business

2012 Labour Mayoral contender, Ken Livingstone has said;

"It’s hard to think of a clearer demonstration of the values of today’s Tory party than Boris Johnson’s decision to sell prime time advertising space on London’s buses and tubes to a loan company known for charging 2,689% APR. While millions enter Christmas and the New Year with concerns over their jobs and family finances, our Conservative Mayor is busy plastering the capital with adverts for loans companies who profit from increasing the debts of the poorest in society."

But Transport for London insists it will not tear up the sponsorship agreement with Wonga, which says its mission is “to solve people’s short term and urgent cash flow problem with an equally short term and responsible solution.” Wonga employs 37 staff at its St. John's Wood offices in London with a development team in the Ukraine, and is backed with venture capital from Balderton Capital, TAG and Kreos Capital.


Wonga on The Tube

They describe themselves as the providers of ‘fast, short-term loans online’ and promise to ‘deposit cash straight into your bank account within 15 minutes of approval, 24/7′. When their sponsorship deal with Blackpool FC was announced, ‘Wonga’ issued a toe curling Press release. “Everyone here is bouncing around with excitement and looking forward to the new footie season with even more excitement than usual,” it gushed. It quoted their founder and CEO, one Errol Damelin, as saying: ‘It’s sure to be a rollercoaster of a season and we can’t wait for the ride to begin.’ And it concluded: ‘C’mon The Seasiders!’



‘Wonga’ are a ‘payday loans’ company. They offer the poor and the desperate quick money at soaring rates to get them from one pay-day to another. Their annual percentage rate charged is 2,689 per cent, a fact which their literature goes to uncommon lengths to explain away. Last month, in the same week as the Blackpool sponsorship was announced, the Advertising Standards Authority – acting on 63 complaints – found them guilty of two breaches of the TV Advertising Standards Code and warned them about future examples of misleading advertising.

Complainants claimed that the light-hearted presentation of the ad was likely to "mislead vulnerable viewers" about the nature and implications of the product, and also challenged whether the presentation of APR complied with the consumer credit regulations. In the ad, a man stated that he needed to borrow £70, and ridicules the idea of going to a high street bank, with laughter heard in the background.


Wonga.com: TV ad banned by the ASA

An ASA spokesman said: "We considered that the tone of the ad, which included light hearted background music, colourful imagery, laughter related to the concept of obtaining a loan from a bank, a seemingly casual conversation and a character that wore a split costume and had half a beard gave the general impression that the service offered was a trivial one that could be considered in a light hearted manner.

Wonga admitted it had breached consumer credit regulations, as the typical ARP should have been displayed with greater prominence than the on-screen message "£70 for 5 days = £9.22. Total repayable £79.22".

Wonga: slang term for cash or money, used in the UK and especially in London (“A whole lotta wonga”). From the Romany word wanger (coal) - coal was sometimes used as a casual term for money in England in the 18th and 19th centuries.


Boris Wonga Johnson

Boris himself has never been short of Wonga, he grew up in The “Pink House” on Primrose Hill which is currently on the market for £5.25 million if you want to give your kids a Boris childhood, went to Eton and Oxford where David Cameron described his best buddy’s fun personality speaking in 1986;

“Things got out of hand & we’d had a few drinks. We smashed the place up and Boris set fire to the toilets.”

These are the people who recently condemned the student protests in London, no doubt greatly assisted by a short memory. As well as his Mayoral salary and expenses Boris gets £250,000 a year for a weekly column in the Daily Torygraph which, considering the variable quality of his output, must be considered a political subsidy. Boris will not be in London on New Year’s Eve, he, his much put upon wife Marina Wheeler and their four children are on a Major Wonga Grand Tour of India.



A week ago Boris was on LBC radio station with James O'Brien where he seemed mighty confused about the issue saying that Wonga's interest rates were "extortionate" whilst claiming that it was "perfectly acceptable" for him to promote them:

O'Brien – There is concern about your choice of Wonga as a key sponsor for TFL over Christmas and New Year. Ken Livingstone has had his abacus out and has calculated a 2689% APR rate on their loans and he suggests it is not very wise of you are selling their advertising on the buses and tubes?’

Boris – Well there are legitimate outfit and they are licensed to trade in this city, and if they want to sponsor, reduce cost of travel in London then that seems to me to be something that is perfectly acceptable. But what I would say and I would stress this, people should be aware of the extortionate rates of interest that they can charge and people should not enter into irrational or unwise debt obligations...

O'Brien– But you appreciate seeing it on side of bus or tube can actually camouflage what you have just described as extortion?

Boris – Well as I have said I think it is very important that people are aware of the massive downside of getting exposed to debt on this scale and I will lose no opportunity to make that point...

Green Party Assembly Member Jenny Jones said:

"The Mayor of London must understand promoting 2,689% borrowing is stupid and dangerous. Reducing public debt, by promoting private debt is irresponsible politics. We live in an age where personal debt is an all time high and it is the money men who are profiteering from the excess. This is giving a platform to a loan company just as Londoners are hit by the January blues, when bills arrive and cash is short."



Wonga claims it is different and responsible but this contribution on Martin Lewis' Moneysavingexpert.com seems to suggest otherwise;

“Wonder if anyone can give me some advice please.....!!

I took out a Payday Advance with Wonga for an amount of £405.50 in December 2008. Much to my surprise I was then made unemployed due to the recent credit crunch crisis and laid off in January 2009.

I advised Wonga of this and was able to come to a payment arrangement of £10 per week for one month and then I was to call back and speak to the same adviser to see if my circumstances had changed. However they never even attempted to take to the money from my account and then when I did telephone again the adviser I spoke to was someone different and was extremely rude and un helpful.

I then wrote to Wonga complaining of this adviser and also explained my personal circumstances with supporting documentation to state that I was claiming benefits.
I then received a phone call from Wonga saying that I had not stuck to my agreement of the £10 per week and I explained that they have never even attempted to take it nor had they telephoned me or wrote to me to say they that they could not collect it!!!!!!! I was somewhat really confused. I asked if they had received my letter and she said she didn’t know!!! I then went on to Royal Mail and got the signature to say that the letter had been delivered which proves to me that they totally ignored it.

Anyway I now have received a letter through the door from Marston Group stating that I failed to respond to their previous request - but this is the first letter that have sent to me!!! And they are asking for an amount of £1015.18, that’s nearly another £500 on top of what I borrowed, they are also saying that if I do not respond within 5 days of receiving the letter they will be sending an enforcement officer to my door.

Please help someone!!!!!!

Thanks”



Usury has been rightly condemned over the ages for exploiting the poor and vulnerable. No addition of high tech gizmos will make Wonga and similar operations acceptable, not the financial backing of American Vulture Capital Funds looking for a quick buck, not the panting porno prose of press releases by PR Pharisees nor the get rich quick dreams of the spivvy wide boy Investment Bankers who thought up this wheeze and no doubt are contemplating the Chateau and vineyard in France by the time they are 40? Consider this; Wonga only lends up to £1,000 pounds to repeat customers for up to 31 days maximum – if they lent their typical loan of £262 for twelve 30 day periods they would have earned £1,008.72 in a year – some wheeze. If they must exist they should stop sponsoring Blackpool FC and “Free Travel” on New Year’s Eve and lower the interest charged to their needy customers.

As for New Year’s Eve travel in London Underground ticket offices will be closed from 23.45 to 4.30 so you don’t have the option of going up to them and saying “I’d like to buy a ticket as I don’t want to exploit the poor and needy on New Year’s Eve.” So who will sponsor NYE next year, maybe “Cash for Gold”,"Foxy Bingo" or the Colombian Cartel with a strapline “Please use our products responsibly” – can’t see anybody too respectable being interested now the brand has been so rubbished?

Bozza’s Bus for London

It has always been my ambition to become the name of a common place object like Benedict Arnold became “Eggs Benedict” or Earl Grey became a tea. So I must resent the current Mayor for London, Boris Johnson, (Note; Up for re-election in May 2012) for his effortless accomplishment in this area. He promised Londoner’s “at no cost” a bicycle hire scheme and so (at a cost of £35 M+) we get the “Boris Bikes.” He promised to get rid of “Bendy Buses” and now we have the “Bozza Bus” – well 5 of them due for delivery in 2012, just around the time I predict Boris will be leaving office. A full-scale model of London's new Routemaster bus has been unveiled.


Boris Johnson in front of the original Routemaster launching the design competition for a "New Bus for London - NB4L"

London mayor Boris Johnson said the buses, which will come into service 2012, were a combination of "nostalgia" and the "latest technology". The fuel-efficient bus will be quieter than its diesel-run predecessor and have a platform offering passengers the traditional hop-on hop-off service. Wrightbus is making the vehicle at Ballymena in Northern Ireland and the full size model has gone on show at Acton Transport Depot in west London where London’s Transport Museum keeps its “Big stuff”.

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2007/11/londons-transport-museum.html

The vehicle was designed by Thomas Heatherwick of Foster Design, with its interior inspired by the old Routemaster. The new bus will return to the driver-and-conductor model - a key feature of the original version. The old Routemaster was withdrawn from regular service in 2005 and now runs just on two heritage routes in London.

Lord Foster said: “I am delighted that we have won joint first prize with the Aston Martin/Foster + Partners design. This project has really captured my imagination. London’s buses are so much a part of the essence of this city – functionally, symbolically and geographically. They help us draw a mental map – their destinations are London’s historic places, often green: Shepherds Bush, Islington Green, Hampstead Heath, Green Park. Our design seeks to combine contemporary innovation with timelessness. Like the original Routemaster – which was ahead of its time and consequently endured – a new bus for London should establish a whole new travel experience that espouses 21st century aspirations, while celebrating the memory and the experience of the original.”



Mr Johnson said: "Standing on the rear platform of this delectable bus brings back a sense of nostalgia but conversely also demonstrates the quintessence of the latest technology and design, making this bus fit for the 21st Century. It is wonderful to see those two-dimensional designs we unveiled in May have been forged into this amazing bus and I cannot wait to be launching the buses when they first enter public service in 2012." Mark Nodder, managing director of the manufacturer's parent company Wright Group, said seeing the design come to life was "a real thrill".

Jo deBank, of pressure group London TravelWatch, said while innovations in design were welcome, her organisation had concerns about passenger safety on the open platform at the rear of the vehicle. "We also question the cost of two-man operated buses at a time when Transport for London's budget is under real pressure, and we already have concerns about a reduction in services," she said. A prototype will be delivered by next year and the first five new buses will be seen on the roads by early 2012.

But here is a not untypical comment from the London Evening Standard;

"Bendy buses are atrocious. I don't travel on them but they look so dangerous and it's like cattle class with nowhere to stand."

That tells you great deal about the Bendy 'debate' – much of the debate has been informed by people who don't use the buses but now believe they can't sit down on them, can't stand up on them and that they might veer off the road and murder their children at the drop of a hat. As for the Routemaster debate let’s agree that the Routemaster (and the RT) were revolutionary 40 years ago with their narrow, compact design, light weight due to the use of aluminium (and a fibreglass bonnet) responsive engine and automatic gearbox. But they were a product of their time (and a massive centralised organisation which military style rebuilt them every 7 years) and the lack of access and running costs of having a conductor (who with Oyster would NOT take fares) cannot be justified today. More seriously what are the public safety implications of an open platform, who NOW designs a transport solution with a known fatal risk factor? It would be interesting to have a crystal ball and earwig how that one would play in a future court case?


London's iconic Routemaster Bus

The Old Routemaster wasn't just a bus; it was an iconic example of industrial engineering-cum-aesthetic tour de force which was every bit as important to Londoners and tourists alike as Big Ben, Carnaby Street in the swinging sixties and the dear old Queen Mum. Launching in 1954 and built by the Associated Equipment Company, it became a recognisable worldwide symbol of London, adorning postcards and becoming the must-have holiday snap for international visitors.



However for all Bozza the Buses excitement at his new Boy Toy there are some significant drawbacks. First there is the small matter of costs and revenue. Five buses are being built by Wrightbus at £7.8 million or £1.56 M a copy. OK this is for a prototype but there is no certainty it will go into to production so this Boris Toy could be a very expensive vanity project which will leave Londoner’s short-changed, have less capacity than the “Bendy Buses” (90 to 149) and be difficult for people of limited mobility, with shopping or children. To be anyway competitive the “New Routemaster” will need to be manufactured in its thousands which seems unlikely. And with two stairs and 3 entrances will this not seem a somewhat extravagant example of overdesign to solve a problem which isn’t really there? The previous Routemaster had mechanical simplicity on its side which is why it lasted over 40 years – will the same be said of the Bozza Bus?


The Bozza Bus

Why do we believe that there is something so unique about the streets of London that it requires a special bus which by its very nature would fly in the face of procurement efficiency? Is this not a solution which would have obsolescence built in, another in a long line of British World Beaters which never beat anything?


See also;

Bend it like Boris

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/10/bend-it-like-boris.html

A Bus for London

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/10/bus-for-london.html

Routemaster to Perdition

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/12/routemaster-to-perdition.html

A slow day in London Town

“Worst Tube strikes yet say commuters as walkouts cripple London” was the headline in today’s London Evening Standard. Commuters struggling to get to work were today caught in a war of words over the third 24-hour Tube strike in as many months. All 11 lines suffered major disruption, 80 stations were closed and 100 stations were picketed in a row with the RMT and TSSA unions over job cuts and ticket office closures. Union bosses and angry passengers claimed the service was “far worse” than during the two previous strikes. At Marylebone Station this morning the lack of alternatives to The Tube were evident. The “Marshall” at the taxi rank had added to the confusion by reversing the direction of flow of the queue but this didn’t really matter. As with the last strikes there were hardly any taxis at the ranks as the “City Boys” block book them as these titans of Casino Banking are more important to London than people who do real stuff. No sign of the extra buses either, rather the opposite as road works made the traffic in the area impossible. A 205 bus to Bow in East London turned up from Paddington already full and no sign of the No. 2 bus to Victoria.



Commuters struggling home this evening were warned to expect another Tube strike on November 29 and then a series of stoppages after Christmas. Union bosses said walkouts in January could be announced after a “truce” next month. Tens of thousands of passengers suffered today as the third 24-hour strike in as many months caused disruption across the network. All 11 lines suffered major problems or were suspended, 80 stations were closed and 100 stations were picketed in a row with the RMT and TSSA unions over job cuts and ticket office closures.

The Standard quoted commuters urging Boris Johnson to tell Tube workers “enough is enough”. A commuter from Richmond was quoted as saying said: “The strikes are obviously getting worse. I have to get a taxi instead.” A spokesman for the RMT said there was “no question” disruption was worse than the last strikes with leader Bob Crow saying: “Today's action is rock solid the length and breadth of the system.”


Covent Garden Tube Station

London Underground insisted it had more trains running and more stations open than before. Managing director Mike Brown said: “Despite the deluded claims by the RMT and TSSA leaderships the Tube service this morning is moving hundreds of thousands of people across London. Over 40% of our services are running, with all but one line being served and that is the Circle line, where almost every station is served by other lines. 75% of stations are being served, and we are keeping London moving.” LU said 50 trains were operating on the Northern compared with 29 last time. But a third of the line's 33 stations were closed because there were no staff to operate them, meaning that even though trains were running, commuters could not get onto the platforms to catch them.

Among the Tube stations closed during today were Charing Cross, Westminster, Piccadilly Circus and Knightsbridge as well as Heathrow Terminal 4. The Mayor came under renewed fire for not personally meeting the RMT and TSSA unions. A fourth walk-out is planned for November 29 and with no resolution to the dispute in sight passengers were warned of more strikes in the run-up to Christmas. London Underground said at the height of the morning peak period it was operating 44 per cent of services compared with 28 per cent last time.



Lines were either suspended over part of the route or ran with massive delays and cancellations. The Circle line will be suspended throughout the day and there was no service on the Waterloo and City lines for an essential part of the morning peak. Roger, travelling through Victoria, said: “It was terrible down there. It's the queuing to get into the station that's really bad. Some of the lines are totally crippled. People just have to get on with it as best they can.”



Gary, an IT trainer from Kent, said: “I can see these strikes going on for some time because their positions are fairly entrenched and it is difficult to see how a speedy resolution will be arrived at.” Mr Crow insisted that the strike was over “safe Tube staffing levels as our members send out the clearest possible message to the Mayor to call a halt to cuts before there's a major disaster”.



The conciliation service ACAS announced that fresh talks will be held tomorrow. The unions are protesting at plans to axe 800 mainly ticket office jobs, although they claim the number is set to rise to almost 2,000. TfL deny that safety is being compromised and insist there will be no enforced redundancies. While commuters in London had well practised strike routines, tourists to the city found their plans thrown into disarray.



Stefan from Berlin said: “It's a nightmare for people visiting London.” However the cutbacks in Underground are regarded as the thin end of a pointed political wedge to cutback the Underground which includes further redundancy, centralisation of HR, Finance and IT within the TfL organisation and selling off 55, Broadway, London Underground’s iconic and fully paid for Head Office (Estates Gazette February 14th 2009).

http://daithaic.blogspot.com/2008/04/give-my-regards-to-55-broadway.html

Whereas London Underground is being told to cut its cloth according to a recent BBC article on pay and bonuses TfL is very much committed to Rolls-Royce solutions with some employees on large salaries getting half as much again as bonuses.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11369278

Having explicitly committed to no ticket office closures in his Mayoral election manifesto Mayor Boris Johnson is now hoisted on his own petard, so being Boris you then make noise about something nay anything and wave your arms frantically! So now Boris is on the news banging on about banning strikes where less than 50% of union members vote. This could also be an awkward argument for BoJo as such a "turnout threshold" would have prevented his own election on the back of just 19% of London voters.



And the only reason he is talking about one now is to cover for his total inaction in getting the promised "no strike deal" with the unions. So as you mull that one over on your journey home tonight here's a few other statistics from the “Tory Troll” Blog to think about:

Boris Johnson's meetings since 2008:

Rupert Murdoch: 1
Rebekah Wade, The Sun: 2
Lord Rothermere, Daily Mail: 1
Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan: 1
Lily Allen: 1
Kelly Brook: 2
Tube Union leaders: 0


What Boris promised when running for election?


Boris discussing important matters with Lily Rose Beatrice Allen, a popular chanteuse. Who says Global warming is not real?