The FOI requests worthy of an article are the ones concerning the average dwell times for New Routemasters in comparison to other buses on the London Bus network.
What are dwell times?
The definition from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO) Glossary states: “The period in which a vehicle or train discharges and takes on passengers at a stop, including opening and closing doors and time spent standing.”
Let’s take a look at the Freedom of Information releases published by TfL:
Request ID: FOI-0290-2223
Date published: 25 May 2022
However we can advise that based on the same calculation methodology as used previously i.e. averaging the observed dwell time across all routes and stops, and allocating each route to their contracted vehicle type, the average dwell time calculated for the NRM with all door boarding was 14.8 seconds. This is from Period 9, 2018/19 to Period 10, 2019/20 (corresponding with the date range from 11 November 2018 to 4 January 2020). This is the earliest data we hold. This compares with an average dwell time of 14.5 seconds calculated for the NRM in 2022 with front-door boarding.
The results show the conversion of New Routemasters to front-door only boarding, in line with the rest of London’s Bus fleet, helps to reduce fare evasion, has slightly reduced average dwell times [0.3 seconds] at bus stops and that there were no changes to bus schedules as stated by TfL.
Date published: 04 February 2020
The pilot on routes 8 and N8 has shown us that New Routemaster drivers will not need to work longer hours and that route schedules will not need to change. As it is so common for fleet vehicles to operate with front-door boarding and as we monitor the network regularly, there is no need to conduct a separate assessment. The proposed changes will lead to bus drivers working in a more consistent way as well as customer boarding and alighting in an even more standard way.
Request ID: FOI-3094-1920
Date published: 06 February 2020
We do not expect to see any net difference in end-to-end route travel time. Front-door boarding tends to be quicker at less busy stops with the driver only needing to focus on the front door when everyone has got off and this tends to offset the faster boarding and alighting times at much busier stops when all three doors are in operation. So, we expect any slower hopping on and off in a very busy location to be made up over the length of the route.
Another FOI release compares the dwell times with different bus types:
Request ID: FOI-0038-2223
Date published: 09 May 2022
|
Vehicle Type and Door Configuration |
Average Dwell Time in Seconds |
|
New Routemaster with (three door & two staircases) open boarding before 2019. |
14.8 |
|
New Routemaster with front door only boarding (started since 2019 to reduce fare evasion). |
14.5 |
|
Standard double deck bus with two doors |
12.1 |
|
Standard double deck bus with single door only, used on route X26 |
40.2 |
|
Single deck bus with two doors and open boarding only on routes 507 & 521 |
14.4 |
|
Single deck bus with two doors and front door only boarding |
10.5 |
|
Single deck bus with single door |
10.2 |
|
Other – London Underground/National Rail Replacement Services (Mixed fleet) |
23.7 |
The average dwell times of the New Routemaster is two seconds longer than the standard double-deck bus with two doors. The reason is, the driver had to check the rear of the New Routemaster through the CCTV monitor to see if passengers are exiting (alighting) the bus.
As for the standard double-deck bus, it depends on the time of day and the area where the service is very busy, which increases dwell times at bus stops. At a busy bus stop, passengers boarding by the front door have to wait by the gangway next to the staircase for passengers from the upper deck to exit the bus by the middle door; this also delays passengers trying to board the bus by the front. During busy periods, New Routemaster (or a bus with three doors and two staircases) passengers would exit the bus by the stairs and door at the back, which makes it easier for passengers boarding the bus at the front as it helps reduce dwell times at bus stops.
Meeting: MQT on 2000-12-20
Reference: 2000/0445
Answered By: The Mayor Ken Livingstone
Date: Monday, 25th December 2000
The recent purchase gives London Buses a small number of Routemaster vehicles that can be used to enhance existing crew operated services as part of my plans to expand and improve London's bus network.
Routemasters still do a useful job on some central London routes. They are popular as they offer a smoother, more comfortable ride and are quick and convenient to get on and off. I recognise that on the other hand they are not accessible to all.
There are no plans to convert routes operated by more modern vehicles back to Routemasters and I remain committed to my pledge to improve access to public transport and will be increasing the number of fully-accessible buses in London by 1,300 between April 2000 and March 2001.
Meeting: MQT on 2002-02-27
Reference: 2002/0122
Answered By: The Mayor Ken Livingstone
Date: Monday, 4th March 2002
Routemasters will need to be withdrawn by December 2016, the deadline set for double deck buses in the DDA Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations.
In the meantime, Routemaster services will continue where they do a useful job in and around central London, where quicker boarding can significantly speed up some journeys.
We all know that these vehicles won't last forever and I want to replace them with something that offers the best all round package of benefits to all Londoners. Hence the many initiatives underway to speed up boarding such as the introduction of articulated vehicles (route 207 and Red Arrows), cashless bus operation (route W7) and conductors on doored vehicles (route 55). I envisage that all other bus services in London will have fully accessible buses by 2004/05.
A document from the Greater London Authority website revealed their previous plan to reduce dwell times at bus stops to improve journeys.
Bus Priority Issues Investigative Committee
Thursday 29 March 2001
Options For Bus Service Improvements In London
Journey time
1.3.20 Bus journey times are slow as a result of lengthy boarding and alighting times and traffic congestion. The use of different vehicle designs can radically increase the former while other measures outlined previously should reduce the latter. In the past, the benefits of bus priority measures that make the service more reliable as well as speeding up journey times, have been lost due to more people using the service and increasing bus stop dwell times.
1.3.21 The following measures would assist in this respect:
• Continue examining the feasibility of introducing articulated multi entry-exit vehicles with the aim of using them on all routes presently operated by double decker vehicles.
Another document shows the achievement by TfL on reducing dwell times at bus stops.
TfL’s response to the Bus Network report - August 2017
Bus design and capacity
TfL regularly reviews the options for providing safe and cost-effective vehicles delivering against a range of objectives including accessibility, comfort, capacity, reliability and environmental performance.
As demand densifies, different fleet options may become more attractive. For larger, higher-capacity vehicles a key trade-off is the interplay between carrying capacity and loading / unloading times. Key to this is the number of doors and the ticketing system. London’s buses have now been fully cash-free for some years with major benefits to loading and unloading times. The New Routemasters, and before them, the articulated buses have three sets of doors to further reduce dwell times at stops. This in turn requires that bus stopping places have sufficient capacity for the vehicles to line up and that the street network generally can safely accommodate the longer buses. Vehicle options will be kept under review.
The bendy/articulated buses did have shorter dwell times at bus stops with their all-door open boarding which the New Routemasters used to have, but the disadvantage with all-door open boarding is that some passengers weren’t paying as they boarded which caused TfL to lose revenue.
TfL still specifies three-door, two-staircase buses to help minimise dwell times:
4.5.7 Door Safety
Front, entrance to be inward glider type, flush fitting to the body side when closed and one-piece full depth glass in each door leaf for maximum driver view of kerb side.
Centre or rear, entrance or exit doors to be outward slider type, flush fitting to the body side when closed and one-piece full depth glass in each door leaf for maximum view of kerb side.
6.3 Minimising dwell time
The choice of the number of doors fitted to a bus shall be informed by an analysis of the effect of dwell time at typical bus stops on the route intended for. London Buses generally operate a two door system with the entrance door forward of the front axle and the exit door between front and rear axle. When single or three door buses are requested, the front door remains unchanged, the centre door is deleted or duplicated at a specified area of the bus.
Although the New Routemaster project had been controversial for TfL, I recommend reading my article about the 10 year anniversary of the New Routemaster in service which includes technical details about the vehicle, changes to boarding to front-door only and much more.
To wrap up the article I’ll show you some images of red liveried Mercedes-Benz Citaro EV and Trambuses with more than two doors that I tweeted a few months ago.
I'm not the best at image editing...
— CLondoner92 (@CLondoner92) March 13, 2022
An idea on how the new Mercedes-Benz eCitaro standard & bendy/artic would look like in #TfL London Bus service, with extra doors to improve passenger flows at bus stops. pic.twitter.com/J8as5KTxcR
Van Hool ExquiCity (trambus) in #TfL #London Buses red Livery.https://t.co/EWQ2vqAZDV pic.twitter.com/86MzEhXIEI
— CLondoner92 (@CLondoner92) April 22, 2022
I invite you to follow me on Twitter by searching for @CLondoner92 or by clicking on the direct link to my Twitter page here.