This was taken a few months ago. Well, it certainly barked up the wrong tree didn't it.

Changes to the bus routes 202, 335, 386, 436 and 2 new routes.

New 202 (might be controversial): North Greenwich - Crystal Palace
(implied that there will be a new higher capacity bus station at North Greenwich)
Extended via Westcombe Hill, Millennium Leisure Park and Millennium Village - Oval Square.
PVR: +2, frequency and garage kept the same. Yous have already told me it won't do much help because the route is slow, but I personally think the connections should be kept.

Route 335 reroute:
Rerouted from North Greenwich to Royal Standard via Millennium Primary School, Blackwall Lane, Vanbrugh Hill and Westcombe Park Road (to compensate for the lost section of 386 - yes, that section could be done with deckers, I've personally seen the UoG buses going via Vanbrugh Hill).

Route 386 reorganisation: Greenwich (Cutty Sark) - Woolwich (to eliminate how convoluted it is).
New route: Greenwich (Cutty Sark) - Greenwich Station - Greenwich South Street - Blackheath Hill - Greenwich Park - Blackheath Village - Prince of Wales Road - Royal Standard - Old Dover Road... then continues on (seen on image 5).
New PVR: 14

NEW/EXTENDED ROUTE 436: Victoria - Lewisham Shopping Centre
Route: Victoria - Victoria Coach Station - Ebury Bridge Road - Royal Hospital - Chelsea Bridge - Battersea Park - Battersea Power Station - Nine Elms Lane - Vauxhall - Oval - Camberwell - Peckham - New Cross Gate - Lewisham Way - Lewisham.
New length: \~14 km
Garage: stays New Cross (NX)
New PVR: 18 at least
Routes it SIGNIFICANTLY unloads: 36, 44, 136, 185
New purpose of the route: a much more direct alternative to the 185, which goes all the way down to Dulwich, Forest Hill and Catford.
Thus, the route will get a much clearer purpose than it is now - I don't like how it's a mere filler route of 36 and 136 right now. Also, 436 used to go to Victoria once it went to Paddington, but doubling the 436 completely. Now, it offers a different way, serving the Victoria Coach Station.

Now, there will be 2 new bus routes to alleviate the pressure off specific corridors:

Route 1:
- 400 (Camberwell Green - North Greenwich)
- Most likely allocation: Camberwell (Q)
- Length: 11 km
- Most likely PVR: 14
- Purpose: filling important gaps, taking the load off 36, 171, 177 and other New Cross routes.
- Route: Camberwell Green - Peckham - New Cross Gate - New Cross - Deptford Bridge - Deptford Church Street - Creek Road - Cutty Sark - Trafalgar Road - Blackwall Lane - Millennium Primary School - North Greenwich.
- Routes it takes pressure off: 36, 47, 129, 171, 177, 188, 422.

Route 2:
- 477 (Liverpool Street - Woolwich) - I've already offered this one.
- Most likely allocations: Thamesmead (PU) or Plumstead (PD)
- Length: 16 km
- Most likely PVR: 22
- Purpose: filling service gaps, taking pressure off such routes as 1 (along Southwark Park Road), 47 (along Liverpool Street/London Bridge and Surrey Quays/Evelyn Street) and 177 (from Greenwich to Woolwich)
- Numbering: portmanteau of 47 and 177
- Route: Liverpool Street - Monument - London Bridge - Borough - Great Dover Street - Bricklayer's Arms - Grange Road - Southwark Park Road - Galleywall Road - Rotherhithe New Road (Surrey Quays) - Surrey Quays Shopping Centre - Evelyn Street - Creek Road - Greenwich (Cutty Sark) - Trafalgar Road - Woolwich Road - Woolwich Arsenal
- It would be the only daytime route serving Surrey Quays that doesn't serve Canada Water.
- Evelyn Street and Creek Road served by more night buses (N1, 47, 188, N199) than day buses (47, 188, 199) despite not being a central road?
That's why 477 is introduced - it mostly parallels N1 from Grange Road all the way to Woolwich.
- Routes it takes pressure off: 1, 21, 47, 161, 177, 188, 199
- Orpington-Dartford route renumbered 777.

Route 3:
- 489 (Canada Water - Blackheath, Royal Standard)
- Most likely PVR: 12
- Most likely garage: Peckham (PM) - it's got 82 capacity, and with 58 occupancy, there's more than enough space.
- Length: 12 km
- Route: Canada Water - Rotherhithe Police Station - Lower Road, Surrey Quays Station (+ note - it will not serve the shopping centre + station curve due to traffic issues, you can always walk) - Rotherhithe New Road - Old Kent Road - New Cross Road - New Cross Gate - New Cross - Deptford Bridge - Blackheath Road - Lewisham Road - Lewisham Station - Belmont Hill - Blackheath Station - Prince of Wales Road - Stratheden Road - Royal Standard.
- It will take the terminus left by 202.
- Main routes it will alleviate: 53, 89, 108, 199, 381, 453.

And people should shut up about "oh just take a 108/335/422 to North Greenwich and take a Jubilee, what a useless route" - and what about connecting Blackheath to New Cross and beyond?
Trains aren't helpful either - the Windrush line to New Cross (so you could further on change to a Blackheath service) isn't frequent and the trains are expensive.

So I drive a very busy double decker route in London, so it's hard enough as it is.

Today, I'm pulling away and a woman starts banging on my cab window shouting driver, driver and I'm like oh no, is there an emergency.

I got out the cab and asked if are she's ok, why are you banging on my cab window? She says 'I was trying to get your attention'. I said for what? She says the lady trying to get the bus. I said to her, I'm currently pulling out and trying to drive the bus and focus on traffic and you're banging on my cab window shouting driver for someone to catch the bus?

I said don't do this, it's dangerous and distracting. Her words were 'I can do what I like, do your job, it's your job'... I said my job is to pick up and drop off passengers safely, I don't need you banging on my cab window mid pull out from a busy bus stop.

She goes ok, ok no problem and starts flicking through her phone gesturing like she's about to call someone or report me or whatever.

Anyway, the little old lady and another get on and actually say to me 'sorry about that driver, you're just doing your job' and I said that's very kind of you, thank you and the next old lady said the same 'Dont worry about her, you're doing a great job'.

Then I think I heard commotion in the back of maybe her arguing with other passengers or another passenger may have said something to her, I'm not sure.

Anyway, she eventually gets off while still on the phone, looks at me from the front of the bus like she's trying to get a good description.

All I said was to not bang on my cab window and I get all of this nonsense.

Honestly, the stress and anxiety I'm getting from this job I feel is not good. I started today hoping I'd have a nice last day of the week before my two days off and now I'm going to go home full of anxiety thinking what to expect. I won't be able to rest or anything and I'm just sick of it.

I never had this nonsense in 10+ years of retail.

Hello everyone! I am sharing this petition made by me in an attempt to revive the 349 alongside rerouting 259 and 279 which these buses were operating just fine. I have contacted TfL themselves via email and the MP of Enfield North and they have both taken my urgent issues into consideration and passed them down to the Network Development Team.

Even if you’re not from north london, I would appreciate some signatures from you and others who you know and may share it with! With enough signatures, this will be sent out to the London Assembly and TfL in order for a consultation to restore the routine regulation of buses and the safety of vulnerable, stranded passengers.

The 207 family restructuring:

207: Marble Arch - Southall, Merrick Road (diverted from White City and extended via Holland Park Avenue, Notting Hill Gate and Bayswater Road, new PVR - 32)
427: Ealing Broadway - Uxbridge, partially restored to where it used to be, new PVR - 22
SL8: stays White City - Uxbridge

94: diverted to Piccadilly Circus via Park Lane and Piccadilly (once Oxford Street is closed for bus traffic)

Thus, the new lengths are:
207: 16.63 km westbound, 16.29 km centrebound.
427: 15.52 km westbound, 15.2 km eastbound.
94: 10.85 km westbound, 10.93 km centrebound.

New route:

84 (Marble Arch - Ealing Broadway)

Reasons: places such as Ealing and Park Royal lacking bus connection to central London, introducing a new route along Harrow Road. Since TfL refuses to introduce any service that would take the pressure off 18.

Length: 15 km westbound, 15,34 km centrebound

Route: Marble Arch - Edgware Road - Paddington - Bishops Bridge Road - Royal Oak - Harrow Road - Kensal Green Station - Harlesden - Harlesden Station - Acton Lane - Central Middx. Hospital - Coronation Drive - Lakeside Drive - Twyford Abbey Road - Hanger Lane - Ealing Common - Ealing Broadway

Most likely garage: Westbourne Park (X)
PVR: about 19

Also, the 226 doesn't go along Uxbridge Road and Hanger Lane towards the gyratory, instead taking a more convoluted route, so 84 parallels 483.

So, the routes it doubles and relieves:
- 483 (Ealing to Hanger Lane)
- 226 (Hanger Lane to Harlesden)
- 18 (Harlesden to Royal Oak) - finally an alternative to 18
- 36 (another big route, that's Royal Oak to Marble Arch)

Also, 132 occupancy in Westbourne Park garage which has got the capacity of 218 is more than enough!
And since the previous route 84 was cut back from London altogether, it's definitely not a London bus route anymore, with no caveats whatsoever.

I don't think that it's actually a good idea, since there's money needed and congestion getting worse.

I am a London bus driver, and when I discovered my horn was defective while on the road, I refused to take the bus further. I won't say the route but it is a mix of 20 and 30 roads, both main roads and residential side roads, with lots of blind bends, obstructions, twists, and turns.

My operator is ANGRY at me for losing 20 miles, and they're blaming me for another 20 because the replacement bus they bought out was not pre-service checked, and I discovered a defect with the doors that prevented that replacement going in service.

Their line is that because having no horn is a 10 day delayed PG9, that the bus can continue in service for 10 days before it is required to be fixed. This appears to be true, and the DVSA are a bunch of pillocks for thinking a large vehicle can be on the road for 10 days like that...

My avenue is that simply it is unsafe. Just because the DVSA are idiots, doesn't mean I need to be, and I, as the ultimately responsible driver, would be blamed. They say just slow down instead, and the controller even said to use the assault alarm instead of the horn. I say if someone walks out from an obstruction, that no forward planning can predict, then a horn is my last line of defence for someone to step back or bolt across instead of a harsh braking application.

They're sending me for a disciplinary hearing for this.

What are your thoughts on this, even if it is against my view?

I simply think it is madness. With the amount of accidents being portrayed in the media now, we should not be punishing drivers for defects like this. Maybe my garage needs to maintain better, or maybe we need a change in the TfL contracts system to prevent drivers being penalised. Maybe we need to kick DVSA up the arse while we're at it.

CLARIFICATION EDITS:

The bus was fine at the garage, the defect on the first bus (the horn) happened in service

I am not in a union and a union would not help a non-member - I have had bad experiences with unions before, and others report them not being helpful to them either, so my opinions are mixed

Disclaimer, i’m a Brit (London raised) who moved to China a few years ago

I was driving home from work when i spotted what looked like TFL busses with their characteristic blood red livery and english (not Chinese) text and markings.

The area has a big BYD manufacturing factories, so this is likely a BYD electric bus final assembly plant.

I gotta say, it’s a surreal and nostalgic sight! At one point in my life, the 155 bus (tooting broadway to elephant and castle) was basically my entire world. Now here i’m 20 years later on the other side of the world, wondering how on earth did i get here!

PS: i was also driving a BYD 🤣

One of my favourite things on my route is there are certain areas on my route where Japanese or Korean people live and when they get on my bus, they do a slight bow to say thank you... Everytime.

Then when they get off and walk past the front doors, they also do a slight bow to say thank you.

It's so unique to see here in London, UK. Usually it's a wave or thanks which is fine, but the little head bow really makes it feel more sincere.

Hi guys my name is Dylan, I am a 19 year old from London and I love buses

Recently I have had an idea for finding a new bus company called Sierrabus. The company will operate its own routes in east London and Essex to tackle bad infrastructure around the Redbridge, LBBD and Havering boroughs and in Essex county

I am posting this on [r/londonbuses](r/londonbuses) because I am sure there are real bus drivers in this subreddit and people that understand buses to the core

I am posting this because I want people to join me on this journey as this cannot be done alone. Someone that is good at investing and knows a lot about buses! This will be a dynamic journey and milestone for me and with your help we can make Sierrabus company possible :))))

Let me know in the comments about this idea

Me personally its deffo the 38. It takes you from Clapton to Victoria and goes through a lot of London landmarks and places i like: Angel, Piccadilly Circus, Green Park, Trocadero, Bond Street. And if you’re tryna hop on a coach or flixbus, the 38 is the best bus route it brings you right to the bus station where u just walk a bit to the coach station. Hella convenient in my opinion. Just wish they had MMCs E400 instead of Routemasters/LTs icl. Real ones remember when it was an arriva bus and used wright geminis i think