'just go go go' from the ticket inspector KILLED ME 😂

shows how bendy buses have some advantages over double deckers

I live in Germany. The busses on the public bus line, which drove me to school back then, were so full, you couldn't move a centimeter. There were around double the persons allowed by law in the bus. So seeing this bus is considered "full" made me laugh quite a bit.

I saw this in a movie about a bus that had to SPEED around a city, keeping its SPEED over fifty, and if its SPEED dropped, it would explode! I think it was called, 'The Bus That Couldn't Slow Down.'"

What the 18 needs is an express version of the route similar to the superloop that can pick up and drop passengers directly to significant locations along the route allowing space to be made on the 18 for those who get on at less significant locations. A great example of this is the 140 and SL9. The express route could also be extended to Harrow if required.

Here in queensland the bus drivers can press a button which changes the destination screen to "Sorry, bus full". Interesting to see London hasn't done this

as a bus driver sometimes some customers are stubborn to move down or upstairs therefore once that yellow line is crossed I ain’t stopping/ opening front door for safety reasons.

I used to live on this route. It’s pretty much a straight line from Euston to Sudbury with a curve at Harlesden. I found living in Europe that Bendy Buses worked better. But Johnson scrapped them all in London, where on some routes they could have been left in place.

I think it was brushed over just how busy this bus route is. It's the busiest in London! And it runs very frequently, so small delays really add up. The easiest way to fix the current problem is to put in more dedicated bus lanes, or even build a tram!

I lived in Kensal Green pre-covid, this brings back some memories. It used to be like this every morning. Glad someone's bringing attention to this issue for the residents there

Where I live, buses will always stop for you no matter what (unless driver doesn't see you or you are not waiting for that bus route), if the bus is full, you may stand. The only reason a bus that is supposed to stop wouldn't stop is if there's two of the same buses right next to each other, the first one may skip you to let the second one pick up the passengers, it's called leapfrogging but it is rare.

That’s why I prefer the upper deck because I’m saving space at the lower deck

18 used to be a bendy bus and it was great. Obvious they aren’t suitable for every route but for the 18 it was so fast and efficient.

I lived in London for 15 years and far too many people in London will stand downstairs like sardines on buses rather than looking for a seat upstairs, even where there are plenty empty. I don't see what the attraction is in standing downstairs.

In addition to this problem, the 18 is also notorious for bunching - when multiple buses come at once, and then some change their final destination mid-way and not going to the final stop! I have had to get off the bus for a few times for that reason, but by the time I got off the other 18 buses that are bunching together are already gone!!

Our double deckers have cameras that the drivers can see

If you have standing passengers , up to the legal maximum downstairs. And you then stop because you have room for several more passengers upstairs. When the new passengers board, but don’t want to go upstairs then you can’t move until this been sorted out. Assuming that you are successful in sorting this out, you are now late, and because you are late, you are picking up passengers who would be on the following bus. This then has to be sorted out, this takes more time , Eventually passengers are waiting an hour for a bus, and six come together… people are cold, wet, miserable and missing appointments, some of which are vital, If buses are travelling with empty seats then more buses may not be the answer. Unless paired with giving the driver more time to provide a good service to his or her passengers.

Have the Passengers/MPs ever TRIED to get Passengers to use the seats or indeed go upstairs ? Believe me you ask them to use the Seats and they totally blank you . Concerning the seats upstairs -The Driver has a screen to see upstairs but the bigger issue is getting them to ACTUALLY go upstairs and use them. Concerning Bendy-Buses certain passengers used to crowd around the doors-usually theses were non fare payers in case an Inspector got on to check their tickets/oysters and Passengers with kids in pushchairs used to use them as ''a ram'' to push onto the buses.

Lateness is no excuse to be making buses skip stops.

It's occasionally happened on other bus routes (eg 29) to me, but usually only during times of significant disruption such as Tube strikes. The 123 bus used to be quite bad in the mornings heading eastbound towards Waltham Forest College, so I would have to walk to the college and get on where all the students were leaving.

Blaming the drivers for not stopping yet the idiots that use them just stay downstairs and stand when there are seats upstairs. Yes, the driver can initiate a pre-recorded "seats upstairs" announcement, but it's like the "let customers off the train first" one... the fact people still need to be told shows how badly society is going through devolution

Be like Hong Kong, just add an upstairs seat counter in our buses!

It used to be a problem on the 279 and 349 near Edmonton Green where it wouldn't stop but there wasn't any space up on the top deck of even the lower deck

Most London bus routes have little to no give in their timetables for most off the year …hence why some drivers drive like nutters but especially during the summer holidays I used to drive one or two routes that had to wait at bus stops due to having ( normally temporary) too much running time ( which I far preferred as I could counter this by driving slightly slower but far more comfortable for the passengers especially elderly and/or run a minute early before bad roadworks) anyways all the passengers would do was constantly complain even though you could guarantee the bus would be at your/all stops on time ! So my experience is as the driver you couldn’t win either way 🤦‍♂️ would never happen to a train driver (I used to catch trains at Kingston and Sutton that were scheduled to wait 4 minutes at the platforms before moving off again … also I would regularly play the “please use the seats upstairs I bus message but most passengers would ignore …… maybe it’s been taken off? Anyways once you have a single passenger with half a foot over the yellow line at the front off the bus I would either not stop at 10mph or I would stop and see what the onboard passengers would do …… but as always it was the drivers who would get it in the neck it was just a case off who from!

And this is why i prefer trains more of a relaxing journey i know they can get delays and cancellations but when there on time its stress free

I always preferred the upper deck myself. Maybe buses need to have those crowd-monitoring cameras that trains have to gauge how full a section is/isn't

That's crazy. I've only been on a bus that didn't stop once but there was clearly something wrong with the driver as it was noon and the bus was almost empty. He skipped three popular stops over the length of a kilometer. Luckily I could take a bus back and didn't miss my connection! It's a shame that public transportation does not receive the same level of care as road maintenance. What good is a wide city road if there is no affordable and convenient way for ordinary people to use it?

Bendy buses weren't just used in London: Manchester got some of them on the 135 service to Bury. They were owned by First group, and then got rid of them not long after finding out that the London ones caught fire.

Imagine having buses that don’t stop. Here in the north we DON’T HAVE BUSES.

The fact London busses seem to lack all door boarding is incredible to me - even in Los Angeles our busses are rolling out TAP Card readers at rear doors so you can get on anywhere. In any case, I also wonder why a shortened route has not been considered to add capacity mid-line. If the bus is full by a certain point, have empty coaches start there during busy periods to add capacity. This happens in San Francisco, for example, on routes like the 30-Stockton which are incredibly busy but can’t accommodate full-length coaches.

living in Germany I've never experienced anything alike. Busses will stop and pick up passengers until they're full ... in terms of actually being full, being all the way up to the walk-through barrier next to the driver; Just that the driver can still see his mirrors; Of course the bus will be delayed quite a bit, while the following bus on the same line will probably catch up ... but they won't just pass a stop and not let passengers board

There are lots of comments all blaming this on one thing or another. In reality there IS a problem and it is down to the company to resolve it. Whether that is automated messages, or having Inspectors along to assist for a while, that's irrelevant. One thing you can be sure of- they won't be suddenly replacing their deckers with bendies, no matter how much some call for this and no matter whether in some cases a bendy is better.

Finally its made it to the bbc, I’ve been dealing with this for at 6 years whilst at school. Also someone should mention the school runs when bus drivers just won’t stop eventhough the bus is clearly empty

My local route 65 ans 237 always full when you try go upstairs seats taken. Both routes have high frequency.

TFL should just get Bendy Buses back on the 18. The 18 is London's BUSIEST bus route and since bendy buses are all single decker there will not be problems with people not making space in the bus. Also whoever says "bendies can't fit" need to remember that bendies can fit better through tight roads than a standard length rigid bus.

i live on the 18 but literally every bus is packed so i usually take the 52 and 206 to my destination

How ridiculous! Bendy buses are used widely on the continent. Some now even have two articulated sections (e.g. Bern, St Gallen in Switzerland) and function perfectly well. I haven’t heard of any issues there with them catching fire. Alternatively, why doesn’t London reintroduce trams? OK the cost and the disruption would be considerable, but most large towns and cities in Western Europe have tram systems and they seem very popular.

It's a common misconception that buses are for passengers. Bus operators stopped talking about passengers back in the early 2000's. Buses stopped being made with pax in mind, routes stopped being designed with pax in mind, companies stopped being run with pax in mind. It's now all about how many seats you can run over how many miles at a certain frequency. Pax don't figure in the registration, they don't figure in the targets. It is preferable to the operator to not pick up pax than to pick up the fine for running outside the six minute window. It's just another example of modern day life being OK to be not fit for purpose, as long as it looks good on paper.

Dont bother raising your hand, stand in the road and FORCE it to stop!! 😮

found the 2 most charismatic bus passengers in London 😅

I saw this movie once about a bus that had to SPEED around the city at over 50mph and if its SPEED dropped below 50 it would EXPLODE! I think it was called "The Bus That Couldnt Slow Down!"

Im from Harlesden and grew up getting on this packed bus route to everywhere it goes Wembley, central ldn etc. Not suprising I think one of the reasons why it gets packed constantly is because the bakerloo line trains needs to fix up very unreliable and slow and sometimes never runs to its full route most of the times. TfL needs to invest more into their transport

This is why they chopped the bus in half and added it to the back and drove the bendy buses. Bendy buses was the solution. But what you really needed to add was Bus conductors just like you had them for the old route masters. There was many times when I got on a bendy bus and I said to myself. Yeap. Definitely you got 140 people on this bus.

I scrolled for a few minutes to see if anyone had commented that the MP looks and sounds like a post-2018 Hugh Grant character, but I could find one so I guess it's up to me

Ah a bus that doesn’t stop to pick up passengers so that it can maintain its schedule. I’m reminded of “Yes Minister”, where the hospital ran more efficiently without patients.

Stand in front of it on the road, did it once in my Asian country, it jammed brake and stopped

Like how when filming from the pavement, every bus stopped.

It's isn't the drivers fault. The driver has been told to do this. If he or she doesn't do this and is caught will be issued with a warning for not following company rules. So don't blame the driver. Blame the management.

Can’t blame the driver/operator if he/she can’t see the upper deck, it’s happened to me a few times at Oakwood on the 121, so nothing new, answer was being back the bendy bus, put crews back, or increase the service with more buses, or scrap the 18 completely.

No such place as kensal town, its either kensal green or kensal rise #dummies lol I used to drive this route and ill be honest, its a flipping nightmare. But not at all points of the route. Harlesden, stonebridge and Wembley are the most challenging areas. You even have regular 9-5ers pulling antics at edgware road…

The bus driver has got to know there's room upstairs. There must be a camera up there for the bus driver to view.

Pretty sure the times are an estimation, I'm in the southeast and buses are always late but turn up, I understand if they are sticking to schedule because of the busy hustle and bustle of the city. Also as someone with Customer Service experience, personally I believe that the customer should be notified if there is a delay or a cancellation of said service.

If drivers do that in Scottish towns, they get smacked later on in the shift by other public who keep an eye on the timetable

If the bus is running late and the Inspectors say to can carry on until you get to the end of the route. so the driver can get his stand time before leaving again other wise the driver will be constantly driving all the time with no short breaks

I thought there were usually mirrors that let drivers see the upper deck, weren’t there? 😂

VERY TRUE, I USED TO LIVE IN HARLESDEN AND MY SCHOOL WAS ALL THE WAY IN SOUTH LONDON SO I WAS LIKE HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GET ALL THE WAY THERE? BUT ANYWAY, AT THE BUS STOP CRAVEN PARK, AROUND 5 AM, THE BUS WOULD ALWAYS SKIP THE BUS STOP JUST BECAUSE THE LOWER DECK IS FULL AND THERE ARE ACTUALLY A FEW SEATS ON THE UPPER DECK. SO WE WOULD ALWAYS HAVE TO GET ON THE 266 AND RUN TO THE 18 AT THE NEXT BUS STOP. I WAS ACTUALLY GETTING FUSTRATED BECAUSE IT IS ALWAYS MAKING MY FAMILY AND I LATE. I HONESTLY THINK THAT DRIVERS NEED TO CHECK THEIR CAMERAS BEFORE SKIPPING A BUS STOP. I MEAN ONE OF THE MAIN REASONS TO BECOME A BUS DRIVER IS TO HELP YOUR COMMUNITY GET AROUND THE WORLD SO ALWAYS BE KIND AND SHOW COMPASSION FOR STRANGERS. THANK YOU BUS DRIVERS FOR ALL YOU'VE DONE FOR LONDON.

They should have an x18 bus route.

lol a bus that doesn't stop because it's late. only in london i guess. my commuter line did have an issue and ran late every single time. they finally adapted the shedule last december and added 5 minutes for the route which turned out to be plenty so now it has to wait at two stations before continuing.

What's the excuse of Line of Sight? they have cameras everywhere, including upstairs

This happens on the p13 sometimes

Why would it matter if the downstairs *WAS* full?! Why would that make a blind bit of difference to people just walking upstairs?? TFL are full civil service daft aren't they...

Cant think of any worse place to live and commute in than London. Or Birmingham as a close second.

They should do what they do in my city in canada the front sign will say bus full next bus please

When I was a kid in the grim industrial north of England in the '80s, if the bus was full the driver would slow down at the stop and give a toot-toot on the horn and flash the cabin lights off and on. This was, of course, before deregulation of the buses by the ghost of Tories past, and when another bus would be along in a minute.

One thing that you people need to realise is it’s not the driver’s fault 😂😂😂. You need to blame the people who won’t move upstairs because most drivers don’t want to terminate the bus or hold back just because some silly passengers won’t go upstairs so have a go at the right people 👍🏾

18 isn’t unique for this, it serves a major corridor of NW London, of course it’s going to be busy. It’s the NW London version of 25

As John Cleese say in 1969 parrot sketch: if you want to get anything done in this country you've got to complain until you're blue in the mouth.

Haha, as an ex №18 driver (Westbourne Park), this was a problem in the 80s. I had a conductor back then though. The 7s, 28s & 31s were Routemasters but the 18s were the modern (then), Metros & Titans. For some reason the passengers, especially in the Wembley area, were too lazy to go upstairs. So you had a bus absolutely rammed solid downstairs but empty on the upper deck. Nothing racial here but it was the Indians that didn't want to go upstairs and would crowd the lower deck. I don't know if it's the same now. Obviously you can't have the platform next to you full of people for safety reasons and to be able to see the nearside mirror. Must be even harder driver only without a conductor.

So now drivers has to get out of the cab and move passengers to upper deck 😂😅

The solution might be found in America ..... A Seattle suburban transit agency, Community Transit, has Double Decker buses and they're equipped with cameras streaming live footage for the driver, so they can see what's going on up top.

There are two problems: 1. TFL does need to increase the frequency of the 18, and put extra buses on the route. 2. People need to move upstairs, I just don’t understand why a lot of people can’t be bothered climbing a few steps to a seat. Please move upstairs and make room for others.

the Harry Porter bus

It's not just drivers on route 18. I am convinced that most drivers are just sociopaths that shouldn't seek a customer facing job.

Well busses have a weight limit and also a passenger capacity limit. Hard to keep track of how many passengers are on board at any one time but judging by a full floor of people… probably enough. So even if there are a few seats upstairs, if lots of people are standing down stairs and nobody has requested to get off… it won’t stop at a random small bus stop on some small road just for you. People take public services like these for granted lol but in reality if they’ve got people on they couldn’t care less about you waiting at a bus stop.

The schedules are too tight to save on drivers pay. Drivers are told to ‘bump’ stops in order to keep time as this saves on fines for lost mileage. Other operators have more generous schedules.

18 is the busiest bus route in london

And they stop stop stop to regulate the service.

FGS simply get conductors on them to force people upstairs Jeez you want a slide ruler to work it out !!!!!!!!!!!!!

A pensioner isn't likely to go upstairs.

Outrageous

The problem is the no.18 bus route is run by the French company RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens).

In Japan, the bus will stop and the driver will tell you it's full, apologize and depart.

Blaming the passengers, well done.

This is why the Boris buses need to be fully serviced and converted to electric to fix all the faults they have, in that way they can put this buses on other busy routes. Boris buses are ideal for busy routes as they are bigger and can take slightly over 100 people at a time. This is coming from a bus driver who drives the Boris and deals with this sort of thing everyday.

I have noticed that the bus drivers terminate services early without asking for permission from the bus operations department in the company's depot. The SL8 drivers are cunts at doing this as there is a mcdonald's at Hayes The Grapes in which they would cancel the bus there then lock down the bus to go to the McDonalds then do an empty bus movement to the next bus stop up then run a one way shuttle service to uxbridge.

What a lot of pish here in Edinburgh it’s the opposite buses are like tins of sardines upstairs and down and there’s no way the driver can see. What’s going on but they always stop

MPs riding a bus? Unheard of in my damn country

So typical of the attitude of transport for London and Khan.

Those that can go upstairs. Should do do

Simple, Being more late = LOSE ROUTE CONTRACT

Faster journey if you manage to board though.

A perfect example of today’s journalism. If this was Just A Minute, you’d be told off for repetition and waffling.

Report them. It's not difficult. It requires the same amount of effort as complaining. People are happy to be on their phones 24/7 but not go to the app and log a complaint.

They ever 5 minutes

Tfl just a joke. The mayor is meant to be the chair but simple goes missing at times like these. There are simply dozens of other examples of tfl not providing a proper service anymore. Take the District line beyond Barking where 10 minute gaps in service are common place.

It's literally called a bus stop

Do not blame the bus. Blame the drivers.

What an absolute farce! What's the point of a double decker when your only using half the bus. C'mon people get real!

TRANSPORT FOR LONDON IS A DISGRACE!!

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