Reply for the letter sent on 16/08/09

This is the reply for this letter: http://howislondonlife.blogspot.com/2009/08/what-is-wrong-with-london-buses.html

I sent two letter with each with different name and address, guess what, I got the same letter in reply. I wonder they red my letter... it not too hard to give the people chose, is it. there should be a place where local people can travel without all these deafening speaker announcement.

Our Ref: 1004620939
Date: 08.09.2009


Dear Mr X

Thank you for your enquiry regarding buses with their heating on during the summer months and the onboard announcements now on London bus services.I can appreciate your concerns with the heating being on aboard buses at this time of year, as the summers getting warmer this has become more of an issue than a few decades ago.
In response to these challenging conditions, Transport for London (TfL) has altered the specification of all new buses, which our operators must abide by. We have also invested £1.5 million in recent years to make existing buses more comfortable. While travelling conditions will never be ideal on very hot days in London, the measures outlined below should certainly reduce discomfort during hot weather:

· All double deck buses have been retro-fitted with additional upper-deck side windows above the front row of seats to improve ventilation. This will undoubtedly improve air flow when it is hot.

· As well as having more opening windows on the upper deck, all new buses entering service (including single deck and bendy buses) must have heat-reflective white painted roofs, body insulation, tinted glass and thermostatically controlled heaters, which automatically switch off.

· Another important feature is air-ventilation systems. Since the vehicle specifications were updated in October 2006, all new double deck buses were additionally required to deliver cooled air to reduce ambient temperature inside the upper saloon.These increase air circulation by forcing interior air out of the rear of the upper saloon and this in turn sucks fresh air into the vehicle through apertures and open windows. This system brings outside air into the vehicle but it does not condition it, such as lower temperature or humidity.

· It is expensive to fit the standard air-ventilation systems to older buses, particularly when these are gradually being phased out anyway by the renewal of route contracts, to be replaced with new vehicles which have better natural air flow systems. However, if older vehicles continue in service for longer than expected, they would normally be refurbished and re-enter service with thermostatically-controlled heating systems, extra upper saloon windows that open and white roof panels.

Every year we remind our operators to ensure the heating is switched off on all their vehicles between May and September, as it is normally not required. If you find any buses with the heating switched on during warm weather, I would be grateful if you could let me know (as well as providing me with the date, time, route and vehicle registration, where possible). That way we can liaise with the garage to ensure the problem is immediately rectified.
With regards to your comments about audio announcements on London buses, these announcements are a key part of a new real time passenger information system - iBus - which is currently being rolled out across the entire London bus network. I am sorry to learn that you feel that the on board announcements are disturbing your journey. However, London Buses is committed to making our bus services as accessible as possible. For many passengers - not just those who are visually impaired or have other disabilities, but also tourists or simply those who aren't familiar with a particular route - the iBus announcements will provide a clear benefit.

Our research with people with disabilities showed that the system was already eagerly anticipated and satisfying an existing need - as one vision impaired passenger said "It's something I've been waiting for, for years".

From the outset of the project it was recognised that a policy for the visual and audio components of these announcements would be required and this has been developed from:

· Experience from other UK and European users
· Feedback from a long-running prototype on the route 149, , a busy route through a variety of different city/residential settings
· Requirements identified by the Real Time Passenger Information Group (RTIG)
· Requirements identified in the Disability Discrimination Act

Following review and refinement this process has resulted in the current policy where:

· Destination announcements are made whenever a bus stops and opens the doors to let on passengers
· Next Stop announcements displayed approx 20m after leaving the previous stop and announced approx 100m before the Next Stop itself
· "alight here for….." announcements for places of specific interest - this is being rolled out later in 2009.

The policy itself maybe reviewed in the future, but at this moment there are no plans to alter it.

The volume used for the announcements has been assessed to ensure clarity throughout the vehicle and is intended to be loud enough to hear clearly but also enable passengers to "tune-out" if they are familiar with the route. We have monitored the system since early 2007 and have standardised the volume levels used.

The volume level is set centrally for each bus-type. Of course, anomalies do sometimes arise owing to the different batches and variants of vehicles. As such, we do recheck the levels when we receive reports of excessive noise on particular routes or vehicle types to ensure that it adheres to the policy outlined above.
Once again thank you for taking the time to contact me and I hope the information provided is of interest. If I can be of further assistance please let me know.Yours sincerely

Mr Y
Customer Service Advisor