Can anyone tell me if standing passengers are allowed on buses on
motorways? I am aware that standing passengers are not allowed on
National Express services, but that seems to be because coaches are
not designed to accommodate standing passengers. For services such as
The Witch Way in Manchester/Lancashire, and other examples of services
which use buses on motorways, are standing passengers allowed?
Thanks, Dominic

Dominic wrote:
> Can anyone tell me if standing passengers are allowed on buses on
> motorways? I am aware that standing passengers are not allowed on
> National Express services, but that seems to be because coaches are
> not designed to accommodate standing passengers. For services such as
> The Witch Way in Manchester/Lancashire, and other examples of services
> which use buses on motorways, are standing passengers allowed?
> Thanks, Dominic

If the vehicle is licenced for standing passengers, yes. There's a sign, 
visible either as you board, or on the outside, visible from the kerb, 
which will tell the tale.

There have been questions asked in Parliament as to whether this rule 
needs revising, but no answer as yet.

-- 
Tciao for Now!

John.

"Dominic"  wrote in message 
news:96f3b678-ca25-4e59-af81-f88cda58da86@b2g2000yqi.googlegroups.com...
> Can anyone tell me if standing passengers are allowed on buses on
> motorways?

I was told, when joining ECOC in 1975, "Standing passengers are not 
allowed on motorways".

Operating a service which uses M27, we NEVER carried standing 
passengers on the motorway part of the route.

On the rare occasions when there were standees, we operated via the 
parallel  A27, rather than leave people behind on an hourly (latterly 
two-hourly) headway.

On Fri, 9 Oct 2009 02:51:03 -0700 (PDT), Dominic 
wrote:


>The Witch Way in Manchester/Lancashire, and other examples of services
>which use buses on motorways, are standing passengers allowed?
>Thanks, Dominic
I have used this and also the Lancashire way services into and from
Manchester several times ( never at peak periods )and the bus has
never been more than half full plus the witch way has a 20 minute
frequency and the Lancashire way 30 minute frequency so there can't be
that great a demand for pasengers to need to stand.

abs@hgvu.com wrote:
> On Fri, 9 Oct 2009 02:51:03 -0700 (PDT), Dominic 
> wrote:
>
>
>> The Witch Way in Manchester/Lancashire, and other examples of
>> services which use buses on motorways, are standing passengers
>> allowed? Thanks, Dominic
> I have used this and also the Lancashire way services into and from
> Manchester several times ( never at peak periods )and the bus has
> never been more than half full plus the witch way has a 20 minute
> frequency and the Lancashire way 30 minute frequency so there can't be
> that great a demand for pasengers to need to stand.

You forgot to blame Stagecoach for anything. You're slipping.
-- 
Visit my website: British Railways in 1960
http://www.britishrailways1960.co.uk

Brian Robertson wrote:
> abs@hgvu.com wrote:
>> I have used this and also the Lancashire way services into and from
>> Manchester several times ( never at peak periods )and the bus has
>> never been more than half full plus the witch way has a 20 minute
>> frequency and the Lancashire way 30 minute frequency so there can't be
>> that great a demand for pasengers to need to stand.
> 
> You forgot to blame Stagecoach for anything. You're slipping.

<Grin>

-- 
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Fri, 09 Oct 2009 20:32:51 +0100, John Williamson
 wrote:

>Brian Robertson wrote:
>> abs@hgvu.com wrote:
>>> I have used this and also the Lancashire way services into and from
>>> Manchester several times ( never at peak periods )and the bus has
>>> never been more than half full plus the witch way has a 20 minute
>>> frequency and the Lancashire way 30 minute frequency so there can't be
>>> that great a demand for pasengers to need to stand.
>> 
>> You forgot to blame Stagecoach for anything. You're slipping.
>
><Grin>
No John my opinion of Stagecoach will never alter only difference
being I don't see so much of them these days thank God .

On Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:34:20 +0100, John Williamson
 wrote:

>There have been questions asked in Parliament as to whether this rule 
>needs revising, but no answer as yet.

In the context of motorways, or generally?

If we were to go to all-seater buses, it would have serious
consequences in terms of the economics and flexibility of operation
which would adversely affect passengers and bus companies.

Neil

-- 
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Neil Williams wrote:
> On Fri, 09 Oct 2009 11:34:20 +0100, John Williamson
>  wrote:
> 
>> There have been questions asked in Parliament as to whether this rule 
>> needs revising, but no answer as yet.
> 
> In the context of motorways, or generally?

Motorways only.

Although some of the press did agitate to make seat belts and all seated 
on buses compulsory a while back, after someone got hurt in an incident.

-- 
Tciao for Now!

John.

On Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:55:53 +0100, John Williamson
 wrote:

>Although some of the press did agitate to make seat belts and all seated 
>on buses compulsory a while back, after someone got hurt in an incident.

Presumably, as usual, they didn't consider that that would wreck the
economics and practicalities of peak bus operation, just as it would
rail whenever it's suggested for that.

Example: all the easyJet flights from Edinburgh to London were booked
up yesterday, so I got the train instead (which I probably should do
anyway, but timings don't really suit.  Both trains had a standing
load at times, which means if reservations were compulsory I'd most
probably have had no means[1] of getting home.

[1] Didn't check coaches, but they might feasibly also have been
"full".  The flexibility of local bus and rail means it's only "full"
when you can't physically fit another person on[2], which is rare.

[2] Yes, I know buses have a stated maximum capacity.  But this is
usually somewhat in excess of how many you'll comfortably fit on.

Neil

-- 
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.

Neil Williams wrote:
> On Sat, 10 Oct 2009 07:55:53 +0100, John Williamson
>  wrote:
> 
>> Although some of the press did agitate to make seat belts and all seated 
>> on buses compulsory a while back, after someone got hurt in an incident.
> 
> Presumably, as usual, they didn't consider that that would wreck the
> economics and practicalities of peak bus operation, just as it would
> rail whenever it's suggested for that.
> 
It *was* one of the Red Tops. And, yes, they did also campaign for seat 
belts on trains after one fell off the rails. :-)

-- 
Tciao for Now!

John.

On 9 Oct, 10:51, Dominic  wrote:
> Can anyone tell me if standing passengers are allowed on buses on
> motorways?

Yes, if the vehicle itself is licenced for them. The type of road
makes no difference.

Buses with standing passengers quite often opperate on roads which
have significantly more accidents than do motorways, and I suspect
they are used on A-roads built to near-motorway standard more than
they are on 'full-blown' motorways.

On Mon, 12 Oct 2009 08:56:07 -0700, Jon wrote:

> On 9 Oct, 10:51, Dominic  wrote:
>> Can anyone tell me if standing passengers are allowed on buses on
>> motorways?
> 
> Yes, if the vehicle itself is licenced for them. The type of road makes
> no difference.
> 
I remember travelling from London to Keswick overnight back in the early 
80's We had to transfer vehicles in Birmingham for some reason, and  I 
ended up standing on the M6. It was 3-4am, and while I didn't enjoy 
standing at that time of the day, it was preferable to waiting for the 
next bus!





-- 
Beware of sneezing pigs