8 ms·

1960s Bike Buses Used to Transport Cyclists Under the Thames

108 points by lonelyasacloud 4y ago

noodlesUK 4y ago
Are there any extant copies of this vehicle? I would have hoped to have seen something this whimsical and unique at the London transport museum but I don’t remember anything about it being there.
- f_allwein 4y ago
  „It's thought that only one of the five Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service buses survives, and it's rumoured to be owned by Leon Daniels, a renowned transport consultant and expert.“
  - noodlesUK 4y ago
    Don’t know how I missed this, thanks
- OJFord 4y ago
  According to the article, thought to be only one, and in private ownership.
- ZeroGravitas 4y ago
  On a tangent from this, does wikipedia or any similar organisation exist for building 3D models of historical vehicles/buildings etc? I've seen 3D scans of statues and other real objects but dont think I've seen larger reconstructions that are available as open data. Might just be looking in the wrong places though. edit: found this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_for_creating_3D_models_for_Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_for_creating...
craz8 4y ago
The mention of safety due to lack of doors does not add up, as none of the Routemaster busses at the time had a door at the bottom of the stairs. Jumping on and off was the normal thing. The many tunnels under the Thames are awesome though - I used to live in Woolwich and there’s a pedestrian tunnel there that I’ve used many times
- dcminter 4y ago
  Right, but the Routemaster doesn't have a five foot drop from the staircase to the ground!
  - craz8 4y ago
    But you could jump off at any speed - or get jostled and fall off accidentally if hanging on to the pole that was provided in the doorway. Falling into traffic at 30mph isn’t a bundle of laughs either My guess is the door requirement was to avoid needing to scrape people off the single lane roadway in rush hour more than a thought for passenger safety and that difference may have got lost on the way to the page
    - quickthrower2 4y ago
      Never seen a bus in central london go that fast. Often it is quicker to walk.
      - lifeisstillgood 4y ago
        touché
      - klondike_klive 4y ago
        I quickly learned never to stay on the 38 as far as Shaftesbury Avenue...
tomcam 4y ago
In Southern California there are bus routes with long racks for surfboards.
londons_explore 4y ago
The world of transport nerds and trainspotters is leaking again.
barbegal 4y ago
And today you get a truck with a bike rack on the back. http://cycle-geography.blogspot.com/2015/11/dartford-crossing-by-bike_20.html?m=1 http://cycle-geography.blogspot.com/2015/11/dartford-crossin... I wonder how much this legislation costs the UK government https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/20/section/27 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/20/section/27
lifeisstillgood 4y ago
After decades as a cycle advocate / user in and around London I recently had a cycle accident that has changed my views (I was commuting to work - approx 10 miles and could not avoid the situation ahead). The "it's too dangerous to cycle the Dartford tunnel so here is a bus" amuses me. In my view it is too dangerous to put cycles on the same roads as cars and lorries. And if we want to promote cycling (perfect mix of exercise and local transport) then we need to invest in totally separate pathways. My simple question is "why can't every child cycle to school on a car free path way?" If we had started 30 years ago with a principle of every road must have seperated cycle lanes and overpasses, then we would have built slightly less roads in the marginal cases (probably a win anyway) and be in a better position now. So what do we do for the next30?
- walthamstow 4y ago
  You should come to Waltham Forest, a borough bordering Hackney and Haringey to the west and Essex to the east. Around here, a large proportion of kids do cycle to school (or get cycled to school) on a segregated path. Walthamsterdam, as I call it. It's the main reason my partner and I bought a house here. Eventually more councils will realise that they can attract council taxpayers by providing segregated cycle lanes and a civilised way of transporting themself and their kids around.
  - dkdbejwi383 4y ago
    It’s just a shame there is no Greater London-wide cycle policy comparable to what Waltham Forest are doing. I’d like to commute by bicycle but my office is in clerkenwell, and coming from the east means I’d need to pass the old street roundabout
    - walthamstow 4y ago
      Old Street Roundabout is a lot better than it used to be. Completely segregated cycle lanes, cycle-only traffic lights, etc. I wouldn't let it put you off cycling. Do the route on a weekend and see how you feel. There are ways around it too. Going west to east several years ago when OSR was still a death trap I would go Bath St -> Peerless St -> Vestry St -> Haberdasher St.
cr1895 4y ago
Tangentially related bit of curiosity - there is a long and narrow pedestrian/cycle tunnel under the Scheldt river in Antwerp. It was built in 1933, and access is via the original beautiful wooden escalators. Quite a neat bit of infrastructure! https://antwerpexplorer.com/highlights/st-anna-tunnel/ https://antwerpexplorer.com/highlights/st-anna-tunnel/
TomWhitwell 4y ago
This still exists on the current Dartford Road crossing - but they just put your bike on the back of a truck and drive you over on request: https://www.gov.uk/dartford-crossing-bike https://www.gov.uk/dartford-crossing-bike
- Aeolun 4y ago
  Shit. 365 days a year, 24 hours (with breaks) a day. That’s impressive.
  - cardinalfang 4y ago
    They use the same drivers that are on standby to escort fuel tankers and hazardous goods through the tunnel.
JamesBaxter 4y ago
I still can’t believe that the Silvertown Tunnel, the next Thames crossing will require a modern version of this rather than have a dedicated cycle space. I appreciate cycling close to cars in a tunnel won’t be pleasant but we are slowly moving away from the internal combustion engine, the air will get better and better as electric gets more popular.
- ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
  That depends on mass EV takeup, and the problem is that particulate pollution will hardly be reduced as EVs are significantly heavier and particulate pollution is mostly from brakes and tyres.
  - Rebelgecko 4y ago
    On the bright side, EVs don't need to use their brakes as much due to regenerative braking

Are there any extant copies of this vehicle? I would have hoped to have seen something this whimsical and unique at the London transport museum but I don’t remember anything about it being there.

f_allwein 4y ago
„It's thought that only one of the five Dartford Tunnel Cycle Service buses survives, and it's rumoured to be owned by Leon Daniels, a renowned transport consultant and expert.“
- noodlesUK 4y ago
  Don’t know how I missed this, thanks
OJFord 4y ago
According to the article, thought to be only one, and in private ownership.
ZeroGravitas 4y ago
On a tangent from this, does wikipedia or any similar organisation exist for building 3D models of historical vehicles/buildings etc? I've seen 3D scans of statues and other real objects but dont think I've seen larger reconstructions that are available as open data. Might just be looking in the wrong places though. edit: found this https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_for_creating_3D_models_for_Wikipedia https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Guide_for_creating...

craz8 4y ago

The mention of safety due to lack of doors does not add up, as none of the Routemaster busses at the time had a door at the bottom of the stairs. Jumping on and off was the normal thing. The many tunnels under the Thames are awesome though - I used to live in Woolwich and there’s a pedestrian tunnel there that I’ve used many times

dcminter 4y ago
Right, but the Routemaster doesn't have a five foot drop from the staircase to the ground!
- craz8 4y ago
  But you could jump off at any speed - or get jostled and fall off accidentally if hanging on to the pole that was provided in the doorway. Falling into traffic at 30mph isn’t a bundle of laughs either My guess is the door requirement was to avoid needing to scrape people off the single lane roadway in rush hour more than a thought for passenger safety and that difference may have got lost on the way to the page
  - quickthrower2 4y ago
    Never seen a bus in central london go that fast. Often it is quicker to walk.
    - lifeisstillgood 4y ago
      touché
    - klondike_klive 4y ago
      I quickly learned never to stay on the 38 as far as Shaftesbury Avenue...

tomcam 4y ago

In Southern California there are bus routes with long racks for surfboards.

londons_explore 4y ago

The world of transport nerds and trainspotters is leaking again.

barbegal 4y ago

And today you get a truck with a bike rack on the back. http://cycle-geography.blogspot.com/2015/11/dartford-crossing-by-bike_20.html?m=1 http://cycle-geography.blogspot.com/2015/11/dartford-crossin... I wonder how much this legislation costs the UK government https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/20/section/27 https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1988/20/section/27

lifeisstillgood 4y ago

After decades as a cycle advocate / user in and around London I recently had a cycle accident that has changed my views (I was commuting to work - approx 10 miles and could not avoid the situation ahead). The "it's too dangerous to cycle the Dartford tunnel so here is a bus" amuses me. In my view it is too dangerous to put cycles on the same roads as cars and lorries. And if we want to promote cycling (perfect mix of exercise and local transport) then we need to invest in totally separate pathways. My simple question is "why can't every child cycle to school on a car free path way?" If we had started 30 years ago with a principle of every road must have seperated cycle lanes and overpasses, then we would have built slightly less roads in the marginal cases (probably a win anyway) and be in a better position now. So what do we do for the next30?

walthamstow 4y ago
You should come to Waltham Forest, a borough bordering Hackney and Haringey to the west and Essex to the east. Around here, a large proportion of kids do cycle to school (or get cycled to school) on a segregated path. Walthamsterdam, as I call it. It's the main reason my partner and I bought a house here. Eventually more councils will realise that they can attract council taxpayers by providing segregated cycle lanes and a civilised way of transporting themself and their kids around.
- dkdbejwi383 4y ago
  It’s just a shame there is no Greater London-wide cycle policy comparable to what Waltham Forest are doing. I’d like to commute by bicycle but my office is in clerkenwell, and coming from the east means I’d need to pass the old street roundabout
  - walthamstow 4y ago
    Old Street Roundabout is a lot better than it used to be. Completely segregated cycle lanes, cycle-only traffic lights, etc. I wouldn't let it put you off cycling. Do the route on a weekend and see how you feel. There are ways around it too. Going west to east several years ago when OSR was still a death trap I would go Bath St -> Peerless St -> Vestry St -> Haberdasher St.

cr1895 4y ago

Tangentially related bit of curiosity - there is a long and narrow pedestrian/cycle tunnel under the Scheldt river in Antwerp. It was built in 1933, and access is via the original beautiful wooden escalators. Quite a neat bit of infrastructure! https://antwerpexplorer.com/highlights/st-anna-tunnel/ https://antwerpexplorer.com/highlights/st-anna-tunnel/

TomWhitwell 4y ago

This still exists on the current Dartford Road crossing - but they just put your bike on the back of a truck and drive you over on request: https://www.gov.uk/dartford-crossing-bike https://www.gov.uk/dartford-crossing-bike

Aeolun 4y ago
Shit. 365 days a year, 24 hours (with breaks) a day. That’s impressive.
- cardinalfang 4y ago
  They use the same drivers that are on standby to escort fuel tankers and hazardous goods through the tunnel.

JamesBaxter 4y ago

I still can’t believe that the Silvertown Tunnel, the next Thames crossing will require a modern version of this rather than have a dedicated cycle space. I appreciate cycling close to cars in a tunnel won’t be pleasant but we are slowly moving away from the internal combustion engine, the air will get better and better as electric gets more popular.

ndsipa_pomu 4y ago
That depends on mass EV takeup, and the problem is that particulate pollution will hardly be reduced as EVs are significantly heavier and particulate pollution is mostly from brakes and tyres.
- Rebelgecko 4y ago
  On the bright side, EVs don't need to use their brakes as much due to regenerative braking