FUN AND GAMES
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There's a lot of fun and games going on just now in the South of England with bus schedules. London Transport is phasing in a new schedule which will not become fully operational till October.
Platform crews don't like the way it's been done; the TGWU say there was not enough consultation — is there ever? They also claim that there is insufficient staff to operate the system.
LT claim that discussions have been going on since last June. They accept they need 700 more men by October and say they'll have them.
In a display of muscle, the drivers are pulling their buses into depots for an hour now and then and without warning. It's not a strike; they won't lose much, if anything. What LT lose in fares, they'll probably save in fuel and tyres. So wh( loses? The man at the bus sto that's who.
In Kent, it's the boy at the stop who loses. London Country has rescheduled the 401 so that it passes a boys' grammar school at 3.59 pm; the school finishes at 4 pm, a a dozen or so boys wait an ho or walk 3, 4 or 5 miles home. Well, they don't really walk, because Mums go along with the car. Twelve cars for 10 miles equals 120 miles, at 3( mpg that equals 4 gallons. S( much for energy conservatior But why the change? We c only suppose the driver was lonely because the 401 and t 401A both pass the school at 3.59 pm now and travel in convoy for about 3 miles. Fiv minutes between them woulc make all the difference.