London busmen just mn't stand the pace
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LEGAL parking and the resultant traffic congestion, together ith abuse from passengers, has caused London's busmen to ask or a significant reduction in their working hours as, it is aimed, they can't stand the pace.
A 35-hour working week incad of the present 40-hour eek is to be part of the ransport and General torkers Union claim to be scussed between union aders and LT next week. The proposed cut-back on working hours can only increase the effect of staff shortages, which is one of the three major factors causing unreliability of London bus services.
Ironically, one of the other factors is the very traffic congestion that has caused the demand for the reduced working hours.
The third factor, vehicle engineering, is now said to be improving with a definite reduction in the number of buses off the road due to mechanical problems.
This improvement could be threatened by restrictions imposed by London Transport's 1980 investment programme. Bus garage modernisation and possibly some straight replacement projects could be for the axe now LT has had to suffer a £12m cut in the 1980 capital budget.
It seems unlikely that any current bus orders or the Routemaster rehabilitation plans will be affected by the cuts, as these. programmes are already well under way.
Whether the controversial XRM bus project, in which LT plans to design its own lightweight bus for the late 1980s, will be affected has not been revealed, but it will be difficult to see how the investment required for this project can be justified within the budget.