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Why Not Uniform Bell-ringing?

3rd June 1949, Page 25
3rd June 1949
Page 25
Page 25, 3rd June 1949 — Why Not Uniform Bell-ringing?
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Which of the following most accurately describes the problem?

VARIOUS methods of indicating to the driver that a v bus is required to stop at a particular place are in operation in different parts of the country. • This diversity often causes confusion and inconvenience to people who have become accustomed to one system and are then called upon to use another. The question is pertinent, and we may well ask why one standard system could not be adopted and made universal.

In the Midlands the conductor is supposed to ring the driver for any passenger who indicates that he wishes to dismount at a place other than those (usually fare stages) at which alt buses must stop. On some services, such as those in the West, a passenger is all but barred from touch: ing the bell, yet in Bristol, the West and other parts, bell pushes are provided in all p.s.v.s, and passengers are expected to use them whenever they desire to dismount. If they do not, the bus travels On regardless, and it is no use chiding the driver or the conductor.

Both systems probably have their points, but why the confusion of having the two? Imagine the embarrassment of a person in Bristol coming from Birmingham, or any other place where the ringing is done for him, who stands up to indicate to the conductor that he wishes to dismount and nothing happens until he has been carried beyond his stage or until another passenger has come to the rescue and rings the bell. Similar embarrassment in reverse can happen in the other places. The visitor from the West looks out for the bell-push which is not there. Probably the "help yourself" system of ringing is the better when everything is taken into consideration. It certainly helps the conductor. The disadvantage is that the bell is rung so frequently, and no one, except a man who has driven a bus, knows what it is like to be in the seat with this jarring noise going on or how it can affect the nerves and produce fatigue. "Here arises the possi bility of providing a visual system. "

Some authorities maintain that visual indication tends to distract attention from the driving, especially in heavy traffic, but it is possible that this difficulty could be overcome, and in any case it could not be more distracting than the uncontrolled ringing of a bell.

It may well be asked why, in the new buses of the passenger bell-pushing areas, the push-buttons have been placed in the most awkward positions for the passengers to get at. In some instances they are hidden away in the roof and in others half-way along the sides of the vehicle, so that passengers at the rear must struggle half-way to the front and back again to let them selves off. On the old buses using this system, bell pushes are placed at much more frequent intervals apart, and there is always one for passengers at the rear of both decks, apart from the conductor's bell, which passengers are not allowed to touch.

Bristol. L.M.M. [There would seem to be no reason why uniformity in the position and use of bell-pushes should not be adopted, as suggested by our correspondent—En.]

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Locations: Birmingham, Bristol

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