David Winskill on communicating delays on bus routes

The memories always seem to be of murky, foggy days with headlights on full beam piercing the gloom and queues of muffled-up passengers patiently waiting for the next bus or trolley, then clambering aboard weighed down with bags of shopping.

In those days, all traffic hubs would have a bus inspector.

The Turnpike Lane one was tall, angular. The shiny peak of his cap was drawn down over his eyes: he looked like he had a military background. He (they always seemed to be blokes) would have total power over the routes that that crossed his patch.

If there were problems caused by breakdowns, smog, accidents or unexpected roadworks, his task was to minimise delays and even out the service.

David Winskill misses the days of the bus inspector (Image: Archant) He would be seen dashing between stops and barking revised schedules and service alterations to drivers, then trot round to the back of the bus to update the conductor and tell people what was going on. They might not have liked what was happening but at least they knew and could tell others.

Sixty years on and we have, literally at our fingertips, more ways of digital tracking and communicating than the bloke in the peaked cap could have even imagined: all he had was a box strapped to a lamppost with a phone inside to connect him to Control.

Yet, now whenever anything goes wrong, passengers end up angry and confused and in the dark. Most bus stops have Countdown RTI Displays (the black boxes under the roof of shelters) yet they seem never to be used to advise details of service changes.

CityMapper and other apps are pretty good when advising when the next bus is coming but struggle to offer real time updates on delayed and cancelled services, let alone where diversions will take the weary traveller.

All buses now have an in-bus PA system, and some drivers are superb at using it to let passengers know what is happening: others leave it to automated announcements. Contrast this to how Tube passengers are constantly updated.

There must be a way, when problems inevitably happen, to be able to tell people in real time what is going on and the best of the alternative ways to get to get to where they’re going.

So, suggestions please on a post card or to hamhigh.letters@newsquest.co.uk

• David Winskill is a campaigner from Crouch End.