BUS TALK 04 June 2010

No.4 • June 2010

Excellent!

HARD WORK SECURES SIX IMPORTANT ROUTE RETENTIONS

WHAT a result! Go-Ahead London retained six routes in the latest round of London Buses tendering.

“It is a significant amount of work and we are absolutely delighted to have retained these services in the face of some pretty stiff competition,” said operations director David Cutts.

“It is an excellent result for the

business and a testament to the quality of service we provide.”

Camberwell garage retained the 45, which runs from King’s Cross to Clapham Park. Stockwell retained the 88, from Camden Town to Clapham Common, and the 170, from Victoria to Roehampton.

Merton retained three services, the 118 from Brixton to Morden, the

155 from Elephant and Castle to Tooting and the 355 from Brixton to Mitcham. David said: “We are expecting clarification within the next couple of weeks on whether new or current vehicles will be used on the new contracts.

“Many thanks to all those involved in the successful planning and operation of these routes.”

The 155 Elephant and Castle to Tooting service was one of three routes retained by Merton.

ON THE RADIO Terry’s tales of bus life: p2

HIGH ACHIEVERS More awards for engineers: p8

ON YOUR BIKE Cycle hire scheme roadshows roll out: p3 FEATURE: THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT, THE FUTURE’S…GREEN!

Garage move completed THE cessation of operational services at the former East Thames Buses garage at Mandela Way was completed on April 30.

ETB was acquired by Go-Ahead London in October last year and a programme of staff and vehicle redeployment to other garages began in the autumn.

The transfer of 460 employees and more than 100 buses was managed by Camberwell operating manager Sheldon Malcolm.

He said: “The relocation of employees and services went smoothly over a planned period of about six months and achieves our strategic objectives.”

Joint effort on route G1

Terry’s tales of bus life IT’S NOT every day bus drivers are asked to give interviews about their work to radio journalists …

“Well, it was certainly different,” said Route 36 veteran Terry Benneworth as he described his chat with a reporter from BBC Radio London’s Robert Elms show.

Terry has worked on the 36 “on and off” for 26 years and has been on the rota full time for the past four years.

He began his career on the buses as a conductor at New Cross and was loaned to the old Peckham garage to work on the 36, 36A and 36B. “It’s always been a very busy route,” said Terry, “and over the years its operation has changed.

“In those days it went from Lewisham to Queen’s Park, today it runs from New Cross garage to Queen’s Park Station.

“I told the reporter that keeping calm is really important because people often push and shove to get on and some can be quite abusive for no apparent reason.

Traffic “I said that if people were rude, it was important not to take it personally because if you’ve been held up in traffic and you’re late they’re not actually blaming the driver, they just want to get their frustrations off their chest.”

Terry described how he and his partner Paula Beahan met

at the garage.

“We’d known each other in passing for years, but just got chatting a few years ago and we’ve been together now for about five years.”

When the reporter asked Terry about amusing incidents, he said there was one that was more “embarrassing” than anything.

“I’ve lived in London all my life and was conducting when a couple of American tourists asked me where Buckingham Palace was.

“Well, I couldn’t tell them, I just didn’t know and had to ask if my passengers knew.

Fortunately they were able to help.

“At least if anyone asks me that today I could tell them.”

AN EXCELLENT team effort between Putney drivers and the Waterside Way employees ensured the start of the new G1 route was a success.

The contract requires 27 rota lines and because some Waterside Way drivers were still in training when the new service started on May 1 Putney garage offered its assistance.

Base manager Keith Faulkner said: “We couldn’t have done it without the assistance of 14 drivers from Putney – it helped us get the G1 off to a great start. It really was a good example of garages working together to deliver high standards.

“We also received 10 refurbished nine-metre Darts from Stockwell to run the service.”

Familiar Around three weeks of route learning had been carried out prior to May 1 to ensure drivers were familiar with the G1 service, which runs from Streatham to Battersea seven days a week.

Keith said: “It’s a very long route and quite complicated so we wanted to make sure the drivers were confident with what was required of them. Not only does the G1 serve St George’s Hospital in Tooting, but it also serves offsite accommodation for the medical staff.

“The drivers have responded very well to the route and early feedback has been good.”

With 80 drivers now based at Waterside Way, the garage is now at full capacity, says Keith.

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Terry Benneworth and Paula Beahan, who met at New Cross.

Competition highlights true cost of accidents DRIVERS at Merton stand the chance of winning a £150 prize just by watching a video clip of an accident.

All they have to do then is write on an entry form what they believe to be the cost of the accident to the company and give the figure to accident prevention manager Graham Oliver.

The driver entering a figure closest to the actual cost wins the vouchers.

Initiative The aim of the new initiative is to reduce the number of accidents and make drivers more aware of the financial costs involved in even the most minor of accidents.

Video clips of accidents from Merton’s own on-board cameras are shown on a television screen

Video star: Merton driver Andrew Cousins’ guess of £38,500 was good enough to win him the £150 prize.

It really promotes awareness of how important it is to drive safely and carefully

in the output and Graham runs one specifically for the competition every two months.

A total of 70 drivers entered the first competition and Andrew Cousins’ guess of £38,500 was £289 higher than the actual cost to the company.

“It’s staggering just how little damage can cost so much,” said Andrew. On this occasion there appeared to be scrapes on the

bumper of the car involved and damage to a panel on the bus.

“I guessed it would be a lot because these days people claim for damage, loss of earnings, personal injury, hire cars, storage of the vehicle awaiting repair and their legal costs.

“Just because it’s a bus company, people think we have unlimited resources and can just pay out. I understand that the cost

of repairing the damage to the bus in this instance was just £175.”

Andrew added that he thought the competition was an “excellent idea” because it got drivers involved and “really promotes awareness of how important it is to drive safely and carefully and the costs involved in not doing so”.

Andrew joined Go-Ahead London three years ago and was trained by the company.

Cycle scheme roadshows roll out also be launched.

They will have distinctive smooth blue surfaces to help improve driver awareness and act as a guide to cyclists.

Roadshows In a bid to raise the profile of bicycle safety among bus drivers, TfL is holding a series of roadshows. The first of these took place at Merton garage on May 27.

As well as being given the chance to ‘test drive’ one of the bikes, drivers were able to ask TfL representatives questions about the scheme.

Go-Ahead London’s training and development manager Eric Dale said: “We are going to develop a training programme for our drivers as the scheme will bring less experienced cyclists onto the roads and into the bus lanes. We need to remind our drivers to be

tolerant and to remain patient. As far as the cyclists are concerned they should ensure they are competent riders who are aware of the Highway Code.”

To help educate cyclists TfL is funding additional cycle training, managed by the nine London boroughs helping deliver the scheme. Anyone wanting to use Barclays Cycle Hire will also have to sign up to a code of conduct.

Awareness

Image courtesy of TfL

TFL is set to introduce two major new projects this July, which will see thousands more cyclists take to the roads.

Called the Barclays Hire Scheme and Barclays Cycle Superhighways, the initiative allows Londoners and visitors to the capital to pick up and drop off hired bicycles at hundreds of locations across London’s zone one travel area. The first two of twelve planned cycle routes will

Glenn Woodman from the Merton accident prevention department and route 155 driver Maria Aitkin try out the new hire bikes. Right: Artist’s impression of how a cycle hire stand may look.

Maria Aitkin drives route 155 from Tooting to Elephant & Castle, which is on Superhighway route 7, and she said: “As drivers we have been taught how to deal with cyclists safely, but cyclists should be taught how to deal with buses.

“They think we can see them and that we should always be giving right of way to them, so educating cyclists is essential. I think the Superhighways will help because as drivers we will know where to expect to see the cyclists.”

Further roadshows are to be held at other garages during 2010.

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FEATURE

S

ome 1,500 Go-Ahead London men and women are members of the Go-Green Drivers’ Club, achieved by three months’ continuous green

We chat to Fabrice Koudougnon-Balet who is a garage administrator based at Bexleyheath and has worked for Go-Ahead for six years.

Q: What is your greatest achievement?

A: Learning the English language in a short space of time (French is my first language) and training as a bus driver within a year of moving to England. I was then appointed garage administrator.

Q: Who is your favourite actor?

A: Mel Gibson.

Q: What advice would you give to a tourist in London?

A: To be open and not afraid to talk to people and ask questions.

I’d also suggest visiting the London Eye, Buckingham Palace and many of the capital’s museums.

Q: What character trait do you most admire in others?

A: Honesty.

Q: What was the first car you owned?

A: A Mazda.

Q: What do you most like about your job?

A: Having the chance to interact with people all day. The job is challenging as it’s changing all the time, especially with the arrival of new technology and new systems.

Q: Who would you most like to meet?

A: Nelson Mandela.

Q: What is your favourite dessert?

A: Crème brûlée.

Q: Which country would you most like to visit?

A: The United States.

Q: What is your favourite pastime?

A: I enjoy reading, particularly the Bible.

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band driving as recorded by the Telematics system.

The aim now is to get as many more drivers as possible driving in a fuelefficient way.

THE FUTURE’S BRIGHT… THE FUTURE’S

THE Go-Ahead Group in 2008 was the first UK public transport company to be officially certified with the Carbon Trust Standard after taking action on climate change.

Since then every Go-Ahead company has put in place projects to use energy more efficiently. It is estimated that throughout UK companies these initiatives reduce annual CO2 emissions by around 30,000 tonnes and operating costs by £5 million.

Driving initiatives within Go-Ahead London alone are estimated to save up to seven per cent in the use of diesel.

Going green really took off two years ago when worrying issues around climate change combined with rocketing oil prices.

Fuel monitoring technology had been around in the bus industry for a while, but now the major players realised something had to be done quickly.

Go-Ahead London launched a new vehicle management system for its entire fleet of more than 1,400 buses. The

‘Mix Telematics’ system – or ‘black box’ as it is widely known – monitors the use of the brake/accelerator and prompts drivers to “go easy on the gas” if necessary.

At the same time, the Driver CPC was introduced and training included fuel-efficient driving.

As far as the fleet is concerned, the company operates several hybrid buses on behalf of Transport for London and is the first operator to introduce a zeroemissions, electric-powered fleet of support vehicles.

Since then the ‘Go-Green Drivers’ Club’ has been launched at Go-Ahead London and Docklands driver Tariq Mahmood won a brand new car just for driving professionally – that is, fuel efficiently and safely.

The search is now on for this year’s Go-Green Drivers’ Club winner and while only one can win a car all members are entitled to a number of benefits.

All this on the operational side has gone hand-inhand with the introduction of Eco Champions whose primary objective over the past couple of years has been to find ways of saving energy within buildings.

Business development manager Frank Thorpe, who is one of the key figures in energy conservation within GoAhead London, said: “Investment and innovation are at the heart of our environmental programme and our immediate challenge now is to encourage all drivers to drive with fuel efficiency and safety uppermost in the their minds. One leads to the other, the two go hand in hand.”

Go-Ahead London’s green crusade TARGET 13 per cent … that’s the fuel-saving figure the company is aiming for over a two-year period.

With savings already around seven per cent, business development manager Frank Thorpe believes the ‘extra mile’ is achievable.

Frank said he was expecting a “substantial” number of drivers to be inducted into the GoGreen Drivers’ Club this year.

“Drivers are setting their own

standards higher and higher,” said Frank. “They are making a point that they can drive consistently in the green.”

The Go-Green 500 Challenge is well under way now as every garage runs a driver of the month competition. It links directly with safe and fuelefficient driving and the annual challenge.

This year in September the top 20 ‘green drivers’ will assemble at Millbrook Vehicle Testing

Ground to find out who will win a brand new Fiat 500, one of the most fuelefficient cars on the road.

Frank added: “We have about 4,000 drivers in Go-Ahead London and some 1,500 are already members of the Go-Green Drivers’ Club, which offers a number of benefits.

“In order to qualify drivers have to achieve continuous green band driving for 12

Go-Ahead London is aiming for a

13%

GREEN!

fuel saving by 2012 weeks. From what I can see now, we’ll be welcoming a lot more members into the club soon.”

Miguel’s top of the table

Challenge winner Tariq turns mentor GREEN driving giant Tariq Mahmood has been passing on his expertise to colleagues.

Tariq was last year’s top ‘green’ driver recording more than 1,500 miles of fuelefficient driving and beating 19 equallytalented colleagues in an eco ‘drive off’ at Millbrook Vehicle Testing Ground.

Earlier this year Tariq, who is based at Docklands, was asked to impart his knowledge to a handful of his mates to increase the garage’s green credentials.

Tariq said: “I just drive as smoothly as possible all the time, whatever the conditions.

I try to avoid harsh braking and hard acceleration and read the road so that I’m prepared to slow down when necessary.

“My colleagues here have responded well.

They are good drivers, it’s just a matter of doing things differently. Driving smoothly is much better for them and their passengers.”

At the beginning of the sessions – which took place on scheduled services – Tariq explained how he got good results and that smoothness of the drive was all important.

“We had a chat after the outgoing journey with a view to driving more fuel-efficiently on the return.”

Tariq said one of his colleagues got 24 bleeps on the outward journey, indicating he had driven out of the green 24 times, and one on the way back.

“A real result,” said Tariq.

THE latest monthly figures for fuel-efficient driving put Miguel Pereira-Dias and Vic Williams at the top of the table.

Plough Lane’s Miguel is on 1,075 miles, with no counts of green band driving (a perfect score) and Putney’s Vic is on 826. The figures are for April.

Miguel told Bus Talk: “I love driving and take pride in my job. I plan my driving for the road ahead and avoid harsh braking and fast acceleration. I’m not getting any complaints from my passengers, so that makes me happy.”

Miguel drives Route 39 from Putney Bridge Station to Clapham Junction. He joined the bus industry 10 years ago as a conductor at Putney.

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Ian’s marathon feat MERTON engineering manager Ian Bates has thanked colleagues who sponsored his Brighton marathon run on April 18.

So far, Ian has raised some £800 for Macmillan Cancer Support and completed the

Preston Park to Brighton slog in just under four hours. He is still accepting sponsorship and hopes to exceed £1000.

He said: “I’d like to say a big thank you to all those who gave me their support, believe me it helps.”

Optimistic: Leroy Chester.

Geared up for charity KEEN cyclist Leroy Chester is joining thousands of other pedal pushers this month to raise money for charity.

The Stockwell driver wants to collect as much cash as possible for Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research on his 26-mile London cyclathon on June 27.

Leroy, who is a victim of sickle cell anaemia, has to have a full blood transfusion every six or seven weeks to stop the disease taking hold.

“I rode in the event last year just as a personal challenge,” said Leroy, “but this year I wanted to do it seriously and raise money for a good cause.”

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Sickle cell anaemia is a disorder of the blood, which has no widelyavailable cure, but treatment has improved over the past 25 years.

Blood cells are shaped like sickles, which block vessels and cause pain and serious infections if the transfusions are not carried out.

A born optimist and a man with a strong sense of humour, Leroy said: “This cycle ride is so important to me because it is about doing something positive for people.”

During the summer Leroy cycles between 200 and 300 miles a week and to and from work and his home in Tooting.

COMMENDATIONS BEXLEYHEATH n Cainos Kadema’S driving is described as “exemplary” by Route 486 passenger David Cole. Cainos waited while elderly people found a seat and his driving was “exceptional”. n A MYSTERY traveller writes to praise Route 89 driver Alex Burrows who helped an elderly woman to get off the bus.

BLUE TRIANGLE n EL1 driver Richard Gedge is praised by Miss A. Hall for the kindness he showed to two teenage girls, one of whom had a severe disability. At one point Richard left his cab to ask them if they were all right and needed any help.

CAMBERWELL n AIDAN OLIVER had his mobile phone stolen on a Route 12 bus in Peckham. He gave chase and accidentally left his briefcase on the bus. He later managed to flag it down on the return journey and driver Charles Frimpong had not only retrieved the bag, but helped Aidan gather information about the incident for the police.

On the following day Charles told his customer that the CCTV was being checked. “This was beyond the call of duty and much appreciated,” says Aidan. n FOUR employees have been thanked by Southwark Council’s emergency planning and resilience manager Ken Matthews for the help they gave people displaced from their homes following a fire on Station Road in January. They are Kamyar Mehravar, Terry Mulholland, Matthew PartyDavis and Victor Trumba. n ROUTE 68 drivers Duriye Ersoy and Saeed Ahmed are thanked by Ms K. Andrews for their help in directing her and a friend to their hotel.

DOCKLANDS n DRIVER Mark Pitcher is praised by Ms R. Thokchom for waiting “courteously” while she manoeuvred her baby, his bicycle, pram and bags onto the bus and into the buggy area before driving off. n ROUTE 474 driver Matthew Holdcraft is noted for his honesty by passenger Ayodhaya M. Kiribaduge. The passenger inadvertently left an expensive mobile phone on Matthew’s bus.

As soon as he realized he asked a friend to take him to Canning Town station to meet the bus.

Matthew verified Mr Kiribaduge’s ownership and returned the phone to him.

MANDELA WAY n ROUTE 453 driver Pawel Karlo is commended on his “fabulous” driving by Ms O. Barmania. She travels between Deptford and Marylebone Station “very often” and is always pleased when Pawel is driving.

MERTON n DRIVER Mohammad Tavanapour is praised by passenger Mr P. Liu for his politeness to passengers.

PUTNEY n ROUTE 14 driver Monica Watson is praised by Mona Chan for her thoughtfulness towards passengers.

SUTTON n PASSENGER Stephen Milford congratulates Route 151 driver Alan Jones for his “friendliness, knowledge of the area and willingness to help his passengers”. n ROUTE 213 driver Bruno Ballarin is praised by passenger Mrs Denise OlssonHildick for the thoughtfulness he showed to a frail, elderly man who boarded his bus.

STOCKWELL n ROUTE 24 driver Christopher Kerr was being given a “very hard time” by some of his passengers after taking over a bus at Warren Street. He dealt with them “exceptionally well by being courteous, firm and using common sense”, says a Ms Howe. n PASSENGER Martin Brown congratulates Mohammed Miah on his driving, which he describes as “smooth and considerate”. n PASSENGER Max Reid praises Route 11 driver Jose Pires for his customer service.

He says: “Your driver drew close to the kerb and helped me on to the bus when the ramp failed.

He did all he could to help me.”

MOBILE TEAM n GILL Tynan, road manager, service quality, was delighted to receive a commendation from Fred Whelan, CentreComm operations manager, about controller Jenny White who stepped in when the Police closed Peckham High Street in both directions after a car collided with a motorcyclist.

Using her local knowledge, Jenny liaised with the Police to make the best of a difficult situation, with the minimum inconvenience to passengers.

“Jenny is a credit to your company,” said Fred. “I would be grateful if you can pass on our thanks for a job well done.”

Drivers bloom at Chelsea IT’S one of those jobs drivers look forward to doing every year … the Chelsea Flower Show shuttles.

It was the second time for Camberwell driver Matt Davies and he undoubtedly echoed the sentiments of his colleagues when he said: “It makes a really pleasant change.

“Everyone’s friendly, passengers are in a good mood and this year the weather was fine and that added to the general air of enjoyment as well.”

Routemasters The shuttles operated over two routes – a couple of Routemasters from Victoria Station to Chelsea and modern buses from Battersea Park to the show.

“The Battersea Park operation is a really high frequency park and ride service going there and back throughout the day,” said Matt, who normally drives Route 185 from Victoria to Lewisham.

Go-Ahead London has operated special services for the Chelsea Flower Show for many years and it is among the high profile regulars on the commercial division’s calendar, which includes Wimbledon tennis championships.

Taking a well-earned rest in Battersea Park are, from left, Matt Davies, Kevin Sheerin, John O’Regan (conductor), Peter Newport, Steve Winfield (conductor), Richard Taylor, Roy Banerjee, Graham Davis and Manish Patel. Go-Ahead stalwart Frank Dodge (not pictured) celebrated his 79th birthday during the show and drove one of the Routemasters.

Retirement: A fond farewell to Ahmed…

Colleagues at Sutton say goodbye to Ahmed Habibi who has taken early retirement after 32 years’ service. From left are Desburn Ennis, John Hanby (engineering manager), Chris Lowden, Geoff Hughes, Ahmed Habibi (in high-viz jacket), Frank Darch (from HQ), Kevin Fitzelle, Michael Gabriel, Kevin Kingsbury, Tina Rigney, Jeff Shaw and Steve Matthews.

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More awards for engineers IT’S FURTHER success for the engineering training team as a cross section of 14 keen staff achieve NVQ qualifications with the College of North West London.

Former apprentice Robert Pitt, who is now a senior vehicle engineer at Stockwell, has seen his efforts recognised, too. He has now been formally presented with an HNC in Vehicle Operations Management following a two-year course at the college.

The following have all achieved NVQ awards issued by the Institute of the Motor Industry:

n Heavy Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Level 2 Daniel Baker, Daniel Bushell, Liam Clegg, Aaron Knight, James McDonald. n Transport Engineering and Maintenance Level 2 – Body Cladding Luke d’Auvergne, Simon Mockford. n Heavy Vehicle Maintenance and Repair Level 3 Duwain Hayles, Adam Hemmings, Andrew Marfo, George Wilkins, Luke Wood.

n Transport Engineering and Maintenance Level 3 – Body Cladding Mark Hart, Tom Martin.

Robert Pitt, right, receives his HNC from engineering director Phil Margrave.

Barry bows out after 42 years on the buses THERE’S NO need for Barry Knight to call on BBC’s DIY SOS team…

Now that he’s retired he’s got all the time in the world to decorate his home from top to bottom.

That’s been his first plan of attack since closing the chapter on his working life.

Barry spent 42 years in the bus industry and worked his final years as a driver at Waterloo garage.

He first joined London Transport as a driver at Chalk Farm before transferring to Walworth garage.

He later moved to Camberwell and then to Waterloo in the early 1970s.

Career “It’s been an enjoyable career, but it’s time to do something different with my life now,” said Barry. “What is great is that I’ve now got more time to spend with my wife Jane, as well as our three sons and two grandchildren.”

Once all those DIY jobs are complete, Barry and Jane are looking forward to an exotic Mediterranean cruise later in the summer.

“We can’t wait to visit Morocco and the city of Casablanca,” said Barry.

High achievers: The NVQ-qualified engineers.

Patrice sees life through a lens CAPTURING happy moments on his video camera is what Patrice Bodie does best…

He’s originally from Cameroon and says recording good times here in England and sending them back to Africa on DVD is an excellent way of keeping his family and former community informed of his life. It is also a way to immortalise events for the African Diaspora in England.

Enjoyable Patrice is a senior garage administrator at Peckham and he’s completed several courses on photography and video editing in his spare time.

“I love being behind the camera, but I also like editing the images afterwards. An enjoyable part of the process is creating video effects, adding background detail and including sound effects, like music.

“Just recently I attended a 8

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wedding and I was asked by the bride and groom to produce a video of the special occasion. I’m now editing it for them and hope it will be a keepsake of the day,” said Patrice. “I’ll be doing the same thing for my brother-in-law’s wedding, too.”

As well as taking his Sony video camera to parties, weddings and family events, Patrice uses the video for bird watching.

“It’s a good way to record wild birds in their natural environment and learn more about their habits,” added Patrice.

Interests “I have a six year old parrot called Micky, but I’m also interested in learning about other species of birds. When I can, I travel to places like Cardiff, Dublin and Scotland to capture birds on camera.

Happy snapper: Patrice Bodie.

Published by Go-Ahead London. Produced by Ruxley Communications, Walton-on-Thames. Printed by Evolve Print Solutions, Rickmansworth.