Interesting stuff. I would usually ask for a comment from our incredibly helpful Head of Public Transport but election rules rightly prohibit him commenting. My first thought was that an express would be of limited use because there aren't that many roads with bus lanes on the 65 route and so, whilst it might not be stopping at bus stops, it'll still be delayed by slow moving traffic. Additionally, is it a long distance commute bus? It goes past my front door and so I use it a fair bit. It seems that many people are traveling reasonably short distances - to the next station or shopping district. The buses you mention, and other 'express' services, are on obvious commuter routes. Near where I work the 436 and x53 (I think) enable people coming in from SE London to central London to save time by not stopping so frequently - but that implies that there are lots of people wanting to travel long distances. I went to Kingston the other morning on it and after Richmond it was pretty much empty.Though TfL presumably thought of all this and decided it was something to pursue, so definately worth following up.'Bus plus' is something that could be interesting. I would love to be able to leave home knowing that a bus was just turning the corner into Ealing Road. My phone can tell me all sorts of wonderful useless things but that would be useful...
Matt Harmer ● 5600d