{"id":550,"date":"2018-05-10T13:00:36","date_gmt":"2018-05-10T13:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=550"},"modified":"2018-07-26T13:01:30","modified_gmt":"2018-07-26T13:01:30","slug":"bus-evacuation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/10\/bus-evacuation\/","title":{"rendered":"BUS EVACUATION"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 29, 1975, Operation Frequent Wind saw the evacuation of those Americans who remained is Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. It was the biggest helicopter lift of its kind in history \u2014 an 18-hour operation that carried 1,373 Americans and 5,595 Vietnamese to safety (or to escape the people’s justice, depending on your point of view).<\/span><\/p>\n

Let’s talk about Roses weekend, and the associated difficulties getting to and from campus.<\/span><\/p>\n

For those members of staff who use public transport, leaving campus last Friday was a fraught affair. Roses weekend necessitated (for whatever reason) the closure of Bigforth Drive, which meant that number 2 buses would not be running from the underpass. There was no indication as to where the buses WOULD run from (if at all), and no details of when the last bus would be setting off.<\/span><\/p>\n

What to do? Your intrepid correspondent knew that such an exit would be complicated by the hold-ups on the A6 caused by the roadworks opposite the Health Innovation Campus building site. Should he leave shortly after arriving to avoid being trapped on Campus over the weekend? Or should he risk carrying on shredding confidential documents and deleting incriminating emails until the very last minute and be on that last bus leaving the University?<\/span><\/p>\n

Instead of Jolly Green Giants, as the choppers out of Saigon were known, Stagecoach’s Big Red Double Deckers were our means of exodus. Travellers weren’t sure that Stagecoach staff would not be deployed, as U.S. Marines had been to smash the fingers of desperate Vietnamese trying to make it over the wall of the Embassy to safety, to restrict University staff trying to make it onto the overcrowded last bus.<\/span><\/p>\n

When your correspondent managed to board one of the double-deckers, he found himself surrounded by evacuees nervously fingering their bags and frantically texting loved ones. As the bus left the underpass, thousands of people could be seen moving towards the road, as marshals (or marines \u2013 it was difficult to tell in the moment) closed in with barriers.<\/span><\/p>\n

A few days later, news reached the subtext warehouse of further calamity as innocent visitors, having thought they were just ‘getting the number 2 to campus’, found themselves unceremoniously dumped outside Cartmel and told the bus wouldn’t be travelling any further.<\/span><\/p>\n

subtext would like to hear any accounts from travellers caught in the thick of the operation. For this correspondent it was a close thing \u2013 something that could have been avoided by actually publishing the time of departure.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On April 29, 1975, Operation Frequent Wind saw the evacuation of those Americans who remained is Saigon at the end of the Vietnam War. It was the biggest helicopter lift of its kind in history \u2014 an 18-hour operation that … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[4],"tags":[145,310,321,83],"class_list":["post-550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-buses","tag-issue-177","tag-roses","tag-transport"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-8S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":583,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/bus-lights-action\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":0},"title":"BUS, LIGHTS \u2013 ACTION","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 24 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"The recent hold-ups on the A6 caused by the roadworks opposite the Health Innovation Campus building site seems to have altered Stagecoach drivers\u2019 behaviour. Previously, the buses as they left the University would take the outside lane on that passage of road that runs parallel with University, letting cars on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1408,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2020\/10\/28\/bus-news\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":1},"title":"Bus News","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"October 28 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"subtext's intrepid Stagecoach correspondent reports... Worries about virus transmission on public transport to and from campus have been, justifiably, one of the main concerns expressed by staff and students alike. So, how safe are things on the ground? Signs as you embark ask passengers to sit in a window seat,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1528,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2021\/11\/11\/whats-been-happening-while-we-were-away\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":2},"title":"What’s Been Happening While We Were Away?","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 11 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"Readers who haven't yet ventured back onto campus may be wondering what it's like these days. Allow subtext to be your guide. Barclays Bank has gone (currently it's being used as the Parcel Collection Point), meaning there are now no banks on campus at all, but WH Smith is back!\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":347,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/02\/15\/what-are-the-chances\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":3},"title":"WHAT ARE THE CHANCES?","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"February 15 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Your travel correspondent was unfortunate to be travelling up to work last week (8th February) when the bus broke down. Distinct smell of burning as the bus croaked its last at St. Martin's bus stop. The driver ushered everyone off and folk milled around wondering what to do. It was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":630,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/06\/07\/garden-villages-of-to-morrow\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":4},"title":"GARDEN VILLAGES OF TO-MORROW","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"June 7 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"It's consultations galore at the moment. The city council is presently carrying out an 'Issues and Options' consultation on Bailrigg Garden Village, including several drop-in events during June. For details, go to: https:\/\/www.lancaster.gov.uk\/planning\/planning-policy\/bailrigg-garden-village The first drop-in session was on Wednesday 6 June in the Bowland Suite at the Lancaster House\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":798,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/11\/08\/too-few-number-twos\/","url_meta":{"origin":550,"position":5},"title":"TOO FEW NUMBER TWOS","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 8 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Our bus correspondent reports... locals in Bowerham and Hala are becoming increasingly irritated as they realise that what was a rather good number 2 bus service (6 double-deckers an hour) has become a distinctly inferior service (4 single-deckers an hour). This wouldn't matter so much if they could get a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":551,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550\/revisions\/551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}