london bus route numbers that are from the same multiples, and share part of a route

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Kate and I discussed this briefly after the river fleet walk a few months ago but I never persued it much further.

I've noticed some bus route numbers seem to relate to each other as if by design. e.g.

19 and 38 share the route from islington to hyde park corner.
19 x 1 = 19
19 x 2 = 38

18 and 27 share the part of the route from warren street station to edgware road
9 x 2 = 18
9 x 3 = 27

are there more? were they merely coincidences?? or a maddening correlation of numbers and routes? is this a CONSPIRACY?????

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I think you need a long holiday ken

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:14 (twenty-one years ago)

haha i think so too. i really need to get away - last night i dreamt i was away on an exotic vacation... at CROUCH END. the lord help me.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:18 (twenty-one years ago)

Sure you meant to say 'share common factors'.

― Ed (dali), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:19 (twenty-one years ago)

No, he's onto something deeply cosmically significant. Don't spoil his fun.

Ken, I think ~~wasting~~ spending your time contemplating bus route numbers is a fine pursuit.

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:20 (twenty-one years ago)

10 originally went from Archway to Hammersmith. Was split into the 10 (Kings Cross - Hammersmith) and the 390 (Archway to Marble Arch). 390 = 400 - 10.

And I always saw the 400 as the upper bus number bound.
Which admittedly the 453 spoils.

What about the 68 and 168 family which essay much the same route with tagged on endings. ANd many of the recent route splits such as the 63 and 363...

― Pete (Pete), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:20 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to confess that when I'm waiting for a bus, to pass the time, I do mental arithmetic on the numbers of the buses that are stopping and try to turn them into the number of the bus I want, e.g., if I want a 73 and 271 comes along then I will do something like

271 - well, that's easy 2+71 = 73

Others are more complex - it's almost like a kind of magic spell to make the bus come quicker

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

... I think I need a long holiday too

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:24 (twenty-one years ago)

Sure you meant to say 'share common factors'.

i was telling it in layman's terms!

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:25 (twenty-one years ago)

and then there's the 43, 134 and 143 which all go through some point in highgate.

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:29 (twenty-one years ago)

lame man's terms?

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:29 (twenty-one years ago)

He needs a layman's holiday

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:30 (twenty-one years ago)

3, 6, 12 and 15 all go down regent street!

― ken c (ken c), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:32 (twenty-one years ago)

All buses share part of their route with the 1. Only buses featuring a zero (a leading zero will do) are allowed to cross the river.

― Michael Jones (MichaelJ), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:34 (twenty-one years ago)

the 242 (2+4+2) and the 8 share Bishopsgate. dammit ken you've got me started now.

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:36 (twenty-one years ago)

Mental arithmetic is very soothing

― Dadaismus (Dada), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:37 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm so glad I am too crap at maths to do this. Although I will now try to and confuse myself.

― Alix with an i? (alix), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 13:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I used to live on the 53 route, and then I lived on the 159 route, and I always thought it was rather good that 3 x 53 = 159, and once when I was waiting for a 159, three 53's came along together. They must have shared some of their route, but I can't remember where.

― andyjack (andyjack), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 15:01 (twenty-one years ago)

if three 59s all come along at the same time then they should be legally obliged to take you on the 159 route to wherever you want to go.

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

plz ignore typo

― $V£N! (blueski), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 15:02 (twenty-one years ago)

i confess i've often found the 19/38 thing pretty soothing, for want of a better word.

― toby (tsg20), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 18:47 (twenty-one years ago)

My current work has me taking the 134 to Centrum, then wandering about a bit, and finally a combination of 341 then 43 to get home. How, kind of, binary of sorts.

― darren (darren), Tuesday, 10 May 2005 19:18 (twenty-one years ago)

To get to a tube station from Crouch End you can take the 41 to Archway, or the W7 to Finsbury Park. And 7 x W = 41 (if W = 5.857143).

― Teh HoBB (the pirate king), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 07:56 (twenty-one years ago)

yes, what toby said. plus 19 & 38 were the OLDE kind of buses, there was clearly Something Up.

― Tracer Hand (tracerhand), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 08:29 (twenty-one years ago)

The 109 and the 118 in Streatham! Clearly, I was entraced by this. On the way home, Simon came up with the Bus Pi - it NEVER repeats!!!

But this morning on the way to the doctor, I started thinking about that - even though London is very big, surely it has a finite number of streets. So eventually, it would have to repeat one of the routes. But how long would it take for this to happen? Would it be balanced out by the rate of road-building within the city, if new roads are built often enough - or if Greater London were enlarged, bringing in roads?

Are all the existing and/or potential roads on the earth a finite number or an infinite number? I suppose finite since the earth contains a finite surface area (or does it? are the coastlines fractal?) - but perhaps infinite if there is no limit to the width or length that consists a road.

GOD HELP ME, I SWEAR THIS IS A SIDE EFFECT OF MY MEDS, THAT I CANNOT STOP THINKING ABOUT MATHS.

― The Square Root Of Negative Two (kate), Wednesday, 11 May 2005 10:39 (twenty-one years ago)

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