Bendy Buses

One of the plagues of the last five years has been the emergence of Bendy Buses all over clogged up streets of London. Why? On paper, it all makes sense: Bendy Buses can carry more passengers than traditional double deckers, they are suitable for the disabled and they have been a success in many other cities around the world. But many Londoners have greeted the oversized worms with utter disgust and hostility! Have we all gone mad?

Perhaps, it’s the fact that these soulless monsters have replaced the much beloved international symbol of London - the Routemaster (which everyone agrees needed updating).

Perhaps it’s because passengers feel endangered when standing and the bus twists around corners.

Maybe it’s because most honest Londoners can’t see the point of the ‘honesty’ system of paying bus fares and just feel that they’re being taken advantage of for paying.

But the most likely reason for the hatred is the obvious one: total lack of COMMON SENSE in deploying bendy buses in London. They’re simply too long to be able to fit around the narrow streets and corners of our beloved city!

Speak to any black cab driver in the west end about it and they’ll tell you about a bunch of turning restrictions that have had to be introduced for everyone else on the road, to allow these oversized, mostly empty, buses to actually turn around various corners.

Improving public transport by increasing the capacity of the bus network is a very commendable move. Doing so by introducing long bendy buses in a city with narrow streets is just plain, simple silly!