Anything rather than the bloody bendy buses which clog up the capital and make driving hazardous and cycling far too dangerous to even contemplate.
The Routemaster bus was one of the symbols of London and is much missed. Ken's reasoning for introducing the bendy bus was that it (unlike the Routemaster) complied with the Disability Discrimination Act, which had to be complied with by 2017. Of course the introduction of these "Chariots of Fire" has lead to increased fare evasion. Articulated buses in London have three separate entrances, and passengers are expected to pay for their journey by validating their Oyster card. Since the introduction of this bus type, many people opt to evade their fare by choosing not to pay for their journey. Passengers simply board the bus via the middle or rear doors and don't present their Oyster card. As I blogged back in May, "Oyster cards seem a great idea and they do work on the tube with controlled entrance and exit from each station but on London buses they are a joke. I took a short journey on a bendy bus today and counted the number of people who got into the bus via one of the centre doors without "touching in"; I made it about 40% ignoring the machines. Many people are getting a free ride on London buses, maybe that is what "cuddly" Ken Livingstone wants but do the rest of us really want to subsidise the travel arrangements of freeloaders?".
I blogged in June about the dangers associated with the bendy bus for London drivers, you know the people that Ken wants to "drive" of the road - "As a driver in London, bendy buses are a menace. I was once driving along the Euston Road into London and had to turn left across the bus lane, however there was a bendy bus there blocking the left turn. I couldn't cut into the bus lane behind the bendy bus because that would have meant me risking being caught on film and fined and I couldn't stop where I needed to turn left and wait for the bus to move off as that would have held up traffic. So I drove on, turned left when I was next allowed to and wiggled my way back to where I actually wanted to be. This was never a problem with the Routemaster bus."
I also discussed compliance with the DDA "Disabled access being something that had to be assured on London's roads by 2017. Although disabled access is easier now with the bendy bus, it was even easier with Dial-a-Ride service that London boroughs are cutting back on as result of bendy bus provision. Bendy buses are only better for wheelchair access if their ramp works and if there is space on board, neither being always the case."
You can read about the bendy buses role in increasing youth crime here, their role in killing cyclists here and their accident rate here.
Of course statistics published by Transport for London show that the articulated buses have twice as many collisions per mile than other buses, but they say that the figures do not represent a 'like for like' comparison. Well they would, wouldn't they.
If Boris is elected Mayor then it will be nice to have a Mayor who might actually listen to the views of ordinary Londoners rather than one who just imposes his viciously left wing policies upon London taxpayers, whilst being supported by the special interest groups and so forth that he has so carefully cultivated.
Ken's 26 years of ruining London, both as head of the GLC (1981-1986) and London mayor (2000-now) may hopefully be nearing an end.
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