From: BBC News
The bendy bus has had a troubled journey but it could soon be the end of the road for it in London. Does the shape of a bus really provoke such strong emotions?
Enemies of the bendy bus have long been seeing red.
And now they can sense that victory is near. Two of the candidates to be Mayor of London have promised to abolish them, which means their death knell may sound in just six weeks.
At a time when people are being encouraged to leave the car at home, a "super bus" carrying nearly twice as many people as a double-decker would seem to be the answer.
But since their introduction in 2001, there have been hundreds of stories questioning their safety to passengers, cyclists and pedestrians.
Headlines like "Bendy buses fail the disabled", "Accidents surge as bendy buses take over", "Bendy bus victim set for £1/2m payout" and "Bendy bus drags man mile to his death" have not inspired confidence.
But dozens of other cities across the UK seem to have accepted them without the same degree of controversy. And Jo Debank of passenger group London Travelwatch says there have been no more complaints about bendy buses than other buses. So what's the truth?
On London's Oxford Street in the evening rush-hour, among the throng of red (buses) and black (taxis), there is only one bendy bus in view, the 73 to Victoria.
But its 19-metre length, with three sets of double doors disgorging dozens of passengers at every bus stop, makes it pretty unmissable. On board, passengers can't really see what the fuss is about.
"I like them," says Sameer Majeed, 46. "It's a very quick bus and so many people can get on and off." Others complimented the sliding doors and the extra space.
But complaints included a lack of staff, not enough seats, the difficulty of standing up especially going round bends, and how their length was a problem when one bus backed on to another at a bus stop.
"They're too long and the drivers don't seem to use the cameras to check that everyone has got on," says Angela Scott, 34. "The other day someone got caught in the doors before they had a chance to get on."
Among 12 passengers in this unscientific survey, there was a 6:3:3 split representing like:dislike:indifferent. Hardly a revolution.
But in the cycling community there is a lot of anxiety about them. Some say the extra length means overtaking them at bus stops can be "terrifying" and there is the ever-present danger that drivers turn left without looking. But a spokesman for the London Cycling Campaign says while bendy buses can be awkward on narrow streets, lorries are a far greater danger.
And Lionel Shapiro, who has 60 years of cycling experience, says there is a lot of mythology about them. They actually "turn beautifully" round corners and sometimes collisions are purely the fault of the cyclist.
Tory mayoral hopeful Boris Johnson believes they cause accidents because they are too wide for London roads and he wants to replace them with an adapted Routemaster, the much-loved open-ended bus phased out - except for two heritage routes - in 2005.
'No U-turn'
His Liberal Democrat counterpart Brian Paddick highlights another problem, fare evasion. He says one in 10 passengers takes advantage of the pre-pay ticketing system and avoids paying. He would replace them with trams. Green candidate Sian Berry was unavailable to comment.
Mayor Ken Livingstone stands by them, saying they're a vital part of the network, taking vast numbers of people from key stations like Victoria and Waterloo. He recently announced he has no plans to extend their use beyond the 12 routes they already serve, but denies this is a U-turn or a change of policy.
"There's a perception that people don't like them but in customer satisfaction surveys people are pleased and say they meet their requirements," says his spokeswoman Victoria Collins, "so it's a perceived image that people don't like them but not reality."
Transport for London says they are only 5% of the fleet but they carry 9% of the passengers - 164 million last year. A spokeswoman said none of the 12 routes is in the top 10 for the most accidents and there have been no deaths due to their design.
And she adds that you are more than five times as likely to have your ticket checked on a bendy bus than any other bus.
Many cities around the world have had bendy buses for years and they have been running in other parts of the UK since 1980, when a ban on them was lifted.
In York they have both "bendys" and an advanced model called FTR (text-shorthand for "future"), which serves one of the fastest-growing routes in the country.
FTRs are styled like trams, with greater low-floor area to improve access and maximise space. Their bright purple exterior raised some eyebrows in the historic city and the unpopular pre-pay system was ditched in favour of conductors.
Some York residents have described them as a blight on the city - over-priced, unsightly and awkward on the narrow streets.
But Councillor Ann Reid who has responsibility for the city's transport policy, says they have been a success, partly because they are so accessible.
"If you have a pushchair or wheelchair, you should expect to get on a bus. When I was younger you had to fold up a pushchair, lug it on and carry it, but now there's quite a lot of open space."
'Menace'
But London has unique demands which bendy buses are not always equipped to meet, says transport expert Christian Wolmar.
"A number of them operate on main roads and do make sense but they don't when they go into town and go round corners and cause real problems and I think that's the issue."
He thinks they can be a menace in the capital's narrow streets, especially with dozens of passengers standing up and hanging off straps, but their problems have been exaggerated.
The fuss is partly due to the fond nostalgia of the Routemasters which they replaced, says government expert Tony Travers of the London School of Economics, and since then it's escalated.
"It's a bit like the First World War, no-one can remember what they're fighting about and it becomes an excuse for an argument.
"The idea that in what is supposed to be the world's leading city, the most visible argument is about a kind of bus is slightly strange."
And ultimately it won't make a difference come the mayoral election in May.
"There are not many votes in arguments about types of buses. It's entertainment, like a Punch and Judy show we can all enjoy from time to time."
But maybe not for much longer.
BENDY BUS ACCIDENTS
- Lee Beckwith, 21, tried to re-board a bus after leaving his phone behind, but was killed and dragged for a mile in east London
- Three passengers hurt when back of a bus swung on the M77 near Glasgow
- Three teenagers died after collision between car and bus in south-east London
- Blessing Olayiwola, 12, died after being knocked over in south London
- TfL says no deaths have been caused by the design and there are no more accidents involving bendy buses than other buses
BENDY CITIES
- Leeds
- Manchester
- Aberdeen
- York
- Gateshead
- Cardiff
- Bath
- Southampton
- Nottingham
