Responding to the mayor of London’s announcement of the winner for a new generation of Routemasters to replace articulated buses, Darren Johnson said:
"The key problem with these bus designs is that fewer people will be able to get on them than the current double deckers and far fewer people than currently use a bendy bus. The extra pollution caused by having to run more buses is the real flaw in the mayor’s approach to getting rid of bendy buses.
"I welcome the eco-friendly features on the design for these new buses, but if you have to run twice as many of them, then the health of Londoners will still suffer from the problems of pollution."
"There is also the problem of extra cost, as open access at the back of the bus will mean either employing a conductor, or having fare evasion. Employing conductors and commissioning a new generation of buses will both lead to an increase in costs and almost certainly a further increase in fares."
Notes:
1) The Capoco bus design has capacity for 80 passengers. The compares to a maximum of 120 passengers for an articulated bus and 85 for a double deck bus. Figures for the capacity of the Foster/Aston Martin design have not yet been announced.
2) The mayor has still not released a comparison of the pollution caused by articulated buses and that caused by their replacement by conventional buses on routes 38, 507 and 521. The original requests for this information was submitted in late September and is now subject to an Freedom of Information request.