November 2011 is an eventful month for Route 29.
1. 20th November sees its 100th anniversary.
2. 26th November sees the last bendy bus on the route (and two weeks later with the withdrawal of the buses from Route 207, the end of the bendies in London).
I loathed the bendy buses when they came in, but now I feel a bit sad to see them go. I guess I don't much like change - probably an age thing.
Will they just be scrapped? Seems a terrible waste of money.
Maddy, those from route 25 were sold off to Malta.. No doubt there'll be buyers for those from the 29 too..
I just don't go along with this 'too big/long for London argument' - made up by those who've never seen the inside of a bus..
Hurrah Hurrah! Those buses from hell are going to be a thing of the past. No place to sit, no place to stand, no room to move. I can see that those with buggies found them better but for many others, they provided one of the worst public transport experiences in this country. Will be nice to go upstairs and be able to sit and read again on a long journey.
Ruth, I so agree with you, can't wait to see the back of the "free" bus. Half the problem with overcrowding is the people not paying.
Well, call me an old fogey, but I like the "bendy" buses. I really can't be doing with all this new-fangled stuff, like these new "rootmasters" that Bonker Johnson is foisting on us all. Huge great ugly things, they are Against Nature, and probably not of this world. Bring back the Bendies! The sooner the Bonker and his coterie of hangers-on is evicted by the voters, and Ken is back in to bring us Better Days and trams, the better. David Icke is right, and the Bonker and his Gang are all Lizards in disguise, and they should all be tasered and toasted.
I am not a Boris supporter. I hate bendy buses. Ken has had his day. How can it be democratic that someone who already has had two terms as mayor could be voted back? Anyway back to buses- we need modern, efficient buses that are comfortable for all travellers, all shapes and sizes. With a choice of going upstairs. I am surprised by how people have changed their tune on the bendies which used to be so hated!
I agree with you about the buses, Ruth - modern, efficient, comfortable for all users. The bendy buses were really good for getting on and off with a wheelchair. I'm always amazed, on double-deckers, how people are so lazy about going upstairs, and would rather be packed in on the lower deck.
Re Ken Livingstone running for a third time for mayor: it is entirely democratic. There is nothing in the rules about the Mayoral election that prevents any one person from serving two, three or more terms. Just as MPs can be elected again and again for the same seat. No-one called it "undemocratic" when Margaret Thatcher, or Tony Blair, served more than one term as Prime Minister. Ken has been selected to stand as the Labour candidate, and that selection was done in a democratic way by the members of the Labour Party. It's an entirely different matter if you personally feel Ken is a "has-been" and that someone else should have been selected.
@Ruth
You might then also want to ask if it's democratic to have a monarch in the same position for 59 years..
I too feel that Ken shouldn't run.. but am certainly happier to have him as Mayor of London than I am with the current boffin..
I would have liked a Mayoress this time around !
oh, hello... I am not an apologist for our current system of very undemocratic ways of doing things including having an out of date monarchy. Was just pointing out that maybe the rules should be changed. I have lived in communist societies where the same old same old rule for years on end. Cant see how we differ that much here really as we end up with the same old faces but we like to throw around the word democracy...
But I digress. If we lived in a truly democratic country, we would get to vote about the bendy buses... instead they have become attached to personal political cults of personality. I feel there isnt a lot of choice. Would be great to have a mayoress for a change. Not enough women around by far in the corridors of power.
nite
Ruth: In this country we have a democratic system, based on the citizens electing representatives (in the case of Parliament, for up to five years) who then act and vote on our behalf. At the following General Election, we then get the chance to either vote that representative back in, or vote for someone else. Around here, we usually get a choice of at least five different people. In the London Mayor election, we usually get a choice of at least five. Those elections are every four years. The present mayor is Boris Johnson (Conservative); before that it was Ken Livingstone (Labour); in May next year, we get a chance to vote again. You can then exercise your democratic right to vote for whichever candidate you like.
As to getting a vote on issues like the bendy buses, presumably you think we should all get a vote on _everything_. What is the point of electing a representative (Mayor) to manage affairs in London, and then requiring him/her to have a referendum if he/she wants to have a different kind of buses? Or, presumably, if he/she want to blow his/her nose?
You seem to have a limited understanding of the concept of democracy, or of electing a "representative". It may not be a perfect system in this country, but if you can point me at any country that has a better one, be my guest. And if you find one, you might consider going to live there, rather than this terrible undemocratic little island.
Oh, and by the way, most women I know would prefer that the title be "Mayor" whether the holder of the post be a man or woman. The word "mayor" is not gender-based. The term "mayoress" most certainly is. What next? Should MPs who are women be a "memberess of Parliament"?
I am stunned, as ever, by the poor level of basic knowledge which online comments demonstrate.
hmm.. Mayoress
The term Mayoress was first used by me - not Ruth and I have to say that I did hesitate before writing it. It was common usage when I lived in the UK like Manageress and some other words that I won't mention.
Wasn't sure tho' whether the PC 'right on' generation of the 80s had also done away with it too. I don't actually think that adding the 'ess on to the word is really a big deal.. but suppose that's because I live and work in language where the words for teachers, doctors, drivers etc., are all gender based.
And they certainly don't make any difference at all here to the job prospects or respect for women.. Expecting them to is all just part of the class based British spin culture..
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