USA TODAY International Edition
It’s the end of the line for city’s long- lasting icon
Routemaster buses being phased out by transport of 5 cials
LONDON — Only a few cities are identi 5 able by their public transportation. New York has its yellow checkered cabs. Venice has gondolas. San Francisco has its cable cars. And for 51 years, London has had the
red, doubledecker Routemaster bus— a streamlined work of art built at a time when things were designed with form and function in mind.
But as of Saturday, the Route 38 Routemaster will be replaced by a behemoth known here as a Bendy Bus. Except for two token “ Heritage” tourist routes, the doublewill all but vanish from London’s landscape as of Dec. 9. They will be replaced by the two- part Bendy Bus or an angular, modern two- story bus that has all the charm of a brick with wheels.
Transport for London, which runs the capital’s public transportation system, says the Routemaster has outlived its usefulness. For one thing, the bus is inaccessible to wheelchairs. There also is a liability problem. One to three people per year are killed after falls off the platform. Another 25 people per 100 Routemasters are injured every year, compared with only 5 ve for every 100 modern buses.
It’s a risk that many are willing to take, including John Clarke, 71, of Cambridgeshire, about 50 miles north of London.
“ It’s an absolute disgrace,” said Clarke of the decision to mothball the Routemaster. He made a special trip to London on Thursday with daughter Jeanine Swanepoel, 35, to ride the bus for the last time. From his coat pocket, he pulled out a faded photo of his daughter posing in front of a Routemaster, 18 years ago.
“ In many ways, the Routemaster was ahead of it’s time. They are economical, reliable and still in service after half a century,” Clarke said. ‘ One of the little joys’
For about $ 1.40, passengers can jump — literally— onto the back of a moving Routemaster and ride clear across town.
The most unique feature is the open- air platform that allows riders to hop on and off at will; they don’t have to wait for designated stops. Men in three- piece suits and women in skirts and heels chase the bus, grab onto the yellow pole and hoist themselves onto the platform. The often-cranky conductors don’t seem to appreciate the athletic and sometimes heroic maneuvers involved in catching a moving vehicle.
Among the other things that distinguish the Routemaster: slatted wooden @ oors, Tartan- patterned cloth on the seats, a real bell that signals a stop and a private rear seat in the upper deck, surrounded on three sides by aluminum sheeting and often occupied by young lovers.
Frequent riders knowthe best seat is the front row of the upper-deck, with its spacious legroom and giant windows that offer unobstructed views of the capital. College student Rebecca Bouckley, 22, sprawled there on Wednesday, simultaneously ate Chicken McNuggets and tackled her homework. “ I just like the style and lines of the bus,” she said, “ and being able to jump on and off wherever I want.”
“ Internationally, the Routemaster is as symbolic of London as much as the black cabs and Big Ben,” says Travis Eldborough, author of The Bus We Loved: London’s Affair with the Routemaster. “ It’s one of the little joys one takes in ordinary London existence,” he says.
Not all Londoners are letting the Routemaster go quietly. Ben Brook, 28, has launched a one- man save- the- Routemaster campaign. Brook, a publicist, and other criticswant Transport for London to build a modern, accessible bus that retains the styling of the old Routemaster.
More than 11,000 people have signed his petition urging Mayor Ken Livingston to reconsider. Livingston once made a campaign promise to keep the Routemaster. In the end, the Routemaster could not be retro 5 tted to comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. “ By the end of the year, every bus on the network will be wheelchairaccessible, which is a fantastic step forward for London,” says Mike Weston, Director of Operations, London Buses. “ Routemasters can’t be part of an accessible network, but they have been a London icon for almost half a century, and the new Heritage routes mean that there will still be an opportunity for Londoners and visitors to ride on a Routemaster.” Drivers retrained
“ It’s sad to see it go. It really is an end of an era in a way,” says Matthew Ryan, 47. Ryan is a conductor on the double-decker, a job description that includes being a ticket- taker, tour guide, security guard and occasional therapist.
Ryan says he drove Routemasters for 17 years before moving to the back of the bus six months ago, just as the buses were being taken off line. Because modern buses have automated ticket machines, Ryan and other conductors have been deemed “ redundant,” he says matter-of- factly. Most conductors have found new jobs within the system or are being retrained as drivers, Transport for London says. Ryan says he doesn’t knowwhat he’ll do now.
At Victoria Station, the terminus of the Route 38 line, David Sulman was snapping digital photos this week of Routemasters. Sulman, 47, grew up in London, but now lives in Sterling, Scotland. He recalled taking the Routemaster as a boy to school.
When he heard they were being replaced, he made a special side trip to Victoria Station to pay his 5 nal respects. “ When we use them all the time, we take them for granted like many things. It’s all part of change I suppose but it’s a bit a part of London life thatwill be sorely missed.”