Last Day For Bendy Bus Route 507

At last, a transport policy the Mayor can truly take credit for: today marks the first step in his election pledge to scrub the bendy bus from London's streets. Nine articulated vehicles on route 507 between Waterloo and Victoria will, from tomorrow, be replaced by brand new single-decker buses. Quoting the spirit if not the letter of Melville, and yet again obfuscating through grandiloquency, Johnson promised that these "writhing whales of the road have swung their hefty rear ends round our corners for the final time". The 507's frequency during rush hour will increase from 12 buses per hour to 18 per hour, which, if our shaky maths is right, actually represents an increase in capacity from 1,680 to 1,728 passengers per hour. However, London TravelWatch are still concerned about the increased dwell times at bus stops. Monday morning will be the first real test for this flagship Mayoral policy, but whether it will be worth the reported £12 million scrapping the bendies could cost will take a longer time to judge. And as for the existing 507s, seems that nobody stepped up to buy one — they're being sent to an airport in the Midlands.