Route 521: Another Bendy Bus Bites The Dust

Friday saw the last articulated bus serve the 521 route from London Bridge to Waterloo. This morning, commuters will board the 12-metre single deck Citaro vehicles that debuted on the 507 in June. The new buses are a strange hybrid of the bendy and the regular bus, and (to the cynically-minded) combine some of the worst features of both: they sport two doors, meaning fare-dodgers can still board at the back, while they lack the sheer people-moving punch the bendy offered. Using TfL's own figures, Martin at MayorWatch has calculated that even though more buses will be in service, seating per hour will drop from 735 to 504 seats — the lack of seating on bendy buses, notes Dave Hill, being a prime motivator for the campaign against them. We'd love to hear any first-hand reports of the situation at bus stops on the route today. The next bendy up for the chop later this year is the 38 from Victoria to Clapton, which has the highest peak vehicle requirement in London: it is on this route that the first true test of the post-bendy bus world will unfold.