Dont get me started on Bendy Buses. What is their nicknames anyway? Kens Chariots of fire? I remember cycling down the Mile End Road one morning and my commute was changed forever.
...except they make fare-dodging really easy - so does that actually make them less profitable?? http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/...s+inspectors+in+fight+to+keep+jobs/article.do
Just remembered reading this which would suggest that fare-dodgers don't matter to the bus companies: http://www.boris-johnson.com/archives/2007/09/london_buses.php (Yeah, I know its Boris so could be complete horse-arse)
I was on a fairly full bb once when half-a-dozen "revenue enforcement officers" got on. Large chaps. Black bomber jackets. Impressive IDs - metal badges in leather wallets. They "steamed" the whole 'bus, including people trying to get off. There were only 5 passengers who were "invited off" for further questioning, out of the 70-80 on the 'bus. I had in the past thought that the bbs were so popular because they were "free", but now I'm not so sure.