Today has seen Boris Johnson begin fulfilling yet another of the pledges he made during the mayoral campaign - to rid the streets of London of so-called "bendy buses".
A first tranche 83 of the vehicles (on routes 38, 507 and 521) will be replaced with conventional single-decker and double-decker buses next autumn when current contracts come to an end.
The frequency of buses on the routes will be increased to cope with the fact that conventional buses have a lower capacity than the bendies.
Boris Johnson said:
"During the election, I promised that I would phase out bendy buses, and today I can announce their demise has begun, which means the first bendy buses being removed from our streets next summer.
"Many Londoners, particularly cyclists, see the awkward elongated bulk of the bendy bus as completely unsuitable for the city's streets, and during the election this became a huge issue.
"I am making sure the buses are removed in the most cost-effective way, and today's new contract announcement marks the beginning of the end for the bendy bus in London."
