Several years after the introduction of bendy buses onto the streets of London, I'm still none the wiser as to the advantages of putting the second deck behind rather than on top of the first.
I got on a bendy 207 the other day and swiped my Oyster card on the reader. Immediately I felt rather foolish, as it appeared that it was a free bus for all the other passengers.
As the front of the bus reached the stop where I wanted to get off, the driver wasn't allowed to open the doors as he had to wait until the whole of the bus was at the stop. In order for this to be possible, the bendy bus in front would need to pull away. In order for this to be possible, the bus needed to take a line which would take it into the opposite lane, thus had to wait for a significant gap in the oncoming traffic. So, more than 5 minutes after reaching the bus stop, I was able to alight. Then I tried to cross the road but couldn't because there was a huge sodding bendy bus in the way.
I say bring on the much-maligned Ealing tram, it's got to be an improvement.
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