Brummie bus bows out at last!

Great news! The Birmingham-built Metrobus is being pensioned off, says the BBC. This boneshaker has been seen as a success story and no doubt it has done its job without breakdowns. Phil Bateman was head of the transport authority when the buses were ordered. He said, "They were Brummie buses built for people in the West Midlands to travel on and they suited our streets extremely well. They gave us efficiencies that we were craving at the time." But were they comfy back when they first appeared? I have to admit I don't know as I didn't do bus travel then. But I do now and my heart sinks when one of these turns up.

My guess is that we were never going to be treated to too much comfort as the seat slashers and cigarette smokers were competing for space. Even now the Birmingham buses are subject to blatant drug taking, window decoration and chewing gum impregnations. Seeing as there is no law enforcement to keep these types off buses and I'm looking forward to my bus pass, I'd like all bus companies to put up signs such as "This bus will stop automatically if a whiff of marijuana is detected, a window pane is defaced, or a seat is defiled!" Then I'd suggest all doors close and the perpetrators taken away by a police service that has been given the equivalent of sitting ducks at a rifle range.