The first time I boarded a bus with my mother, I was a boy. A long pole stood in the middle of the entrance you used to pull yourself onto a small platform. A man with a black peaked officer's cap stood with what resembled a small metallic barrel that kept winding it around again and again handing out tickets, and collecting money. “Tickets please!” he would say in a cockney ascent. Mom ushered me up the stairs, I held onto the safety hand rail, and stamped my feet up the stairway. I loved it those journey's as a kid, I felt like a tourist, but at home, and in my very own city everyday on board a Route master.
London is the eternal metropolis, a cultural hive, and a crazy global village. Through all the myriad of hustle and bustle on the streets, you could at one time, briefly escape by reaching out and leaping onto a moving bus. The famous Route master bus didn't have doors, just the welcoming smile of a bus conductor ushering you in an empty seat. The conductor would pull a cord twice attached to a loud bell, which would indicate we were moving closer home in a comfortable swinging fashion. Turning and twisting along the all too familiar London roads - Route master style.
This famous Iconic bus built in 1958 to 1968 has always given me fond memories around our culturally diverse city. The buses unmistakable design and color could always be noticed speeding up through the avenues and the free for all Piccadilly Circus roundabout. Now that symbol of unique British travel has been partially phased out. They are now being replaced by what the majority of adolescents describe as, the bendy bus. A so called modern bus, which has the appearance of two train carriages with tires, and held together in the middle with a rubber concertina curtain.
Snaking along, one of its many London routes from East London to Central West London, Oxford Circus. At times, moving slowly in a bending and warping motion held in traffic like the tail of a contented cat. This ungraceful bus has become a true cultural reflect of the world; the Benetton adverts dream. Imagine the indigenous peoples of Somalia, East African, Indian, and Bangladesh boarding from East London. Touching their Oyster payment swipe cards onto the yellow sensor pad and searching for space to sit. Further along the journey we have the Malaysian, Thai, and Chinese squeezing into space. Heading towards East Central London is the Lithuanian, Polish, French, Portuguese, and Brazilians. As we enter West London and Central West, we have the tourists from all corners of the globe. An ensemble of the world packed tightly together as daily travel companions.
A few things have changed for the Route master legacy - only if you were to compare our new bendy bus. There is no longer a top deck of the bus. The bus conductor is now a bright yellow sensor pad. The bus driver just drives when he is ready, with no, 'we're ready to go bell!' As a young boy, I was amazed at the different people I could see from all over the world visible from outside the rectangle bus window, with my mom. Today, everyone is together with me, all that much closer, as one, tourist looking at tourist. I wonder if there was a bus conductor how many languages could they say, “tickets please!” This would be impressive.
