Oh but those 'lovely' 176s now tell you the name of every road you're passing and that you're on a ONE seven six to Oxford Circus - drives me absolutely batty. They need to turn the volume down a little - it's more irritating than the 'bus stopping at next bus stop please stand clear of doors'. It must have been designed by someone who only ever gets on buses for one stop journeys.

I liked the Routemasters for going along busy routes since being able to hop on/off meant that if traffic snarled up you could walk along and pick up a bus further along. but they were a pain if you had larger bags or buggies. Would have liked to see alternate modern/Routermaste routes with one of each every 5-10 minutes. Those who needed the space/accessibility of a modern bus could wait til one came but those in a hurry could still hop on or off.

Bendy buses aside, I quite like the new double deckers although I think they could double the frequency in the mornings/evenings. After the Plough, they don't even stop at most stops since they're so full - and forget it if you want to get on after the first stop or two in the evening too.