In December 2005, London lost one its most famous symbols: the Routemaster bus -
a bus designed and made in London, by Londoners for Londoners, which was to Lon
don what the gondola is to Venice. In terms of postcards, books, films, and chea
p souvenirs, and in the eyes of the world, the Routemaster represented the city
just as much as Big Ben. It was the last bus to be have conductors as well as dr
ivers, the last bus to ring familiar shouts that are at least a century old: Far
es please, Full up inside but room on top, Next stop the British Museum! The las
t bus, in other words, to be a proper bus.
