The Guardian has a fascinating story (here) on Boris Johnson
(mayor of London) and the politics of bus design in that city. And by politics of bus design I don’t
mean esoteric infighting among consultants, vendors, bureaucrats, and engineers
over issues that only transportation wonks care about. I mean real politics: politicians
arguing over issues in an effort to win elections. Boris Johnson, as the story relates, got heavily involved in
advocating a particular bus design (the New Routemaster, or “Boris Bus”) in his
last election campaign.
I’m not really in a position to argue the pros and cons of
the Boris Bus. My main reaction to
this story is to marvel and envy a situation in which local politicians feel
they need to get deeply involved in public transportation issues to connect
with the electorate. Oh, and the
New Routemaster really is pretty cool looking (my photo from April).
