Londoners will pay for bendy bus ban

Mayor Boris Johnson's decision to ban bendy buses will end up costing London council taxpayers.

Arriva, the capital's biggest red bus operator with 20% of the market, said today it would earn more money from a 24% rise in the mileage of its buses from substituting double-deckers for bendies on the popular route 38 through the middle of town to Victoria.

Arriva chief executive David Martin said he'd have to put on more double deckers to cope with the number of passengers who have been travelling on the larger capacity, bendies.

London bus operators get paid not by the number of passengers they carry but the amount of miles individual buses cover.

"I think... [bendies] have a place in certain urban environments and I think their ability to load passengers at the rate they do means they offer a better service than double deckers," said Martin.

"However, we will comply with the wishes of... [Transport for London] so I am ambivalent on the matter."

Growth in London bus revenues helped Arriva to record pre-tax profits of £150 million in 2008, up 30%.