From thelondonpaper

If some thing appears in a newspaper that affects us or is about bus drivers some will cut out the item and post it on our notice board. In the small print there is the news that over 380 police officer will now be patrolling London's buses in and attempt to cut down on the number of violent crimes committed on the transport system. Shame this has to be done but good that it is being done.

Tucked away in the item is the fact that the number of Code Red calls from bus drivers in trouble has gone up by over 30% since some one had a bright idea. Gordon Brown had a bright idea that all pensioners and disabled should travel free on the buses. Now that was a bright idea. Unfortunately it got watered down to anyone over 60 and anyone who could walk with a limp for more than 5 seconds gets free travel. This meant the number of people able to get free travel went up by 400% but Gordon didn't increase the funding by 400%.

Any way the bright idea I am talking about here was free bus travel for school children. Troy and Fiona in their neat school uniform could get to and from school for free. But then, in the evening, when Troy and Fiona had changed into their other uniform of baggy jeans, baseball caps on back to front (do they still do this? Hard to tell under the hood) and Hoodie and meet on the street corner. When bored, usually about 5 seconds later, someone, usually the one who nicked a can of beer from some where says, "I know there's a bus coming. Lets get on that." Doesn't cost anything and it is so much more fun throwing bricks at bus windows from the inside than from the outside; more likely to hit the windows that way and if you do miss you can always pick the brick up and have an other go.

Please Torbay don't have that bright idea.