Clearly Linda & Jo will not be
back on the buses for some time to come, and while we do have higher route
numbers ridden, written and ready to go it seems wrong to abandon the Project
at this stage.
While Jo is happily cycling round a traffic-reduced
and much less polluted London, Linda is very much locked in with a
vulnerable, needs to be shielded partner, so has not left the house for four
weeks. Jo assures her that Regent Street is still there.
However the real point of this is to
say how sorry we have been to hear about the death of several London bus
drivers and their garage colleagues. It has always struck us that they are very
much unsung heroes doing (even under normal circumstances) daily battle with
traffic jams, irate commuters, diversions, troublesome passengers, lost
tourists, buggy vs wheelchair clashes – and that’s only during the day.
If lucky they have a 2 minute break
at the turn-around point. It never seems to be a very healthy job – much
concentration and patience required and little opportunity to exercise or eat
healthily – but on they go keeping to their heavily monitored time-tables. Then of course there are all those germs that
the passengers pass around, again even under normal circumstances.
So it is not entirely surprising that
so many drivers have been killed by this terrible virus, as yet without cure or
prevention, so we feel we should say not only thanks for all the safe journeys
we have made but thanks to those drivers keeping going, and our heartfelt condolences
for the families and colleagues of those who have not made it.
