I am a retired bus driver with 27 years' experience. I write with reference to comments by Dr Earthey (Letters, March 27), who is frustrated by the slowness of bus travel.

Local bus drivers have to take money for tickets from passengers. On London's bendy bus routes, passengers must buy a ticket from a ticket machine placed at the bus stop before boarding.

The idea is to speed up the boarding time at bus stops and make the timetable more reliable.

A bendy bus also carries more passengers than a double decker. These buses have run for many years in other European cities.

  • Mike Walsh, Nesbitt Road, Brighton