Articulated buses in London conductor. In August 2012, following the election of Boris Johnson as Mayor of London, it was announced the bendy buses would be withdrawn as their five-year operating contracts expired, starting from May 2009, and completed by 2013 (or 2015 depending on contract extensions). This was brought forward to December 2011. Research by London TravelWatch indicated that such a withdrawal could prove costly to TfL. A study conducted in September 2008 found that replacing articulated vehicles on routes 38, 507, and 521, whilst maintaining overall route capacity, would cost an additional £12.6m per annum, due to the additional vehicles necessitated. Additional
Thomas Lodge (Lord Mayor of London) Lord Mayor to wear a beard. Although this was considered uncomely, he was outdone by his successor Sir John White, who wore a long flowing beard. In Lodge's mayoralty London suffered a severe outbreak of plague. As illustration of his character, John Stow tells of a man Skeggs, formerly a Purveyor to Queen Mary, who was deprived of the freedom of the City for some fault but, on appeal, reinstated. During this plague he seized a number of capons provided for the Mayor's table, to supply them to Queen Elizabeth, but Lodge made him restore some of them. Skeggs complained