Buses in London runs through the Strand Underpass), in May 2009. The last were withdrawn on 9 December 2011. In May 2010 Mayor of London Boris Johnson unveiled the design of the New Routemaster, the proposed replacement for the Routemaster as an iconic standard bus for exclusive use in London. The buses, designed by Heatherwick Studio and built by Wrightbus feature two staircases, three doors and an open platform allowing passengers to hop on and off, and commenced operating in 2012. In December 2011 the British car magazine "Autocar" road-tested the New Routemaster. It said it had "brilliant economy and an interior to
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