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Urban minibuses.
As a result of reading about them, I have been reminded of the 'rash' of minibuses that appeared in city centres (in the late 1980s?).
It seemed that these were seen as the answer to the problem of how to get more passengers onto public transport.
I can recall them buzzing around Bristol like wasps - often being driven by kamikaze pilots in an effort to reach the next stop before their competitors.
It seems that all that has been forgotten and the answer is ever larger vehicles (bendibuses) - or are they also yesterday's news now?
I expect one reason was that minibuses were converted vans and light trucks and didn't take kindly to stage service so the running costs (including breakages and repairs) probably outweighed the 'advantages' (if any). Or did the minibuses become so popular that they needed larger vehicles to carry the passengers? I certainly remember travelling on very crowded minibuses (despite the frequency).
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