[Sundae]

They phased out the old Routemaster buses, which were the ones which were open at the back and you could embark and disembark while they were moving. Not only was this considered dangerous, and the buses not friendly for disabled passengers or prams, but it also meant the driver did not see the passengers so a conductor was necessary. Obviously a bus where the passengers enter past the driver means the staffing can be halved.

There are articulated buses in London, but they are unpopular with drivers (slower and taking up twice the amount of road) and not really suitable for the tighter streets of central London. Certainly 75% of the buses I've seen between here and town have been fairly new double deckers, the remainder have been single deckers on the local routes. The only articulated buses I've seen were 5 years ago, in Ealing (West London). I doubt double deckers will be completely phased out here.

Waterloo is the area around Waterloo Station and Waterloo Bridge. Away from the river it's a residential area, but it does have quite a few things to see and it's a 5-10 minute walk to most of the other sights from there. My Grandparents lived there until I was 12, and I still mentally navigate most routes from either Waterloo or Westminster Bridge.