Photo by andertho.

After decades of monopolizing the tourist trade around the National Mall, Tourmobile and its 1970 throwback tour buses are ceasing operations on October 31. The City Paper’s Lydia DePillis, who dug into the operator’s exclusive contract with the National Park Service, broke the news only days before Capital Bikeshare announced that it was coming to the Mall.

As Greater Greater Washington noted, what made Tourmobile so frustrating wasn’t so much its hefty price tag — $32 per person — but rather its exclusivity. Much like food options on the Mall and in museums, artificially limiting competition and variety screwed tourists and residents alike when it came to getting around the city’s federal core — even more so when the Circulator, Bikeshare and pedicabs became viable alternatives.

We may not miss the service, but the buses certainly had some vintage charm.