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Green buses line up on Parliament Hill to shuttle MPs a few meters on a beautiful day. http://t.co/shLyTpKj — Stephen Taylor (@stephen_taylor) October 18, 2012

The free service is not without controversy among those who consider it a perk, and the walk to Parliament Hill seems like it would be a nice one, curving along a cliff above the Ottawa River and weaving through statues of former Prime Ministers.

But in mid-February the wind off the water would have the most robust commuter arriving to work on the Hill with watery eyes and a red face. So government employees — from backbenchers to cafeteria workers and security guards — wait at the unmarked bus stops near parking lots and government offices for a green bus.

Inside, it is it a strange place — part school bus, part luxury casino shuttle — where rival MPs can find themselves sitting beside one another.

The dozen buses are among the few vehicles granted unrestricted access to the heavily guarded Parliamentary grounds. Along with delivery trucks and the fleet of black sedans that transport high-ranking cabinet ministers and Stephen Harper, these buses navigate through a series of security card swipes in order to pass through retractable barricades, called bollards, that have been operational since late last year.

RCMP officials responsible for the Hill say security enhancements are part of a “heightened sensitivity” since 9/11. Last month, House of Commons Sergeant-at-Arms Kevin Vickers ordered that all shuttle bus riders must show proper Parliament access passes “to ensure continued security,” according to a noticed taped to windows on the 16-seat shuttles.

When the government revealed a $522,000 project to expand the shuttle bus system in 2011 to reach the temporary offices, it baffled at least one onlooker at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation, who noted that those in the private sector “have to walk to where we go to work.”

On Friday, a federation spokesman called the shuttles “a symptom of a bloated and entitled class of federal politicians,’” and noted it is not clear how much the bus costs taxpayers.

“They don’t have to tell you what it costs, and they won’t,” said federal director Gregory Thomas.