Police put brakes on ‘brothel bus’

? Sure, $40 sounds a bit steep for bus fare. But the ride, say police, included an open bar and female passengers offering lap dances and other sexual favors.

The sleek black “brothel bus” was cruising along in Miami Beach early Sunday morning when three of the women on board got the attention of three men who turned out to be undercover officers, Miami Beach police said. The officers each handed over $40 to board, then paid $20 for lap dances, $125 to get into the curtained-off VIP section in the back, and $100 for various sex acts.

But before their clothes could come off, their badges came out and the party was over, police said.

“It was pretty brazen,” said police spokesman Detective Juan Sanchez, noting the officers got on the bus just two blocks away from the nearest police station.

Five women and one man, the bus driver, were arrested on charges that range from violating the public dance hall ordinance (the women were technically “dancing”) to possession of a controlled substance (the driver had six tablets of Viagra on him). And, of course, multiple counts of prostitution.

The bus – a sleek, black conversion vehicle that has the cab of a tractor trailer – is no longer in service. Police officers have seized it as evidence.