London Buses
- This article is on the organisation responsible for most local bus services in London. For a more general article, see Buses in London.
London Buses is an arm of Transport for London, which manages local bus services within London. Most services are actually provided by private sector bus operators, although this is not particularly obvious to passengers, as all buses carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme.
Function
London Buses plans bus routes, specifies service levels and monitors service quality. The actual bus services are operated by a number of bus operating companies which work under contract to London Buses. Although most of the operating companies are private sector organisations, one (East Thames Buses) is directly owned by Transport for London and managed as part of London Buses. Although this originally came about due to the default of a private sector operator, it seems now to be deliberate policy.
London Buses are also directly responsible for the management of bus stations and bus stops and other support services.
Scope
The local bus network in London is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Over 6,500 scheduled buses operate on over 700 different bus routes. Over the year this network carries over 1.5 billion passenger journeys.
Fares
Buses in the London Buses network accept both Travelcards and Oyster cards, as well as well as single fares and various bus only passes. At the time of writing (October 2004), the bus adult single fare is £1 for any journey; a one-day pass allowing unlimited bus journeys for one day costs £2.50.
Within zone 1, passengers must pre-purchase tickets prior to boarding a bus. To this end, all zone 1 bus stops are equipped with ticket machines which sell single tickets and one day passes. Outside zone 1, tickets may be purchased from the bus driver.
Bus Operating Companies
The following companies operate buses under contract to London Buses:
- Armchair
- Arriva London, part of the Arriva Group
- Arriva Shires & Essex, part of the Arriva Group
- Arriva Southern Counties, part of the Arriva Group
- Blue Triangle
- Ealing Community Transport
- East Thames Buses, directly owned by Transport for London
- Epsom Coaches
- First London, part of the First Group
- First Essex, part of the First Group
- First Thamesway, part of the First Group
- London Central, part of the Go-Ahead Group
- London General, part of the Go-Ahead Group
- London Sovereign, part of the French Transdev Group
- London United, part of the French Transdev Group
- Metrobus, part of the Go-Ahead Group
- Metroline, part of the Singaporean ComfortDelgro Corporation
- Stagecoach London, part of the Stagecoach Group
- Sullivan Buses
- Tellings-Golden Miller
- Travel London, part of the National Express Group
External links
- London Buses website (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/)