London Buses



London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages bus services within Greater London, UK. Buses are required to carry similar red colour schemes and conform to the same fare scheme. Most services are provided by private sector operators.

Overview
Transport for London's key areas of direct responsibility through London Buses are the following:
 * planning bus routes
 * specifying service levels
 * monitoring service quality
 * management of bus stations and bus stops and other support services
 * providing information for passengers in the form of timetables and maps at bus stops and online, and an online route planning service
 * producing leaflet maps, available from Travel Information Centres, libraries etc, and as online downloads.
 * operating CentreComm London Buses 24hour Command and Control centre based in Southwark

Bus operations
Since September 2009, when the last directly controlled bus operating company, East Thames Buses, was re-privatised, all the actual bus services have been operated by a number of bus operating companies which work under contract to London Buses.

Publications
London Buses publishes a variety of bus maps. Some are traditional street maps of London marked with bus numbers. In 2002, TfL introduced the first "spider" maps. Rather than attempting to cover the entire city, these maps are centred on a particular locality or bus station, and convey the route information in the schematic style of Harry Beck's influential tube map, capitalising on TfL's iconic style of information design. The arachnoid form of bus routes radiating from a centre earned them the nickname "spider" maps, although TfL refer to them on their website as route maps. The maps are displayed at most major bus stops, and can be downloaded in PDF format via the Internet from the TfL website.

Legal status
The legal identity of London Buses is actually London Bus Services Limited (LBSL), a wholly owned subsidiary of Transport for London. East Thames Buses was the trading name of another wholly owned subsidiary of TfL called, rather confusingly, London Buses Limited (LBL).

LBL was first created on 1 April 1985 in the process of the privatisation of London bus services, and acted as an arm's-length subsidiary of TfL's precursor organisation, London Regional Transport (LRT), holding twelve bus operating units (from late 1988) and other assets. The operating units were sold off in 1994/5, and their purchasers make up the majority of companies awarded bus operating tenders from the current London Buses (LBSL).

After 1994/5, the LBL company then lay dormant, passing from LRT to TfL. It was resurrected as a place for East Thames Buses to exist within TfL, separated by a chinese wall from LBSL, and acted as a London bus operator by proxy.

Scope
The local bus network in London is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world. Over 6,800 scheduled buses operate on over 700 different routes. Over the year this network carries over 1.8 billion passenger journeys.

Ticket machines, fares and concessions
Buses in the London Buses network accept both Travelcards and Oyster card products including bus passes, as well as single cash fares. Cash fares used to be charged in relation to length of journey (fare stages), but are now charged as single flat fares for any length of journey. From 2000, the flat fare was higher for journeys in Zone 1 than in outer zones, although from 2004 this difference was eliminated, the change coinciding with the introduction of Oyster card flat fares. Cash fares are considerably higher than Oyster fares for the same journey.

With the Oyster card pay as you go (formerly Pre Pay), users are charged a set amount for single journeys, although there is a "daily cap", which limits the maximum amount of money that will be deducted from the balance on a Pay as you go Oyster card regardless of how many buses are taken that day (from 4.30am to 4.30am the next day). Alternatively, weekly and monthly passes may also be purchased and loaded onto an Oyster card.

All children under 11 travel free. Children aged 11 to 15 travel free on buses with an 11-15 Oyster photocard. There are concessions for people aged 16 to 18.

The Freedom Pass scheme allows those over 60 and those with a disability to travel free at any time on buses. People who have concessionary bus passes issued by English local authorities travel free on TfL bus services at any time.

On routes throughout London operated by 'bendy' buses and on route W7, passengers who wish to pay cash fares are required to pre-purchase tickets prior to boarding. All bus stops on those routes are equipped with ticket machines which sell single tickets and one-day passes. These route numbers are marked in yellow on bus stop signs with a notice to "buy tickets before boarding" as drivers are unable to issue tickets and also because passengers may board by any door. Furthermore, many bus stops within the West End of London fall into a "cashless" area. In other places, single tickets may be purchased directly from the bus driver. Most passengers use the Oyster Card, as the cash fare is higher than the Oyster fare.

Vehicles
The various bus operators providing services under contract to London Buses operate a wide variety of vehicles, about the only immediately obvious common feature being their use of a largely red livery. However, London Buses in fact maintains a close control over both the age and specification of the vehicles. Particular examples of this include the use of separate exit doors, increasingly unusual on buses in the United Kingdom outside London, and, on double-deckers, the use of a straight staircase where most other UK operators specify a more compact curved staircase. Additionally, London Buses also specifies that vehicles operating in London use linen roller destination blinds, whereas in most other parts of the country, electronic dot matrix or LED displays are the norm on new buses.

Because of London Buses' close control on the age of the fleet, it is very common for London buses to be cascaded by their owners to operations in other parts of the country after only a few years' service.

iBus


See London iBus system