London Buses
The bus services are operated by private operators, which work under contract to London Buses.
Dynamic response
London's bus network is one of the largest and most comprehensive urban transport systems in the world. Every weekday over 6,800 scheduled buses carry around six million passengers on over 700 different routes.
The network is also dynamic and responds to changes in London's growth and changing needs. Every year a fifth of the bus service is re-tendered, with around half of the network subject to some level of review.
Best option
Buses are the best option for increasing public transport capacity in the short-term. Many initiatives are in place to make journeys as reliable, quick, convenient, comfortable, easy to use and affordable as possible.
The following figures demonstrate how much the bus network has grown in the last few years:
- Bus usage is growing at its fastest rate since 1946
- Bus ridership grew more than 38 per cent between 1999/00 and 2004/05
- Buses in London now carry the highest number of passengers since 1968
- In the year to March 2005, there were 1.79 billion passenger trips on the network
- Bus mileage in London is higher than at any time since 1957, with 450 million km operated in 2004/5
This dramatic rate of growth is in line with Mayor's Transport Strategy, which proposes a 40 per cent growth in passenger journeys between 2001 and 2011.
Transport for London
Every weekday over 6,800 scheduled buses carry around six million passengers on over 700 different routes


