London Buses
 |
|
| Parent | Transport for London |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1999 |
| Headquarters | London |
| Service area |
Greater London Berkshire Buckinghamshire Essex Hertfordshire Kent Surrey |
| Service type | Bus transport network |
| Routes | 673 (52 night buses) |
| Stops | 19,000 |
| Fleet | 8,000 |
| Daily ridership | 6 million per weekday |
| Fuel type | Diesel and Hybrid Technology |
| Operator | Tendered Out Franchisees |
| Website | www.tfl.gov.uk/buses |
London Buses is the subsidiary of Transport for London (TfL) that manages bus services within Greater London. It was formed following the Greater London Authority Act 1999 that transferred control of bus services in Greater London and its surrounding areas from the UK Government's London Regional Transport (LRT) to Transport for London, controlled by the locally elected Mayor of London.
Transport for London's key areas of direct responsibility through London Buses are the following:
All bus operations are undertaken under a tendering system in which operators bid for routes in return for a set price per route operated. Contracts are normally for five years, with two-year extensions available if performance criteria is met. Routes are set up, controlled and tendered out by Transport For London (TfL) and they provide day to day assistance via CentreComm which coordinates a large scale network of Network Traffic Controllers to help with any traffic issues that may occur. Operators provide staff to drive the buses, provide the buses to operate and also adhere to set TfL guidelines. Operators are then in return paid per mile that each bus runs, the pricing is announced on new tenders.
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.
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