Are London buses slow?

These show that for the first three monitoring periods of the current financial year, encompassing 1 April until 27 May 2023, the mean (average) speed at which buses travelled within the Greater London Authority boundary throughout a 24-hour day was, respectively, 9.5 miles per hour, 9.3 miles per hour and 9.2 miles ...



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A vast majority of passengers waiting at bus stops will see their buses arrive within or under the expected waiting time. In fact, the average bus on the 5th May 2019 has arrived in only 92% of the expected waiting time.

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In all three cases, these were slower than for the equivalent three periods of the last financial year, 2022/23, when the average speeds were 9.7 mph, 9.4 mph and 9.5 mph. And the year before that, 2021/22, they were 9.8 mph, 9.6 mph and 9.5 mph.

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What is the Hopper? Any second bus or tram journey made within one hour of the start of your first journey will be free, if you're using contactless or Oyster pay-as-you-go.

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Buses are usually the cheaper long-distance option If you book early or travel at off-peak periods – ideally both – coach tickets can be very cheap, although if you're going to the airport then take a faster train or taxi for peace of mind that you'll make it in time for your flight.

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Touch in at the start of your journey and touch out at the end on yellow card readers using contactless (card or device). Only touch in on buses and trams. Find out more about touching in and out.

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London's buses are already frequently overcrowded. A quarter of those responding to our passenger survey said their bus was overcrowded and yet TfL has no plans to significantly increase services. Unlike the rest of England, London's buses are regulated.

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The infamous number 14 bus no longer holds the unenviable title of being London's slowest bus with it's neighbour somehow even slower. Taking 80 minutes to cover seven miles from Fulham to Central London, the number 11 bus is officially London's slowest, according to the latest TfL data.

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The infamous number 14 bus no longer holds the unenviable title of being London's slowest bus with it's neighbour somehow even slower. Taking 80 minutes to cover seven miles from Fulham to Central London, the number 11 bus is officially London's slowest, according to the latest TfL data.

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Either the driver being late, or passengers causing delays. And there's always traffic in London. Can be if there are roadworks; if the bus passes, earlier in the route, through a pinch point or roadworks or an incident, it can lead to delays even if the traffic about you seems sparse.

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Remember the 'rush hour' The London Underground is very busy during 'rush hour' with commuters moving around the city. You can expect the trains and stations to be overcrowded between 7.30AM and 9AM in the morning and between 5PM and 7PM in the evening.

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London buses are all cashless, so you need an Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment card to ride. Bus fare is £1.75, and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £5.25. You can transfer to other buses or trams for free an unlimited number of times within one hour of touching in for your first journey.

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The reason behind their colour dates to the early 1900s, when the transport system was operated by different rival companies. London General Omnibus Company (or L.G.O.C.) owned most of the buses and in 1907 painted its entire fleet red to stand out from competitors.

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Route 18, running between Sudbury and Euston bus station is the busiest bus route. The service carried over 16.6 million passengers in 2018/19. The next busiest routes (over 10 million) are: 25, 29, 140, 149, 243, 207, 86, 36, 38, 5, 279, 53, 109, 141 and 43.

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London is famous for its frostiness – so much so that lots of people feel silly saying 'hello' and 'thank you' to bus drivers in the capital. But it turns out that we should be greeting our dedicated drivers, with a new survey revealing they're happier when passengers are nicer to them.

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Always touch in on a yellow card reader at the start of your journey and touch out at the end to pay the right fare. (On a bus or tram you only need to touch in.)

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Ten years ago, the Transport for London introduced a programme for the installation of white panels atop the capital's trademark red buses in the framework of further climate-adaptation plans. More specifically, white panels reflect the rays of the summer sun, thus keeping the vehicles cooler.

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Door closing warning beeps are a safety feature incorporated into most buses to make passengers aware that the doors are about to close. Until recently no TfL standards existed with regards to the maximum permitted sound level of these warning beepers.

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All London's bus routes have access to a toilet. There are currently 176 routes (25 per cent of all routes) with a toilet at only one end.

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