Do people use buses in London?

But as London's most accessible, affordable and city-wide form of public transport, the life of the capital would grind to a halt without the bus. It is no surprise that the bus is used more than the train or Tube, with more than half of Londoners travelling on it at least once a week.



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For parts of London that aren't served by the Underground, DLR or Overground services, then the bus is the next most convenient option. There are services all over the city, often running through the night. If you don't mind a bit of exercising, then either cycling or walking are both great ways to get around.

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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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Buses are also cheaper than trains, with a flat fare of £1.65 per single journey. You can take two bus journeys for the price of one if you touch in using the same card on the second journey within an hour, thanks to the “Hopper Fare”.

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A Visitor Oyster Card costs £5. You can then pre-load the card with pay-as-you-go credit, in quantities of £10, £15, £25, £40 or £50. The Visitor Oyster card is the cheapest way of getting around London as the maximum daily charges mean you travel free after you reach the 'daily cap'.

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Bus fares in London are subsidised to the tune of nearly £1bn a year, as Stagecoach observed in your article. As it is, there are four times more bus trips than rail, which gets a subsidy of £5bn a year.

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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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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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Issues with the route Often, the bus goes on diversion, winding its way around back streets. But this isn't always feasible. Perhaps the roadworks come too close to the end of the route, and it's logical to terminate early.

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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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In the U.K. London is the best by far in terms of frequency. Cardiff is a mixed bag. Cardiff Bus doesn't give change but at least you can buy a day pass using the app these days.

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There is no price difference between the Oyster card and contactless card. What is this? Every time you travel on London's public transport, your contactless payment card is charged the same fare as your Oyster, including cap prices (the maximum amount you'll pay daily and weekly to travel throughout London).

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London buses are 'cashless'. You can't buy a bus ticket on the bus. To pay for travel by bus in London you need one of the following: a Pay as you go Oyster card.

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Pay as you go You don't have to work out the cost of your journey in advance. You can pay as you go using contactless (card or device), an Oyster card or a Visitor Oyster card. It also offers great value as pay as you go is cheaper than buying single tickets and you get daily and weekly capping.

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