London Buses
THERE ARE MANY THINGS THAT
HAVE BECOME SYNONYMOUS WITH LONDON AND ONE OF THESE IS THE SIGHT OF A LONDON RED
BUS. BUSES HAVE BEEN RUNNING IN LONDON SINCE THE FIRST HORSE DRAWN BUS IN 1829.
YEARS AGO ALL LONDON BUSES WERE DOUBLE DECKER BUSES WITH A DRIVER, A CONDUCTOR
INSIDE WHO COLLECTS FARES AND GIVES OUT TICKETS AND A PERMANENTLY OPEN REAR LEFT
HAND SIDE. THINGS ARE DIFFERENT NOW AND THESE OLDER BUSES KNOWN AS ROUTEMASTERS
ARE A RARE SITE. MOST LONDON BUSES ARE OPERATED BY A DRIVER ONLY AND THAT
INCLUDES DISPENSING TICKETS, ALTHOUGH THEY DO ALSO HAVE AUTOMATIC MACHINES IF YOU
HAPPEN TO KNOW THE CORRECT FARE AND HAVE THE RIGHT CHANGE. TODAY YOU ARE JUST AS
LIKELY TO SEE A SINGLE DECKER AS A DOUBLE DECKER BUS AND TO ADD TO THE VARIETY
LONDON HAS A GROWING FLEET OF BENDY BUSES AS WELL AS ECO FRIENDLY BUSES WHICH ARE
BEING INTRODUCED. BENDY BUSES (ARTICULATED BUSES) ARE TWIN SINGLE DECKERS JOINED IN THE MIDDLE TO
ALLOW THE BUS TO MANOEUVRE AROUND SHARP CORNERS. ALL LONDON BUSES ARE NOW ALL
LOW FLOOR VEHICLES MEANING THEY ARE ALL WHEELCHAIR FREINDLY.
BUSES LIKE THE NATIONAL RAIL SYSTEM ARE ALSO SPLIT INTO A SYSTEM OF FRANCHISE'S
WITH DIFFERENT PRIVATE COMPANIES RUNNING DIFFERENT BUS ROUTES ON A LEASE BASIS.
THE LONDON MAYOR HAS OVERALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE LONDON BUS NETWORK AND THE
BODY THAT OVERSEES THE NETWORK IS CALLED 'LONDON BUSES'. BUSES ARE THE LIFEBLOOD OF LONDON AND ARE ALL STILL PAINTED THE TRADITIONAL RED,
OR AT LEAST A TONE OF RED.
CLICK HERE FOR LONDON BUS PICTURES.
THEY OFTEN HAVE THERE OWN LANES ON MANY OF LONDON MAIN ROADS. THESE BUS LANES
ARE PAINTED RED WITH THE WORDS BUS LANE EVERY FEW HUNDRED YARDS AND RUN ON THE
INSIDE LANE WITH CARS NOT ALLOWED INTO THESE LANES BETWEEN SPECIFIC HOURS OR IN
SOME CASES NOT ALLOWED AT ANY TIME AT ALL. LONDON TAXIS ARE ALLOWED TO USE BUS
LANES.
ALL BUSES HAVE A NUMBER DISPLAYED ON THE BACK AND FRONT WHICH SIGNIFIES THE
NUMBER OF THE ROUTE THEY ARE TRAVELLING ON. THIS IS USUALLY A TWO DIGIT NUMBER.
ALSO THE DISPLAY WILL SHOW THE FINAL DESTINATION OF THAT BUS AND SOME MAJOR
POINTS ALONG THE WAY. SOME BUSE NUMBERS ARE PREFIXED WITH THE LETTER 'N'. THIS
LETS YOU KNOW IT IS A NIGHT BUS AND WILL BE OPERATING ALL THROUGH THE NIGHT,
NORMALLY BETWEEN 11 PM AND 6 AM.
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TO GET ON AND OFF A BUS YOU NEED TO LOOK FOR THE SIGN SHOWN LEFT. ONLY AT
OFFICIAL BUS STOPS LIKE THESE CAN BUSES STOP TO ALLOW YOU TO BOARD. SOME STOPS
LIKE THE ONE BELOW SAY REQUEST STOP
JUST UNDER THE BUS LOGO.
THIS MEANS THE BUS WONT STOP UNLESS YOU PUT OUT YOUR
HAND TO SIGNIFY YOU YOU WANT THE BUS TO STOP. IF IN ANY DOUBT ALWAYS OUTSTRETCH
YOUR HAND TO TELL THE DRIVER TO STOP. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT UNDER THE BUS STOP
SIGN AND AT AROUND EYE LEVEL IS A NOTICE BOARD. THIS WILL GIVE THE TIMETABLE FOR
ALL BUSES USING THAT STOP. |
OUTSIDE OF CENTRAL LONDON ZONE 1 YOU CAN NORMALLY (SOME EXCEPTIONS) PAY ONCE YOU
ARE ONBOARD AND A PASS BOUGHT BEFOREHAND WILL ENSURE YOU ARE NOT CAUGHT WITHOUT
CHANGE.
BUSES WILL OFTEN REFUSE TO TAKE YOU IF YOU DO NOT HAVE THE CORRECT FARE.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IN CENTRAL LONDON ZONE 1 AND ALSO ON ALL
BENDY BUSES YOU CANNOT ACTUALLY PAY ON THE BUS
ITSELF. YOU MUST PURCHASE YOUR TICKET FROM THE MACHINE AT THAT BUS STOP OR USE
YOUR OYSTER CARD. IT'S CLEARLY NOTED ON ALL BUS STOPS WHICH ROUTES
USING THAT STOP NEED TO BE PAID FOR BEFORE GETTING ON THE BUS (NORMALLY IN BRIGHT YELLOW).
BUS TICKETS CAN BE PURCHASED FROM MACHINES BY BUS STOPS, LONDON UNDERGROUND
STATIONS, TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRES AND SOME NEWSAGENTS.
AS WITH ALL MODES OF LONDON TRANSPORT BUS FARES OPERATE ACCORDING TO THE ZONES
YOU ARE TRAVELLING IN.
YOU CAN BUY DAILY AND WEEKLY BUS PASSES ALLOWING UNLIMITED USE OF THE SYSTEM
DURING THAT PERIOD.
BUS SAVER TICKETS ARE AVAILABLE WHICH ARE A BOOK OF 6 SINGLE FARE TICKETS.
BUSES ACCEPT THE OYSTER PRE PAY SYSTEM.
If you would like to ride on a traditional old fashioned double decker routemaster bus in central London
then routes 9 (Hammersmith to Aldwych) and 15 (Paddington to Blackwall) still
use them at certain times of the day.
LONDON BUS FARES
SINCE 1ST SEPTEMBER 2005 ALL UNDER 16'S CAN TRAVEL FOR FREE ON LONDON BUSES AND
TRAMS. AN OYSTER PHOTOCARD IS REQUIRED FOR 14 AND 15 YEAR OLDS TO OBTAIN FREE
TRAVEL.
Fares for 2008
STANDARD SINGLE FARE PER JOURNEY: £2
ALL DAY BUS PASS: £3.50
SEASON TICKETS:
7 DAY: ADULT £14 16-17 YEAR OLDS £6
MONTHLY: ADULT £53.80 16-17 YEAR OLDS £23.10
YEARLY: ADULT £560
BUS FARES AND TRAM FARES WITH CHEAPER OYSTER ALTERNATIVES
TRAVELCARD
OYSTER PRE PAY
FOR LONDON
BUS MAPS CLICK HERE
