The red double-decker London bus has entered popular culture as an internationally recognised icon of England.
 While the design and operation of London buses has changed over the years, the vehicles still maintain their traditional red colour.

The London bus network is extensive, with over 6,800 scheduled services every weekday carrying about six million passengers on over 700 different routes making it one of the most extensive bus systems in the world and by far the largest in Europe.
Catering mainly for local journeys, it carries more passengers than the Underground.
In addition to this extensive daytime system, a 100-route night bus service is also operated, providing a 24-hour service.

The London Buses network and its branded services, the Red Arrow and East London Transit systems are managed by TfL through its arms-length subsidiary company, London Buses Ltd. As a result of the Privatisation of London bus services in the mid-1990s, bus operations in London are put out to competitive tendering and routes are operated by a number of private companies, while TfL sets the routes, frequencies, fares and even the type of vehicle used (Greater London was exempted from the bus deregulation in Great Britain).
Transport companies may bid to run London bus services for a fixed price for several years, with incentives and penalties in place to encourage good performance against certain criteria.
The tendering system is open to transport operators from a global market, with the result that some London bus services are now operated by international groups such as RATP Group, the state-owned operator of the Paris public transport system.

Many services are operated with the iconic red double-decker buses, virtually all using modern low-floor accessible vehicles rather than the traditional open-platform AEC Routemasters, now limited to two city centre "heritage routes" after a phase out in 2006.
However a new Routemaster has come into service following the withdrawal of the articulated buses called New Routemaster which is a modern version of the Routemaster which started service in 2012.

The bus system has been the subject of much investment since TfL's inception in 2000, with consequent improvements in the number of routes (particularly night services), their frequency, reliability and the standard of the vehicles used.
The red double-decker London bus has entered popular culture as an internationally recognised icon of England.  While the design and operation of London buses has changed over the years, the vehicles still maintain their traditional red colour.
The London bus network is extensive, with over 6,800 scheduled services every weekday carrying about six million passengers on over 700 different routes making it one of the most extensive bus systems in the world and by far the largest in Europe. Catering mainly for local journeys, it carries more passengers than the Underground. In addition to this extensive daytime system, a 100-route night bus service is also operated, providing a 24-hour service.
The London Buses network and its branded services, the Red Arrow and East London Transit systems are managed by TfL through its arms-length subsidiary company, London Buses Ltd. As a result of the Privatisation of London bus services in the mid-1990s, bus operations in London are put out to competitive tendering and routes are operated by a number of private companies, while TfL sets the routes, frequencies, fares and even the type of vehicle used (Greater London was exempted from the bus deregulation in Great Britain). Transport companies may bid to run London bus services for a fixed price for several years, with incentives and penalties in place to encourage good performance against certain criteria. The tendering system is open to transport operators from a global market, with the result that some London bus services are now operated by international groups such as RATP Group, the state-owned operator of the Paris public transport system.
Many services are operated with the iconic red double-decker buses, virtually all using modern low-floor accessible vehicles rather than the traditional open-platform AEC Routemasters, now limited to two city centre "heritage routes" after a phase out in 2006. However a new Routemaster has come into service following the withdrawal of the articulated buses called New Routemaster which is a modern version of the Routemaster which started service in 2012.
The bus system has been the subject of much investment since TfL's inception in 2000, with consequent improvements in the number of routes (particularly night services), their frequency, reliability and the standard of the vehicles used.
Transport in London