Slower bus speeds are leading to lower ridership which will have a knock-on effect on TfL’s revenue, the London Assembly has been told, with one operator suggesting conditions were the worst for 40 years.
Average bus speeds in 2024-25 were just 9.17mph, down from 10.27mph four years ago, according to data obtained by City Hall.
In August, the mean speed of a London bus was just 9.06mph. Passenger numbers fell for the first time since the pandemic last year, from 1.87 billion to 1.84 billion.
The London Assembly’s transport committee heard on Tuesday that the “endless traffic” bus drivers are forced to navigate has led to travellers seeking different ways to get around.
Paul Lynch, the managing director of Stagecoach London, which runs services from garages in Plumstead, Catford and Bromley, said: “We are used to difficult traffic conditions in London – it’s our bread and butter. However, conditions have worsened over the last few years to a point where somebody who works for me in charge of our service performance and has been around for 40 years operating buses in London says it’s the worst he has ever seen.
“The biggest single impact, of course, is on the customer, on the people using the buses, it’s making them less attractive and less reliable for them. It’s got to be one of the reasons why bus passenger numbers are declining at the same time that bus speeds are.
“There’s work by London TravelWatch, our organisation and others, which shows there is a direct relationship between bus speeds and bus patronage. And unfortunately we’re experiencing that in London now.”
The latest annual Travel in London report, which was published last week, shows a decline of 1.5 per cent in bus journeys compared with last year, while London Underground journeys were up 3 per cent and Elizabeth Line trips up 10 per cent.
Michael Roberts, the chief executive of London Travelwatch, said: “Increasing average journey times makes bus travel less attractive. It means reduced patronage, which in turn means reduced income to TfL.
“It also means increased cost to TfL because you need more buses to run a given level of service, and that is obviously of concern to the travelling public more generally to the extent that it bites upon TfL’s ability to invest in the transport service network more generally.
“And ultimately, if it means buses are less attractive and people are using them to a lower degree, it is bad for London because buses are an effective use of road space, and it’s going to have an impact on keeping London moving.
“For every 10 per cent reduction in journey speeds, there’s a 6 per cent reduction in demand.”
The transport watchdog found that to meet the mayor’s target of 80% of all trips in London being made on foot, by cycle or using public transport by 2041, then the capital needs a 40 per cent increase in bus journeys. TfL’s own analysis suggests numbers need to increase from today’s level of 5.1 million daily bus journeys to nine million by 2041.
It found that if buses in London increase their speed by an average of 1mph, it could save up to £200 million per year and generate additional revenue of £85 million from extra passengers.
Buses run as slowly as 7mph in the City of London, Camden and Westminster, with the highest average speeds in the outer boroughs of Bexley, Hillingdon and Havering, all of which were over 11mph. Following the meeting, the Labour assembly member Elly Baker, who chairs the transport committee, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “The meeting about bus journey times was a real eye-opener for the transport committee.
“Bus journey times have been increasing since 2020, and since 2022-23, TfL has not met its target for bus journey times. This investigation should help us put together some strong recommendations to help the buses catch up and shorten the journey times for all Londoners.”
TfL has pledged to implement a bus action plan which it says will result in quicker passenger journeys.
This includes the creation of 25km of new bus lanes by this month, 1,900 traffic signals that prioritise buses and making 85km of existing bus lanes operational 24/7.
However, TfL was warned that promoting active travel had inhibited bus speeds.
Kevan Stagg, the chair of the Unite union’s London & Eastern Passenger Committee, which represents drivers, said: “There’s been a lot of own goals. You’re looking for space for pedestrians, so we’ve narrowed roads. Cyclists – once again we’ve narrowed it. Now, quite often if you’re behind a a pushbike, you can’t overtake it as a bus driver because there just isn’t enough room.”
Last week in the House of Lords, the Conservative peer Lord Moylan, who had served on the TfL board when Boris Johnson was mayor, told peers: “At this time of year, the thoughts of many of us turn away from active travel and towards the bus.
“Much cycle infrastructure that has been installed has inhibited bus journeys and contributed to deteriorating journey times.”
Transport minister Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill, who was the transport commissioner under Johnson, responded: “He and the mayor of London directed me, as the commissioner of transport, to take out more road space for the benefit of cyclists than probably anybody has ever done in London.
“It certainly is the case that on some occasions that design has reduced bus service speeds, with a detrimental effect on overall journey times. The answer is to give local transport authorities the powers, the money and the training to do the job correctly.
“Another thing that has been mentioned here before is the additional money for training for local transport authority officers so that the design of cycle lanes, as part of the general highways network, is a benefit to cyclists without being too much of a detriment to other traffic, especially buses.”
Kumail Jaffer is the Local Democracy Reporter covering London’s mayor and assembly. The Greenwich Wire is a partner in the Local Democracy Reporting Service, which is a BBC-funded initiative to ensure councils are covered properly in local media.
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