Buses are the most widespread and most commonly used form of public transport in the United Kingdom.
In most of Great Britain, bus transport is provided by private sector companies subject to government regulation; local councils may fund bus services that have a social benefit, for example to isolated areas. Buses in London and in Greater Manchester (the Bee Network) are controlled by local authorities. In Northern Ireland, bus services are publicly owned, governed and delivered, as is the case in the Republic of Ireland.
Bus transport in the UK has been supported by the government as a way to reduce congestion and decrease pollution. Since 2023, bus fares in England have generally been capped, as of 2026 at £3, which will decrease to £2 in 2027.
Bus vehicles
Historically, full size single and double-decker buses formed the mainstay of the UK bus fleet. Double-decker buses remain common across the country, often running into rural areas. The United Kingdom is unique in the western world as bus companies are generally free to choose whatever vehicle meets their needs from the supplier of their choice, rather than by public sector procurement.
The first dropped-chassis buses were produced in 1924 by Guy Arab Motors. This design improved stability by lowering the centre of gravity and also improved loading times by reducing the number of steps to climb aboard the bus.
Outside London, there are now very few cases of rear exit doors (often referred to as "middle doors") on buses to speed up passenger loadings. This is to deter fare-dodging, and to avoid personal injury claims from accidental or deliberate injury by passengers exiting via the rear door while they are closing.
In the 1980s, minibuses were developed from so-called "van-derived" minibus chassis, such as the Ford Transit and the Freight Rover Sherpa. As their popularity increased, designs have become more bus focused, with the numerous Mercedes-Benz models.
Following abortive purpose-built designs such as the Bedford JJL, and the limited use of shortened chassis such as the Seddon Pennine and Dennis Domino, the Dennis Dart introduced the concept of the midibus to the UK operating market in large numbers in the 1990s. Beginning as a short wheelbase bus, some midibus designs have become as long as full size buses.
Developments such as the Optare Solo have further blurred the distinctions between mini and midi buses.
Since the mid-1990s, all bus types must comply with Easy Access regulations, with the most notable change being the introduction of low-floor technology. As of 2022, 99% of the UK's bus fleet are low floor and 95% have onboard CCTV.
Apart from a brief experiment in the 1980s in Sheffield, with the Leyland-DAB, articulated buses (artics; "bendy buses") had not gained a foothold in the UK market. In the new millennium, artics were introduced in various parts of the UK, following a controversial initial introduction in London. However, the London artics had all been withdrawn by 2011.
History The horse-drawn omnibus era (1829–1896)
In 1829 George Shillibeer started the first omnibus service in London, re-using a carriage design he developed in Paris. Over the next few decades, horse-drawn omnibus services developed in London, Manchester and other cities. Double deck omnibuses were introduced in the 1850s, with the upper deck accessed by a ladder, and with "knifeboard seating" where passengers faced outwards with their backs to each other on top of one large combined bench in the centre of the upper deck the "knifeboard". At the Great Exhibition of 1851 which was originally situated in Hyde Park, omnibuses were overwhelmed by demand to the point that a carriage collapsed under the weight of extra passengers. The growth of suburban railways, horse trams (from 1860) and electric trams (from 1885) changed the patterns of omnibus services, but omnibuses continued to flourish, particularly where other modes of transport were prohibited by law as was the case with tramways and surface railways in some areas. Carriages improved, with the ladder giving way to an (unsheltered) spiral staircase - which meant women wearing very long skirts could access the upper deck - and seating on the upper deck changing from the knifeboard to "garden-style" seating i.e. forward-facing bench seats. By 1900 there were 3,676 omnibuses in London.
Motorisation (1896–1918) There were experiments with steam buses in the 1830s,See Walter Hancock and Sir Goldsworthy Gurney but the Locomotive Act 1861 virtually eliminated mechanically propelled road transport from Britain until the law was changed in 1896.
Motor buses were quickly adopted, and soon eclipsed the horse-drawn omnibuses. Early operators were the tramway companies, e.g. the British Electric Traction Company, and the railway companies. In London, the omnibus companies, the London General Omnibus Company, and Thomas Tilling introduced motor buses in 1902 and 1904, and the National Steam Car Company started steam bus services in 1909. There was a mixture of fuel types; petrol, diesel and indeed the first electrobus. Before the First World War, petrol-electric buses were favoured by former horse-drivers who struggled with gear-shifts. By the time of the First World War, BET had begun to emerge as a national force.
Interwar regulation and consolidation (1918–1939) Bus transport was licensed, with regulations focussing on the weight of vehicles and staff being "fit and proper persons" and minimal route regulations - anyone with a licensed vehicle and staff could enter the market and provide a bus service, with no requirements for a fixed route, route number, or timetable although in practice, this information was provided in some form to attract patronage. Following the Great War, there was a significant increase in the number of diesel motorbuses due to the Armed Forces' preference for diesel vehicles and many drivers and mechanics being demobilised. The first so-called "pirate bus" was the Chocolate Express which began in August 1922.David Berguer, Under the Wires at Tally Ho: Trams and Trolleybuses of North London, 1905–1962 (History Press, 2011) This market disruptor was followed by many other small companies entering the market that it severely depressed revenues for incumbent tramways, railways and bus companies. This culminated in the so-called "pirate bus crisis" of 1924, where Tramway workers led UERL, and the LGOC workers on a London-wide strike over pay.
The London Traffic Act 1924 was rapidly passed after the pirate bus crisis of that year. The Act enabled the Minister of Transport to declare any street in the City of London or Metropolitan Police district a restricted street, preventing any new bus services being introduced in that area. The Act also required all routes to be numbered and registered with the Police Commissioner. The effect of restricted streets, enabled by this Act was protectionism for incumbent bus companies as it gave certainty to investors and creditors that any bought-out competitor would not be immediately replaced by new market entrants and therefore the sector could be consolidated into a local monopoly, competing (duplicate) services could be rationalised to cut costs and on-street competition avoided. Independent bus companies managed to raise a petition with almost a million signatures in 1926 to repeal the Act but this was unsuccessful.
Throughout the 1930s, smaller bus companies were bought up by larger companies, many of which were in turn bought by the Big Four railways. This consolidated the transport sector into a private sector oligopoly before the Second World War. In London, the UERL which included the dominant bus operator became the London Passenger Transport Board in 1933 an early quango running the majority of public transport in London except for railways run by the Big Four, which included most railways south of the Thames. The Board did not receive government subsidy except under the New Works Programme and decision-making did not involve the London County Council.
Nationalisation and decline (1947–1968)
The post-war Labour government embarked on a programme of nationalisation of transport. Under the Transport Act 1947, the British Transport Commission acquired the bus services of Thomas Tilling, Scottish Motor Traction and the large independent Red & White. By the nationalisation of the railways, the BTC also acquired interests in many of BET's bus companies, but BET was not forced to sell its companies and they were not nationalised.
In 1962 the BTC's bus companies were transferred to the Transport Holding Company. Then in 1968 BET sold its UK bus companies to the Transport Holding Company. Almost all of the UK bus industry was by then owned by the government under the National Bus Company or by local governments.
Bus passenger numbers continued to decline in the 1960s. The Transport Act 1968 was an attempt to rationalise publicly owned bus services and provide a framework for the subsidy of uneconomic but socially necessary services. The Act: transferred the English and Welsh bus companies of the Transport Holding Company to the new National Bus Company transferred the country services of London Transport to the NBC. transferred the Scottish bus companies of the THC to the Scottish Transport Group transferred municipal bus operations in the 5 large metropolitan areas outside London to new Passenger Transport Executives, together with some operations of THC companies in those areas. granted powers to local governments to provide subsidies to cover NBC subsidiaries' operating deficits incurred when delivering the regulated networks. introduced the New Bus Grant which promoted driver-only buses.
The National Bus Company underwent a corporate restructure in 1972, consolidating the former companies into a more uniform design and brand, with intercity services coming under one brand - National Travel - which would eventually evolve into National Express.
Phasing out of crewed (conductor) buses (1968–1980)
Deregulation and Privatisation (1981–1990)
Consolidation (1990–2004) Many municipal and former NBC companies struggled to adjust to on-road competition and were sold to their management, employees, or other operators, which were in turn bought by one of the now-dominant bus operator groups - sometimes referred to as 'private', or 'group' operators. PTEs were also required to split and sell their bus departments. The largest of the group operators - FirstGroup began as the Aberdeen municipal transport department - then renamed as Grampian Regional Transport - which was willingly sold by their local authority and grew by acquisition.
After an initial burst of new entrants into the bus market, causing bus wars many of these new companies went bust, were acquired by other operators, or otherwise exited the market and new market entrants slowed. Companies began merging and growing in the 1980s and 1990s, some growing in the pursuit of listing on the stock exchange. Five major bus groups emerged - two (FirstGroup and Go-Ahead Group) were formed from NBC bus companies sold to their management, two (Stagecoach and Arriva) were independent companies which pursued aggressive acquisition policies, and National Express was the privatised coach operator which diversified into bus operation.
Recent trends have seen the disposal of relatively large companies where revenues do not meet shareholder expectations. The Stagecoach Group went so far as to dispose of its two large London operations, citing the inability to grow the business within the London regulated structure. They later repurchased their London operations in 2010, after it entered administration.