How does London bus system work?

London buses are all cashless, so you need an Oyster card, Travelcard or contactless payment. Bus fare is £1.55 and a day of bus-only travel will cost a maximum of £4.65. You can hop on unlimited buses or trams for free within one hour of touching in for your first journey.

What were London buses called?

The name London General was replaced by London Transport, which became synonymous with the red London bus. Bus numbers were first used in 1906. When the independent firms started in 1922, they used General route numbers, along with alphabetical suffixes to denote branch routes.

What does the numbers on a bus mean?

Just what it says, the number of the bus route. It is an identifier for the route. There are some cities which try to put some logic into it, but that either leads to illogical or awkward numbering or more confusion than necessary.

Why do London buses have numbers on the roof?

Bus numbers on the roof enable buses to be identified quickly for late running (though this is mostly done with GPS these days), accidents, broken down buses, etc. The number is also used with CCTV in some bus depots to see which buses are parked where in the depot and allocating buses to drivers.

What does H mean on a bus?

(H) on the dashboard and minimap means station brake (I’m not german but it has something to do with Haltestelle being a bus stop :)) Either you activated it by accident by hand (there’s a key bind assigned to Station brake) or the doors or ramp failed to close, thus keeping the automatic station brake on.

Do you tap off a London bus?

Tube, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail, National Rail, River Bus and Emirates Air Line. Touch in on a yellow card reader at the start of your journey and touch out at the end. To pay the right fare: Always use the same device or contactless card to touch in and out.

Do you tap out on London bus?

Step 6: When you are exiting the bus you don’t need to tap out (like you do for other public transport), just make your way to the doors that are at the back or the middle of the bus. London’s buses carry around 6.5 million passengers a day, according to TfL.

Why do London buses have two doors?

London busses have entry & exit points – simply because it’s quicker to have a ‘through-flow’ of people. Those leaving, exit at the middle door – while new passengers are being ‘served’ at the front.

What are the numbers on top of London buses?

Public buses Vehicles operating London Buses services carry roof markings, as shown in the image opposite. The first three letters denote the operator (ARL is Arriva London) and the remaining letters and numbers are the fleet number (VLW 92), which also appears on the front and rear of the vehicle.