Privatising London's Buses

This book tells the story of the foundations and the building of the extraordinary revival in the bus service of the world's greatest city.

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The bus service we now have in London results from the momentous events described in this book. Many people consider these events to have been a necessary series of steps to get to where we are today. London Transport changed from a monolithic state owned bus operator to a tendering authority with competing operators owning buses and employing front-line staff to run a public service. It is a very political story. The early stages were at a time when a radical Conservative government was determined to bring great change. Privatisation became one of their key policies, and what happened in London has been unique, as deregulation of buses in the rest of the country has brought a very different set of experiences.