The union Unite has backed proposals made by Transport for London (TfL) to set up a publicly owned bus company.
The delivery of one of London Mayor Sadiq Khan’s manifesto commitments would improve conditions for staff and services for passengers, Unite has said.
TfL’s draft business plan for 2025-2030, published last week, promises to further investigate the idea that a new company would be able to operate routes when the contract for them came up for renewal.
Few details have been laid out but a precedent was set when TfL created East Thames Buses in 1999 after an operator went into administration. It eventually became an “operator of last resort” before being sold to Go-Ahead London in 2009.
Unite General Secretary Sharon Graham says: “Unite has long called for bus services to be brought back under public ownership. It is nonsensical to spend billions subsidising public transport run by privatised bus companies who profiteer while workers and passengers face worsening jobs and services.
“This is a very exciting opportunity to improve jobs, pay and conditions for our bus workers in London and Unite supports the proposals for a publicly owned London bus company.
“It is high time bus services in London work for workers, passengers and communities rather than private companies and their shareholders.”
However, former TfL Director of Buses Mike Weston tells routeone he has doubts over whether such a plan would offer any advantages.
The public transport consultant further warns that a co-existence of public ownership and franchising would not work well “because it causes lots of friction between the two sides of the model… The unions will always be looking over to see how the in-house staff are being treated.”
The TfL proposal followed publication recently of its own figures revealing a 4% drop in bus patronage year-on-year up to mid-October 2025. The statistics also showed a decrease in passenger volume of 25% over the past 10 years.
Amid rising costs and congestion and falling patronage, Go-Ahead London Managing Director Andy Edwards last month told The Times that a number of routes were “no longer sustainable under their current contract terms”.
Unite National Officer for Passenger Transport Wayne King says: “Buses are the most-used form of public transport in London. However, it is clear the current outsourcing model in the capital is not fit for purpose and workers and passengers deserve better.
“For too long, they have borne the brunt of rising costs and failing services including lengthy delays and cancellations.
“Bringing bus services back into the hands of those who use them is the right approach to fixing these problems and Unite will back the plans for a publicly owned bus service in London all the way.”
