A municipal bus company is an operator of bus services owned by the local government authority. This article lists all current municipal bus companies in the United Kingdom.
Most municipal bus companies disappeared between 1968 and 1974 before (or with) the formation of PTE bus operations.
Of the remaining municipal operators, post-1986 many were sold off or collapsed in the process of bus deregulation, which required their separation into stand-alone arms-length companies. A few remaining companies have accepted minority-stake holdings in their companies by private bus operating companies, as a method of securing investment.
Local authorities | Company | Routes | Number of vehicles | Private shareholdings |
---|---|---|---|---|
Aberdeenshire Council | Aberdeenshire Council Buses | Operates route 212 (Tarland to Torphins) | ||
Beaminster Town Council | Beaminster Town Council Buses | Operates route CB3 (Bridport to Crewkerne) | None | |
Blackpool Borough Council | Blackpool Transport | Operates local bus services throughout Blackpool and surrounding areas | 158 buses and 75 trams (September 2013) [1] | None |
Caerphilly County Borough Council | Caerphilly County Borough Council Buses | Operates routes 15 (Cefn Glas to Blackwood), C1 (Nelson Town Service), J (Caerphilly to Rudry), and L (Caerphilly to Nantddu) | None | |
Cardiff City Council | Cardiff Bus | Operates local bus services throughout Cardiff and surrounding areas | 240 | None |
City of Edinburgh Council (91%), East Lothian Council (3%), Midlothian Council (3%), West Lothian Council (3%) | Lothian Buses | Operates local bus services throughout Edinburgh as well as longer distance bus routes to the surrounding areas (branded as East Coast Buses for services to the east of Edinburgh and Lothian Country Buses for services to the west of Edinburgh) | 721 buses and 27 trams (December 2012) [2] | None |
Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council | Cogenhoe & Whiston Parish Council Buses | Operates route VH1 (Northampton to Wollaston) | None | |
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar | Bus Na Comhairle | Operates routes W5 (Stornoway to Point) and W5A (Stornoway to Tolsta) and W7 (Stornoway town service) | 7 | None |
Denbighshire County Council | Denbighshire Council Buses | Operates local bus services throughout Denbighshire and surrounding areas | None | |
Dumfries and Galloway Council | DGC Buses | Operates local bus services throughout Dumfries and surrounding areas | 40 (February 2010) [3] | None |
Highland Council | Highland Council Buses | Operates local bus services around Inverness and surrounding areas | ||
Ipswich Borough Council | Ipswich Buses | Operates local bus services throughout Ipswich and surrounding areas | 76 (September 2013) [4] | None |
Monmouthshire County Council | Monmouthshire County Council Buses | Operates one journey a day in each direction on route 65 (Monmouth to Chepstow) | None | |
Moray Council | Moray Council Buses | Operates various local bus routes around the Elgin and Keith areas | None | |
Newport City Council | Newport Bus | Operates local bus services throughout Newport and surrounding areas | 90 | None |
North Lincolnshire Council | North Lincolnshire Council Buses | Operates routes 96 (Barton to Brigg) and 97 (Sandtoft to Garthorpe) and 97A (Sandtoft to Crowle) | ||
North Yorkshire Council | North Yorkshire Council Buses | Operates many local rural bus routes around the Skipton area | None | |
Northern Ireland | Translink | Operates entire Northern Ireland bus network | None | |
Nottingham City Council | Nottingham City Transport | Operates local bus services throughout Nottingham and surrounding areas | 315 (November 2019) [5] | 18% owned by Transdev [6] |
Nottinghamshire County Council | Notts Bus | Operates many local bus routes in towns and rural areas throughout Nottinghamshire | None | |
Oxfordshire County Council | Oxfordshire County Council Buses | Operates many local bus routes throughout Oxfordshire | ||
Pembrokeshire County Council | Pembrokeshire County Council Buses | Operates many local bus routes throughout Pembrokeshire | None | |
Reading Borough Council | Reading Buses | Operates local bus services throughout Reading and surrounding areas, as well as local buses around Slough, Bracknell and Maidenhead (branded as Thames Valley Buses), local buses around Newbury (branded as Newbury & District), express services to London (branded as Greenline), contracts for Green Park Business Park (branded as Greenwave) and private contracts for Vodafone | 165 (May 2013) [7] | None |
Scottish Borders Council | Scottish Borders Council Buses | Operates the Hawick town services and other local bus routes around the Galashiels and Hawick areas | None | |
Somerset Council | Somerset Council Buses | Operates local bus service throughout Somerset and surrounding areas | None | |
Stirling Council | Stirling Council Buses | Operates route C60 (Callander to Killin) | ||
Warrington Borough Council | Warrington's Own Buses | Operates local bus services throughout Warrington and surrounding areas | 102 (March 2017) [8] | None |
West Berkshire Council | West Berkshire Council Buses | Operates local bus services throughout West Berkshire and surrounding areas | None |
In the United Kingdom, passenger transport executives (PTEs) are local government bodies which are responsible for public transport within large urban areas. They are accountable to combined authorities, which were created between 2011 and 2016 and took the role of integrated transport authorities (ITAs). The PTEs have joined together to form the Urban Transport Group, in which Transport for London and Strathclyde Partnership for Transport also participate.
Merseytravel is the passenger transport executive responsible for the coordination of public transport in the Liverpool City Region in North West England. It was established on 1 December 1969 as the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive. From 1 April 2014, with the creation of the Liverpool City Region, Merseytravel expanded its area of operation from the metropolitan county of Merseyside to also include the Borough of Halton.
ComfortDelGro Corporation Limited, commonly known as ComfortDelGro, is a multi-national transport group based in Singapore. It is listed on the Singapore Exchange and operates more than 40,000 vehicles across 12 countries. It was formed on 29 March 2003 through a merger of Singaporean land transport companies Comfort Group and DelGro Corporation.
Bus deregulation in Great Britain involved the abolition of Road Service Licensing for bus services outside of Greater London. It began in 1980 with long-distance bus services and was extended to local bus services in 1986 under the Transport Act 1985. The abolition of Road Service Licensing removed the public sector's role in fare-setting, routes, and bus frequencies and returned those powers to bus operators.
Metro is the passenger information brand used by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority in England. It was formed on 1 April 1974 as the West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (WYPTE), at the same time as the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire. The Metro brand has been used from the outset and, since the formal abolition of the WYPTE on 1 April 2014, it has remained the brand name of public transport in the region, overseen by the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which is also responsible for the delivery of transport policies.
Transdev was an international public transport group based in Issy-les-Moulineaux near Paris, France, and operating in several countries. Originally created as Société centrale pour l'équipement du territoire in 1955 and developing transportation activities since 1973, Transdev was a subsidiary Caisse des Dépôts et Consignations, a French state-owned financial institution. On 3 March 2011, the group merged with Veolia Transport, one of its main competitors, into Veolia Transdev. During 2013, Veolia Transdev was renamed Transdev, recognising the planned withdrawal of Veolia Environnement from ownership of the group.
Warrington's Own Buses is a municipal bus company which operates a network of services within the Borough of Warrington and the surrounding area, including Altrincham, Leigh, Earlestown, Wigan, Halton, Bolton and Northwich.
The National Bus Company (NBC) was a nationalised bus company that operated in England and Wales between 1969 and 1988. NBC did not run buses itself, but was the owner of a number of regional subsidiary bus operating companies.
MTL Trust Holdings was an English bus, coach and train operator based in Liverpool, Merseyside. MTL was originally part of the MPTE. To comply with the Transport Act 1985, the bus operations were divested into a new independent company, Merseyside Transport Limited (MTL). Merseyside PTA retained shareholding, but the company was purchased by its management and staff in a £5.9 million Employee Share Ownership Plan in 1993. On 17 February 2000, MTL was purchased by Arriva for £85 million, with MTL's shareholding workers each receiving £13,500 in windfall gains from the sale.
Halton Transport was a bus operator running within the Borough of Halton and into the surrounding area, including Warrington, St Helens, Prescot, Whiston, Huyton, and Liverpool. It ceased trading in January 2020.
Boro'line Maidstone, previously Maidstone Borough Council Transport was a municipal bus operator in Maidstone and the surrounding villages. Maidstone Borough Council Transport was formed in 1974 from Maidstone Corporation Transport following local government reorganisation. In 1986 Boro'line Maidstone was formed as an arm's length company of Maidstone council from the operations of Maidstone Borough Council Transport. The company had a brief London operation. Following financial difficulties, the London operation was sold to Kentish Bus, and after a period of administration, the assets of the Maidstone operation was sold to Maidstone & District in 1992.
Ipswich Buses is a bus company that operates in Ipswich, Suffolk. It is owned by Ipswich Borough Council.
South Yorkshire Transport (SYT) was a bus operator that provided services around South Yorkshire and outlying areas. The company was formed as an 'arms-length' successor of the South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) in 1986, which was broken up as a result of the deregulation of bus services. South Yorkshire Transport operated buses in and around Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield with some services extending to Chesterfield, Leeds and Barnsley.
Jim Stones Coaches was a bus operator that operated a number of commercial and supported routes on behalf of Transport for Greater Manchester in Leigh, Greater Manchester. The main hub was located in Leigh bus Station.
The Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) bus operations were the bus operating divisions of the passenger transport executives in the United Kingdom. In 1986 they underwent a process of deregulation and privatisation, forming some of the largest private bus companies in the UK outside London, with all being sold to their employees or management. Despite their relative size and lucrative operating areas, none of the companies survived beyond the late 1990s, with all falling into the hands of the major bus groups, who had their origins in privatised regional subsidiaries of the former National Bus Company and the Scottish Bus Group.
The Transport Act 1985 was an act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It introduced privatised and deregulated bus services throughout Great Britain and came into effect in October 1986.
Strathclyde Buses was a bus operating company in Glasgow and west-central Scotland. It commenced operations in October 1986. Prior to 1986, the council-owned buses had belonged to Strathclyde Passenger Transport Executive, and therefore were owned by Strathclyde Regional Council. The new company, although still under the control of the Council, was no longer able to rely on the Council for any financial, or any other, help. In 1996 the company was taken over by FirstGroup. Its former operations are now part of First Glasgow.
South West Coaches is a privately owned bus company that operates services around Dorset, Somerset, and Wiltshire, in South West England.
Buses in Ipswich operate in the town of Ipswich in the English county of Suffolk. As of 2013 services are primarily operated by Ipswich Buses and First Norfolk & Suffolk, although other smaller operators, such as Galloway European, Carters Coaches and Beestons, operate routes from the town into the surrounding rural area. Many of the current routes are based on those established at the end of the 19th century when a horse tram network developed.