On the buses: how London stacks up against the regions

Drive time: travellers queue for a bus on a high street in Dagenham, east London. Photograph: Hannah McKay/Reuters
Who runs the buses? The vast majority of England’s buses are in private hands, bar a few remaining municipal companies, notably in Nottingham and Blackpool. But the big difference between London and the rest of the country is in how the services are dictated. Since deregulation was passed by the Thatcher government in 1985, a two-tier system has developed. In London, which was