From TfL Press Room
/*
Competition for contracts in London’s £1.4 billion-a-year bus market
is increasing as Transport for London (TfL) announces that National Car
Parks (NCP) has been awarded its first contracts to operate London bus
routes.

More quality bus operators in London will increase competitiveness in
the market which has expanded substantially in recent years.
The two five-year contracts, which begin in November, are for the 33 and
419 bus routes which run from Hammersmith in West London to Fulwell and
Richmond.

Director of Performance at London Buses Clare Kavanagh said:

“The quality of London’s bus services is at all time high and the number
of people using the service has grown by 30% over the last three years.
The challenge now is to continue to drive up quality and ensure value
for money for Londoners. The introduction of NCP will increase the
competitiveness of the market.”

Bob Macnaughton, NCP Chief Executive, said,

“We are very excited to have won these TfL bus route contracts. It is an
important development of the expertise we bring to traffic management
throughout the capital. These contract awards are highly significant,
representing our entry into a large market with many growth opportunities.”

“This is a great endorsement from an existing client that NCP is a high
quality service business.”

Notes to Editors

The London bus network is one of the largest and most comprehensive
urban systems in the world. Each weekday 8,000 London buses carry 6
million passengers on over 700 different routes. 20 operators currently
run London’s bus network.

Key points about expanding the London bus network:

1. Bus use is up by 11% over the past year (03/04) - an extra 168
million passenger trips;
2. The number of passengers using buses is at its highest level
since 1968;
3. Patronage is rising at its fastest rate since the Second World War;
4. Night bus use is up by 29% over the past year; and
5. London Buses is running the highest volume of service on London’s
roads than at any time since 1957.

The news is a major development for NCP, which is UK market leader in
car parking and parking enforcement, but has also successfully moved
into other areas in the transport sector.

NCP already has bus expertise in park and ride contracts in Bristol and
Nottingham.

NCP already provide enforcement and processing services for TfL’s
congestion charge operation.
/*
I know NCP do park and ride, but don't they specialise in the *Park*
aspect of it, rather than the bus running?
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On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 18:16:30 +0100, Joe wrote:

From TfL Press Room
/*
Competition for contracts in London’s £1.4 billion-a-year bus market
is increasing as Transport for London (TfL) announces that National Car
Parks (NCP) has been awarded its first contracts to operate London bus
routes.

So they'll be competing with themselves?

Paul Weaver wrote:
On Sun, 27 Mar 2005 18:16:30 +0100, Joe wrote:

From TfL Press Room
/*
Competition for contracts in London's £1.4 billion-a-year bus
market
is increasing as Transport for London (TfL) announces that National
Car
Parks (NCP) has been awarded its first contracts to operate London
bus
routes.

So they'll be competing with themselves?

I suppose they take the view that if they didn't operate those routes,
someone else would. They're only following their rival, Centra, anyway.

There's something a bit sad about companies who only want to run buses
in London, e.g. NCP, Metroline, Connex in the past, Serco perhaps in
the future.

They're not real bus companies; if there was an opportunity for new bus
services in Bolton, Bristol or Brum they wouldn't spot it. But call it
a franchise and they all come running! It's like they have no
initiative or creativity. They cannot grow a business. All they are
capable of is cutting costs. It's the sad side of public transport in
my opinion.

Dominic