Boroughs and bus routes (a compendium of statistics)
(drawn from 33 lists on the TfL website which aren't entirely up to date, thus what follows is potentially inaccurate but I've done my best to check the salient points)
(should My London want to reappropriate any of the content, I've proposed some headlines they could use)
The boroughs with the most bus routes 1) Westminster (75 routes) 2) Lambeth (72 routes) 3) Southwark (62 routes) 4) Bromley (58 routes) 5) Camden (57 routes)
Westminster's at the heart of the West End so has long been the hub of London's bus network so it's not surprising it has the most routes. The next three boroughs are all south of the river, and are perhaps brimming with buses to make up for the lack of tube lines.
↑ The Secret Reason Why Your Bus Could Be Coming Sooner Than You Think ↑
The boroughs with the fewest bus routes 1) Sutton (21 routes) 2) Barking & Dagenham (25 routes) 2) Havering (25 routes) 4) Kingston (27 routes) 5) Bexley (29 routes)
These are also the boroughs with the fewest TfL stations, which isn't a good coincidence.
↑ The Shocking Truth About London's Bus Deserts You Won't Believe ↑
The boroughs with the densest bus network: City of London, Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham The boroughs with the sparsest bus network: Havering, Hillingdon, Bromley The boroughs with the fewest bus routes per head of population: Tower Hamlets, Havering, Sutton, Newham
The borough whose lowest-numbered route is the highest: Hillingdon (every route is over 80) The borough whose highest-numbered route is the lowest: Waltham Forest (no route higher than 444) The borough with the most lettered routes: Hounslow (15 lettered routes)
[All The Amazing Bus Facts You'll Be Telling Your Mates Down The Pub Tonight]
The bus route that passes through the most boroughs
The 341 passes through eight different boroughs on its journey from Meridian Water to Waterloo. The first stop is in Enfield, then come several miles through Haringey, then a fair bit of Hackney and Islington, then the edge of Camden, then the City of London, then Westminster and the route rounds off across the river in Lambeth. That's a lot of boroughs for £1.65. As far as I can tell, not even one of the longer nightbus routes can top that.
↑ The Unique Sightseeing Ride You Need To Take To See The Most of London ↑
No daytime bus route passes through seven boroughs - the 341 really is out on a limb.
The only bus routes that pass through six boroughs 19, 29, 35, 43, 47, 55, 76, 141, 176, 188, 205, X26
Two of these routes are due to be shortened under the current central London bus review. The 43 will terminate north of the Thames (losing Southwark) and the 205 will be diverted to Parliament Hill Fields (losing Westminster).
↑ These Record Breaking Bus Routes Are Under Threat Sooner Than You Think In A Row Over TfL Funding ↑
The bus routes that stay within one borough
There are a lot of these. Here's a (hopefully) definitive list.
Bromley has the most routes that stay within one borough, probably because it's the largest borough. All of Uxbridge's U buses and almost all of Orpington's R buses stay within one borough. 40% of Havering's buses stay within Havering because Havering's a very independent borough. Newham has a lot of short heavily-used routes that never leave Newham.
↑ All The London Bus Routes Hidden In Plain Sight That Don't Really Go Anywhere ↑
The longest bus routes that stay within one borough 1)61 Bromley (12 miles) 2)64 Croydon, H28 Hounslow, S4 Sutton (11 miles) 3)165 Havering, 191 Enfield, 278 Hillingdon, 294 Havering, 326 Barnet, 376 Newham, 456 Enfield, R6 Bromley, U1 Hillingdon (10 miles)
The 61 is a tortuous U-shaped route between Chislehurst and Bromley North that somehow spends 12 miles touring a single borough. It's also the lowest numbered bus route to stay within one borough. The 358 wiggles even further across Bromley - 15 miles! - but blows it by passing through three other boroughs during its final 200 metres.
↑ Is Your Bus The Longest Route You Never Realised Never Left Your Borough? ↑
(properly packaged, even the dullest statistics make good clickbait)
