No they control/regulate the system. "Run" is a strong term that suggests that they own and operate a fleet of buses, like what stagecoach/kbs/kanjo used to do in nairobi.

The privatisation of London bus services was the process of the transfer of operation of London Buses from public bodies to private companies.

For half a century, operation of London bus services for public transport was under the direct control of a number of entities known as London Transport. The London Regional Transport Act 1984 resulted in London Regional Transport taking control of London's bus routes, with the operation divested in stand alone companies that were privatised in 1994/95.

Since then, direct provision of bus services in London has been run by private companies, although Transport for London did operate its own company, East Thames Buses between 1999 and 2009.

Unlike those in the rest of the United Kingdom, the bus services in London, although still ultimately privatised, were not deregulated to the same extent. In London, details of routes, fares and services levels were still specified by public bodies, with the right to run the services contracted to private companies on a tendered basis.

The privatised period produced for the first time buses in London painted in different schemes from the traditional red. This ceased following a 1997 edict that London buses be 80% red.

Transport for London's key areas of direct responsibility through London Buses are the following:

-planning new bus routes
-revising existing bus routes
-specifying service levels
-monitoring service quality
-management of bus stations and bus stops
-assistance in 'on ground' set up of diversions, bus driver assistance in situations over and above job requirements, for example Road Accidents
-providing information for passengers in the form of timetables and maps at bus stops and online, and an online route planning service
-producing leaflet maps, available from Travel Information Centres, libraries etc., and as online downloads.
-operating CentreComm London Buses' 24‑hour command-and-control centre based in Southwark


All bus operations are undertaken under a tendering system in which operators bid for routes in return for a set price per route operated. Contracts are normally for five years, with two-year extensions available if performance criteria is met.[3] Routes are set up, controlled and tendered out by Transport For London (TfL) and they provide day to day assistance via CentreComm which coordinates a large scale network of Network Traffic Controllers to help with any traffic issues that may occur. Operators provide staff to drive the buses, provide the buses to operate and also adhere to set TfL guidelines. Operators are then in return paid per mile that each bus runs, the pricing is announced on new tenders.