Everybody here very keen to put the single bus fare up by varying amounts. Yes it could probably take a small increase, but not sure if people have noticed what's happened in many other areas of the country where bus fares are so expensive that paying customers have abandoned them and they exist mainly for school runs and concession pass holders.
People seem to be assuming that if you increase fares then passenger numbers will stay the same. They won't, you'll be left with a lower numbers and the same central overheads. Reading is an interesting comparison as it's also in effect a not for profit network. £2 single/£2.50 hopper/£4 day. So a bit more than London for single journeys, a bit less for the day.
Similar for many of the crayonista suggestions here. They're likely to just leave you with less revenue in exchange for the reduction in operating costs. So back to square one.
Discussion earlier about cross border services, as per this article Tfl were already seeking local authority contributions even pre covid (Surrey in this case). As has been pointed out up thread that's something that can usually only happen when it's contract renewal time:
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