London's particularly difficult city to drive in simply because its layout wasn't reformed like other modern European cities. The main streets are narrower, more irregular/crooked, full of bottlenecks, & generally less efficient, i.e. not designed to optimise traffic flow; not designed at all! Anyone wanting to travel by road there will have to get used to the idea that they'll mostly travel at the same speed that horses did back in the day, i.e. the average road speed hasn't changed. London is also the 2nd biggest city in Europe & mostly low-rise, i.e. lower population density, so there's a lot of ground to cover.
If they really want the buses to run more quickly, they need to address traffic congestion. One solution, the congestion charge worked at first, to the relief of taxi & bus drivers but soon turned out to be temporary as private drivers decided that they'd just pay more to drive around central London so it just became another form of taxation. What have they done in overly congested areas in cities elsewhere in Europe? They've beefed up public transport, e.g. introducing trams, pedestrianising many of the smaller streets, creating more dedicated bike & scooter lanes, & restricting private traffic, e.g. access for private cars only granted to residents of those areas. It seems to work pretty well. It makes city centres a lot quieter, safer, & more pleasant to hang out in too, e.g. more benches, green spaces, cafés, & events for public entertainment.
In the meantime, London's layout ain't gonna change, & bus passengers & companies will have to learn a little more patience & stop expecting quicker bus journey times. Transport for London is a public institution & shouldn't try to be like Amazon, FFS. Cut the poor drivers some slack!
