[simplesleeper]

The schedule is not necessarily padded. The point of the piece is making it clear that London bus timetables are not in any way a source of truth, but a contract that operators have to work towards achieving. It is doubtless that they would have some input into what times are accepted as the contract and would only accept one they think they could manage to operate - so greater times than would generally be achievable.

As a londoner, if you wanted a timetable more based on truth, it would look more like the attached graphic on the page - an analysis of the spread of waiting times.