Accredited official statistics

Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2024 (revised)

Updated 27 March 2025

Applies to England

Revision

Finalised data on government support for buses was not available when these statistics were originally published (27 November 2024). The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) have since published that data so the following have been revised to include it:

• the financial outlook in this publication
• tables BUS04i and BUS04ii covering costs, fares and revenue
• tables BUS05i and BUS05ii covering government support

There is more than one source available for figures on concessionary travel spending. In the concessionary travel statistics, the expenditure figures are based on the Concessionary Travel survey.

Revision

The following figures relating to local bus passenger journeys per head have been revised:

• table BUS01f
• chart 5
• map 1

Table BUS01f provides figures on passenger journeys per head of population at Local Transport Authority (LTA) level. Population data for 21 counties were duplicated in error, resulting in the halving of figures in this table. This issue does not affect any other figures in the published tables, including the regional and national breakdowns.

The affected LTAs were: Cambridgeshire, Derbyshire, Devon, East Sussex, Essex, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Lancashire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Staffordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex, and Worcestershire.

A minor typo in the units was also corrected in the BUS02_mi spreadsheet.

About this release

This statistical release presents the latest annual statistics on the local bus sector, which are based on survey data collected from local bus operators. Local bus services use public service vehicles (PSVs) to carry passengers paying separate fares over short distances.

Figures are presented for England, in line with coverage of DfT bus policy. Statistics for Scotland and Wales are available in the accompanying published tables.

These are accredited official statistics and were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2012. Accredited official statistics are called National Statistics in the Statistics and Registration Service Act 2007. For more information, see the About these statistics section.

Headline figures

In England, the number of local bus passenger journeys saw an increase of 0.2 billion (7%) to 3.6 billion in the year ending March 2024. This was lower than before the COVID-19 pandemic, when passenger journeys were 4.1 billion in the year ending March 2020.

In the year ending March 2024, there were 1.0 billion bus service miles ran in England, broadly similar to the year ending March 2023.

Summary

Table 1 summarises the annual figures for bus passenger journeys and mileage for the year ending March 2024, including comparisons with the previous 2 years. Figures are broken down by London, England outside London (metropolitan areas and non-metropolitan areas), country and Great Britain.

Table 1: Summary figures for bus passenger journeys and vehicle mileage in Great Britain by area type, the year ending March 2024 (BUS01, BUS02a_mi)

Area	Passenger journeys (billions)	Percentage change compared to previous year	Percentage change compared to 2 years ago	Vehicle mileage (billions)	Percentage change compared to previous year	Percentage change compared to 2 years ago
London	1.85	+5%	+25%	0.28	~0%	-4%
English metropolitan areas	0.76	+9%	+29%	0.25	+3%	-7%
English non-metropolitan areas	1.03	+12%	+33%	0.48	-1%	-5%
England	3.63	+7%	+28%	1.01	~0%	-5%
England outside London	1.78	+10%	+31%	0.73	+1%	-6%
Scotland	0.33	+13%	+44%	0.17	~0%	-5%
Wales	0.07	+17%	+35%	0.05	-4%	-5%
Great Britain	4.04	+8%	+29%	1.23	~0%	-5%

Concessionary travel

In the year ending March 2024, total concessionary journeys (elderly or disabled, and youth concessions) made up 28% (1.0 billion passenger journeys) of all local bus passenger journeys in England (see tables BUS01c and BUS01d). The percentage has decreased in recent years, being 29% in the year ending March 2023, and 32% before the COVID-19 pandemic (the year ending March 2020).

In England outside London, total concessionary journeys made up 28% of all passenger journeys in the year ending March 2024. This was broadly similar in London, where the figure was 28%.

DfT’s Concessionary Travel Survey collects more detailed information from Travel Concession Authorities on concessionary passholder numbers, total expenditure on concessionary travel and discretionary concessions offered.

Following discussions with TfL, data for concessionary journeys have been revised to no longer include those using the 60 plus London Oyster card. This is a commercial discount offered by TfL, rather than being paid for by local government, so it should not be included as concessionary travel. Further details on this methodology change can be found in the background notes.

Concessionary travel figures for London in this release are now broadly comparable with figures obtained from DfT’s Concessionary Travel Survey, as is the case for the rest of England.

Things you need to know

The figures in this release relate to local bus services. These are timetabled services using public service vehicles to carry passengers over relatively short distances and must be accessible to the general public (known as open).

Services excluded from these statistics include:

• long-distance coach services
• private hire work
• closed contracts (such as home-to-school services)
• flexible or demand responsive modes of transport
• community transport

Most bus services in England outside London are provided by private companies since deregulation of the industry in 1986.

Geographic breakdowns

Buses in London, through Transport for London, operate under a different regulatory framework to the rest of England. The size of the bus market in London and differing trends in bus use also makes it sensible to split figures into England outside London and London.

Figures for England outside London can be further split into metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas. Metropolitan areas are the 6 former metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester, Merseyside, South Yorkshire, Tyne and Wear, West Midlands and West Yorkshire. Non-metropolitan areas cover the remaining county councils and unitary authorities in England outside London.

More detailed breakdowns are available in the data tables published alongside the release, including local authority level and for urban and rural areas.

Impact of COVID-19

The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the local bus sector can be seen in these statistics from the year ending March 2021. Government movement restrictions were in place during the year ending March 2021 and 2022, whereas the overall impact can still be seen in the latest data.

Daily data from Ticketer, covering local bus passenger journeys in Great Britain since March 2020, have been published to monitor the use of the transport system during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the year ending March 2024, bus passenger journeys have increased to their highest levels since the COVID-19 pandemic started, typically between 86% and 93% of pre-pandemic levels. In contrast, bus service provision has decreased slightly since the year ending March 2023, typically between 81% and 84% of pre-pandemic levels.

Daily data on passenger boardings and service provision have been provided by Ticketer, one of the largest providers of Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) in the UK. It is thought that, outside of TfL, West Midlands National Express, and Stagecoach, Ticketer is used by around 70% of operators. We are confident that these figures are robust enough to indicate overall trends for England outside London.

Passenger boardings will include physical ticket sales, as well as smart cards, QR tickets, and where the driver counts passengers (such as school runs).

Service provision represents the number of services ran by an operator for a specific vehicle, direction and driver. A service that has been cancelled would not be included.

Chart 1: 14-day average of bus passenger boardings and service provision in England outside London, as a proportion of the same day in the third week of January 2020 (Ticketer)

Chart 1 shows the trend in bus passenger boardings and service provision in England outside London since March 2020. Movement restrictions caused large decreases in passenger boardings, but had a smaller impact on service provision, as operators maintained service levels.

Large drops in passenger journeys include:

• the first UK lockdown, from 100% to 11% (March 2020)
• the second English lockdown, from 58% to 40% (November 2020)
• the third English lockdown, from 55% to 24% (January 2021)

As movement restrictions eased from March 2021, passenger journeys steadily increased to 83% in November 2021. Plan B measures in England were introduced to address the Omicron variant in December 2021, which caused a drop to 70%. From 2022 onwards, passenger journeys have fluctuated but steadily increased, reaching about 90% at the end of March 2024.

Service provision initially dropped between March and June 2020, but remained consistently high afterwards. The COVID-19 Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG) and its successor, the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG), played key roles in maintaining service levels, alongside the return of schools in September 2020.

Passenger journeys

In the year ending March 2024, there were 3.6 billion passenger journeys made by local bus in England, an increase of 0.2 billion, or 7%, compared with the year ending March 2023.

Chart 2: Local bus passenger journeys (billions) in England, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (BUS01a)

Chart 2 shows the trend in local bus journeys in England since the year ending March 2005. Bus use increased between the year ending March 2005 and 2009, after which it remained fairly stable until the year ending March 2015, before gradually beginning to fall.

In the year ending March 2021, there was a steep decline because of movement restrictions introduced throughout the year to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Since then, bus use has been continually recovering, with local bus journeys in the year ending March 2024 being 90% of pre-pandemic levels.

Chart 3: Local bus passenger journeys (billions) in England outside London and London, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (BUS01a)

London

There were 1.8 billion passenger journeys made by local buses in London in the year ending March 2024, an increase of 5% compared with the year ending March 2023. Passenger journeys in London accounted for 51% of all passenger journeys made by local buses in England in the year ending March 2024.

Before the year ending March 2013, bus use in London increased every year since the year ending March 2005, before starting to gradually decline (see chart 3).

England outside London

In the year ending March 2024, there were 1.8 billion passenger journeys made by local buses in England outside London, an increase of 10% compared with the year ending March 2023. This continues the recovery from the previous year, reaching 91% of pre-pandemic levels.

Prior to this, bus use in England outside London has been on a downward trend since the peak of 2.4 billion passenger journeys in the year ending March 2009 (see chart 3).

Metropolitan and non-metropolitan areas

In metropolitan areas, there were 0.8 billion passenger journeys in the year ending March 2024, an increase of 9% from the year ending March 2023. In non-metropolitan areas, there were 1.0 billion passenger journeys, an increase of 12% from the year ending March 2023.

Chart 4: Local bus passenger journeys (billions) in England outside London by area type, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (BUS01a)

Bus use by local authority

The average number of bus passenger journeys per head in England outside London was 37 in the year ending March 2024, an increase of 9% compared to the year ending March 2023. The peak number of bus passenger journeys per head in England outside London was 55 in the year ending March 2009 (see table BUS01b).

Bus passenger journeys per head

These figures are estimates based on the returns provided by bus operators and population data produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Neither of these sources account for bus passengers using the bus outside the local authority in which they reside. Users should be aware that figures for small areas can be affected by differences in how the data were recorded and processed and so individual figures should be interpreted carefully.

Chart 5: Local bus passenger journeys per head by local authority highest and lowest 5: England outside London, the year ending March 2024 (BUS01f)

In general, urban local authorities have above average levels of bus use per head when compared with rural areas (see map 1).

Between the year ending March 2023 and 2024, there were increases across most local authorities.

Map 1: Journeys per head of population by local authority: England, the year ending March 2024 (BUS01f)

Bus mileage

In the year ending March 2024, there were 1.0 billion bus service miles ran in England, broadly similar to the year ending March 2023, and was at 88% of pre-pandemic levels.

Local bus services can be operated in broadly 3 ways:

• on a purely commercial basis
• with financial support from local authorities (local authority supported services)
• regulated under franchising or tendering schemes

London services are operated by private companies but regulated by Transport for London (TfL). Transport for Greater Manchester also has a bus franchising scheme called the Bee Network, which forms part of their wider plan for an integrated public transport network.

In England outside London, bus mileage saw an increase of 1% compared to the year ending March 2023, and was at 85% of pre-pandemic levels.

In London, bus mileage remained broadly similar to the year ending March 2023. London bus mileage has changed very little since the year ending March 2005, fluctuating between around 282 and 304 million vehicle miles.

Chart 6: Vehicle miles (billions) on local bus services by area type: England, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (BUS02a_mi)

Bus mileage was less severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic than passenger journeys. This was largely due to additional forms of government support being introduced to keep services running that may have otherwise operated at a loss, or not operated at all.

Types of mileage

In England outside London, bus mileage has seen a decrease of 29% since the year ending March 2005. This has been driven by a decrease of 45% in local authority supported mileage, especially in non-metropolitan areas.

In the year ending March 2024, bus mileage comprised of 0.6 billion commercial miles and 0.1 billion supported miles.

Chart 7: Vehicle miles (billions) on local bus services by service type: England outside London, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (BUS02a_mi)

Chart 7 shows that between the year ending March 2005 and 2017, commercial mileage remained broadly stable, fluctuating between 773 and 811 million, before gradually decreasing until the year ending March 2020. In the year ending March 2021, there was a steep decrease due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, commercial mileage has been volatile, and in the year ending March 2024 was at 81% of pre-pandemic levels.

Supported mileage as a percentage of total mileage in England outside London gradually rose from 22% in the year ending March 2005, before starting to gradually decline from the year ending March 2010 onwards (see chart 7). Since the year ending March 2020, this trend has reversed and the percentage has begun to increase. This may reflect adjustments related to post-pandemic recovery, as operators choosing to remove certain non-viable services, with local authorities stepping in to support some of these routes.

Bus fleet

As at March 2024, 29,790 buses were used by local bus operators in England, a decrease of 1% compared to the year ending March 2023.

Nearly all buses:

• had CCTV (96%)
• were enabled for payment by contactless bank card (94%)
• were ITSO smart enabled in England outside London (93%)
• had been issued with an accessibility certificate (99%)
• had an Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) device (99%)

Some buses:

• had charging points (28%)
• had free Wi-Fi (25%)
• provided audio visual information (53%)
• had diesel engines (excluding hybrid) (73%)
• met Euro VI emission standards (61%)
• were zero emission (8%)

Area type

Chart 8: Proportion of buses used by local bus operators by area type: England, March 2024 (BUS06b)

Across England, buses were split by area type as:

• 8,704 buses were in London (29% of total)
• 7,605 buses were in metropolitan areas (26% of total)
• 13,481 buses were in non-metropolitan areas (45% of total)

Year of manufacture

As at March 2024, the most common (modal) year of manufacture for buses operated in England was 2016, accounting for 2,481 buses.

Chart 9: Number of buses by year of manufacture: England, March 2024 (BUS06b, BUS06f)

Accessibility

In the year ending March 2024, 99% of buses in England had been issued with an accessibility certificate.

Accessibility regulations

The Public Service Vehicle Accessibility Regulations 2000 (PSVAR) set out standards for public service vehicles to ensure they would be accessible to disabled people from 1 January 2017 at the latest (depending on bus type). Buses that comply with the accessibility regulations are issued with an accessibility certificate. Some buses are suitable for wheelchair access through low floor designs. For more information, see table BUS06d.

Equipment on buses

Since the year ending March 2006, the provision of CCTV and Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) devices on buses has greatly improved (see chart 10).

As at March 2024, the proportion of buses used by local operators in England that were equipped with CCTV was 96%, up from 44% in the year ending March 2006.

Almost all buses were fitted with an AVL device (99% of buses in England, compared with 35% in the year ending March 2007) as at March 2024. Of all buses in England, 98% of AVL devices were being used to monitor punctuality and 97% used the AVL device to provide real time service information to customers. All these AVL figures have been over 90% since the year ending March 2018.

As at March 2024, 53% of buses in England provided Audio Visual information to passengers. However, this proportion varies greatly in different parts of the country, being:

• 97% in London, up from 83% in the year ending March 2013
• 34% in England outside London, up from 7% in the year ending March 2013

Also, as at March 2024, there were 39% of buses in England that used the Audio Visual information system to provide route, direction, next stop, and diversion information to passengers.

As at March 2024, 94% of buses in England were EMV smart card enabled for payment (contactless), this was broadly similar to March 2023 (93%).

Chart 10: Percentage of buses fitted with CCTV, AVL, Audio Visual and EMV smart enabled: England, the year ending March 2024 compared with previous years (BUS06d)

Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL): used to track vehicle location to monitor punctuality and provide real time service information to customers

ITSO: an organisation which sets a common technical standard for smart ticketing, which is used in schemes such as the Bee Network.

EMV: a global standard for credit and debit payment cards based on chip card technology. Where a machine is EMV enabled for payment by contactless bank card (or mobile phones emulating these, for example Android Pay or Apple Pay) this means that the terminal accepts EMV transactions of this nature.

As at March 2024, the proportion of buses in England outside London that were ITSO smart enabled for payment was 93%, up from 25% in the year ending March 2011.

A quarter (25%) of buses in England had free Wi-Fi as at March 2024, which was broadly similar to March 2023 (25%). Free Wi-Fi has been gradually declining since March 2020, from a peak of 31%, prior to which figures had been increasing. This may be a result of operators deciding not to offer free Wi-Fi as a cost saving measure.

Bus emission standards

As at March 2024, 61% of buses in England that met the latest Euro VI emissions standards (see chart 11). A further 17% and 5% of buses met older Euro V and Euro IV standards, respectively. London had higher emissions standards than the rest of England with 81% meeting Euro VI standards.

Chart 11: Percentage of local buses by Emissions standards in England, as at March 2024 (BUS06e)

Emissions standards

The emission standards for trucks (lorries) and buses are defined by engine energy output in grams per kilowatt hour (g/kWh); this is unlike the emission standards for passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, which are defined by vehicle driving distance in grams per kilometre (g/km), so a general comparison to passenger cars is therefore not possible.

Euro VI is currently the highest regulated emissions standard for buses. For more information and the levels of emissions for each category.

Bus fuel type

As at March 2024, 73% of buses in England had a diesel fuel engine. A further 15% had a diesel-hybrid engine, 7% were electric and a very small proportion were hydrogen (see chart 12).

There is a difference between the percentage of buses categorised as diesel hybrid for bus emissions and bus fuel type. This is due to some degree of overlap in the categorisations used for the question on bus emissions in the survey. For example, a bus that is a diesel hybrid can also be retrofitted from Euro V to Euro VI. Therefore, different interpretations have been made on what the most accurate category is for the buses in an operator’s fleet, which has in turn led to the percentages for the diesel category to differ.

Chart 12: Percentage of local buses by fuel type in England, as at March 2024 (BUS06e)

Financial outlook

Bus fares

The local bus fares index (BUS04di) saw an increase of 3% in England between March 2023 and March 2024. The £2 fare cap for single tickets, introduced in January 2023, was in place throughout this period, so this increase reflects changes to other fare products (such as season tickets).

Over the same 12-month period, the annual all items Consumer Price Index (CPI) rate saw an increase of 3%, which means bus fares have remained broadly comparable in real terms. When adjusted for inflation, fares in England are comparable to those seen in 2006.

For other areas, the local bus fares index change was a:

• 1% increase in London
• 4% increase in metropolitan areas
• 5% increase in non-metropolitan areas
• 4% increase in England outside London

Retail Price Index (RPI) figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) (see chart 13) show that prices have increased from 1987 to 2024 (in January to March):

• bus and coach fares by 505%
• rail fares by 397%
• motoring costs by 246%

Chart 13: Retail Price Index for bus and coach fares, rail fares and motoring expenditure, UK, January to March (Q1), 1987 to 2024 (DOCX, DOCW, CHBK)

Government support

Central and local government support for local bus services has traditionally consisted of payments for supported services, Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG) and concessionary travel reimbursement (effectively a subsidy to concessionary passengers). Data for government support comes from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), formerly known as the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

In addition to this, in response to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the bus sector, the following schemes were introduced:

• COVID-19 Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG) from April 2020 to the end of August 2021
• Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) from September 2021 to the end of June 2023
• the £2 fare cap scheme from January 2023
• BSOG Plus from July 2023

In the year ending March 2024, the estimated total net support for local bus services in England was £2.6 billion, of which 0.7 billion (27.3%) was for concessionary travel.

In England outside London, estimated total net support increased until the year ending March 2010, before gradually declining until the year ending March 2020 (see chart 14). London has followed a similar pattern over this period, peaking in the year ending March 2009 and stabilising between the year ending March 2013 and 2019, before decreasing in the year ending March 2020.

For both England outside London and London, there was a large increase in estimated total net support in the year ending March 2021, impacted by the government response to COVID-19. In the following year, estimated total net support fell, but was still higher than figures seen in preceding years. In the year ending March 2024, estimated total net support (March 2024 prices) increased in England outside London at £1.7 billion and decreased in London at £1.0 billion.

In England outside London, estimated total net support per passenger journey in the year ending March 2024 was 93p, an increase of 21% compared to the year ending March 2020 (adjusting for inflation) and remains above pre-pandemic levels, largely due to additional funding schemes introduced from 2020 onwards and lower levels of passenger journeys.

Chart 14: Estimated total net support by central and local government for local bus services and concessionary travel by area type: England, year ending March 2005 to 2024 (March 2024 prices, £ billions) (BUS05bii)

Operator revenue

In the year ending March 2024, the estimated total operating revenue for local bus services in England was £6.0 billion.

There are several types of revenue for operators.

Fare receipts: on and off bus fares.

Public transport support: the total of all local authorities’ gross costs incurred in support of bus services, either directly or by subsidies to operators or individuals.

Concessionary reimbursement: from local authorities for carrying concessionary passengers.

BSOG: fuel duty rebate from DfT as part of central government support for buses. The rate at which BSOG is paid was cut by 20% from April 2012. From October 2013, BSOG for London was devolved to Transport for London.

CBSSG: set up to support commercial bus operators in England in recognition of the impacts of COVID-19 on their revenue due to reduced patronage.

BRG: The Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) was set up to support commercial bus operators in England, after CBSSG ended, due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on their revenue from reduced patronage.

£2 fare cap scheme: supports bus operators to implement a £2 cap on eligible single tickets for adults. The scheme started in January 2023 in England.

BSOG plus: aims to support the reform and consolidation of bus funding and develop long-term sustainability in bus funding for the sector. This is a separate grant to BSOG.

In the year ending March 2024, passenger fare receipts had a decrease of 3% to £3.2 billion. As passenger journeys have increased in the latest year, this drop in passenger fare receipts is due to the £2 fare cap. The funding operators receive to support the £2 fare cap can be seen in chart 15.

Chart 15: Operating revenue for local bus services by revenue type: England, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (March 2024 prices, £ billions) (BUS05aii)

BSOG for London was devolved to Transport for London (TfL) from October 2013, so the BSOG figures in Chart 15 shown only reflects payments to that date. Any payments made to operators by TfL after October 2013 will be included within the ‘Gross Public Transport Support’ figure.

In England outside London, there was a decrease in BSOG of 49% in real terms between the year ending March 2005 and 2024. BSOG is largely paid according to fuel used and distance travelled, so this is partially explained by the 29% decline in bus mileage over the same period. In the year ending March 2005, BSOG made up 10% of operating revenue but in the year ending March 2024 this proportion had fallen to 5.7%.

In England, concessionary fare reimbursement had a decrease of 8% in real terms between 2005 and 2024, down to £0.7 billion. Concessionary fare reimbursement has been affected by:

• wider coverage of the concessionary travel scheme (moving from a local authority to a national scheme)
• increased eligibility
• a larger proportion of elderly people in the wider population
• the slower recovery of concessionary journeys (compared to all passenger journeys) after COVID-19

In the year ending March 2024, CBSSG, BRG and BSOG Plus accounted for £0.2 billion (3.5%) of the operating revenue for local bus services in England.

Operating costs

In England outside London, operating costs in the year ending March 2024 for local bus services were £3.5 billion. When adjusted for inflation, this was an increase of 1% compared to the year ending March 2023 (see chart 16).

Operating costs have declined since their peak in the year ending March 2010, with only a modest decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic, as operators maintained service levels. A detailed index of bus industry cost is compiled by the Confederation of Passenger Transport.

Chart 16: Operating costs for local bus services: England outside London, the year ending March 2005 to 2024 (March 2024 prices, £ billions) (BUS04eii)

Break in series: figures for the year ending March 2023 onwards are not directly comparable with earlier years.

During the 2023 survey, some operators were found to be reporting operating costs after BSOG had been deducted (rather than before) meaning they were underreporting their figures. Work was completed to highlight the guidance to operators and check during the validation process if they are reporting in line with the guidance.

Staff and drivers

Bus staff

Figures from the PSV survey (table BUS07b) show local bus operators employed an estimated 90,125 full-time equivalent staff in England, including maintenance and admin staff, as at March 2024. This was an increase of 3% compared to March 2023.

Legislation requiring drivers to be trained in disability awareness came into effect from March 2018. As at March 2024, the proportion of bus operators that required drivers to meet this requirement was 98%.

Bus and coach drivers

Bus and coach drivers (8212) is an occupation defined under the Standard Occupational Classification (SOC20) system designed by the ONS.

Provisional figures from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) in the year ending March 2024 state that the median number of hours that bus and coach drivers worked was 40.5 hours a week, more than the national median figure of 37 hours a week (table 14.9a). Over the same period, bus and coach drivers earned £586 a week, below the national median figure of £598 (table 14.2a).

We note that the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has highlighted some quality concerns with Annual Population Survey (APS) outputs. We understand ONS will be releasing further guidance on how APS data can currently be used and what the limitations are, which users of these data should review once available.

Figures from the Annual Population Survey (APS) show that the average age of bus and coach drivers for the period 2021 to 2023 was 51, which has increased slightly over time from 49 for the period covering 2013 to 2015.

Around half (49%) of bus and coach drivers were aged 53 or over in the period covering 2021 to 2023. This was an increase from 44% in the period covering 2013 to 2015.

Most bus drivers were male (88%) for the period 2021 to 2023, which was at a similar level to the period covering 2013 to 2015.

Chart 16: Age range of bus and coach drivers, England, 2013 to 2015 compared with 2021 to 2023 (APS)

Bus punctuality

Bus punctuality statistics provide one measure of the performance of local bus services based on data reported by local authorities who monitor punctuality using manual surveys or data from electronic systems.

There are different measures of punctuality for frequent and non-frequent services: a frequent service is one that has 6 or more buses per hour. Several areas have no frequent services.

In the year ending March 2024, 80% of non-frequent services in England ran on time. ‘On time’ is defined as between 1 minute early and 5 minutes 59 seconds late.

This was the lowest reported figure since the year ending March 2009, slightly lower than in the year ending March 2023, and continuing the downward trend from the year ending March 2021, which was the highest reported figure since the data was first published (see chart 17).

At the regional level, non-frequent bus services running on time in the year ending March 2024 varied between 76% and 85% (see map 2). At the local authority level, there was greater variation ranging between 69% and 97%.

Chart 17: Percentage of non-frequent services running on time: England, the year ending March 2008 to 2024 (BUS09a)

Map 2: Percentage of non-frequent services running on time: England, the year ending March 2024 (BUS09a)

Bus timetable data: Timetable data provides more detailed information on when and where bus services run, and who operates them, than the other sources in this publication. An analysis of bus timetable data from the Traveline National Dataset was included in the 2016 publication (see page 12 of the release).

Frequent services: Data on the average excess waiting time for frequent services by local authority in England can be found in table collection BUS09b.

Bus passenger satisfaction

England outside London

The Transport Focus Your Bus Journey survey gathers information on levels of satisfaction of bus users with their most recent journey. This is the first year of results from the Your Bus Journey survey. Changes in methodology from previous surveys, Bus Passenger Survey (last conducted in 2019) and Bus User Survey (last conducted in early 2023), mean that direct comparisons between results for these surveys cannot be made.

In 2023, 80% of bus passengers making journeys in England outside London were satisfied with their journey. Satisfaction with the time the journey took was slightly higher, at 81%, while for punctuality, 70% of passengers were satisfied. Amongst fare paying passengers, 67% were satisfied with the value for money of their ticket.

Data from the Your Bus Journey (YBJ) is managed by the independent transport user watchdog Transport Focus and are not official statistics.

For the 2023 survey, the YBJ survey was conducted in 35 areas in England outside London. These areas include the six metropolitan counties, a mix of unitary and county councils and one bus operators’ operating division.

The sample was around 35,000 bus passengers.

The survey does not cover all areas, and will vary slightly from year to year, but covers those that account for around three quarters of bus passenger journeys within Transport Focus’s remit area of England outside London. In some years, the survey coverage will also extend to Scotland and Wales; in 2023, Scotland was covered on a near-national basis.

London

Transport for London collects satisfaction data via the TfL Customer Satisfaction Survey on a wide range of bus service features from a sample of passengers every quarter, based on the journey they have just made.

In the year ending March 2024, there were 77% of bus passengers in London that were satisfied with their journey, which was one percentage point higher than the year ending March 2023, but lower than 85% in the year ending March 2020.

National Travel Survey

The National Travel Survey (NTS) gathers data on personal travel behaviour by residents of England travelling within Great Britain. Data from the NTS can be used to analyse the users of local bus services.

The NTS is a household survey. The data collection consists of a face-to-face interview and a 7-day self-completed written travel diary, allowing travel patterns to be linked with individual characteristics. The survey covers travel by people in all age groups, including children.

In 2023, on average, people in England:

• made 39 local bus trips per person per year (14 trips per person on buses in London and 25 trips per person on buses outside London)
• travelled 181 miles by local bus per person per year (54 miles per person on buses in London and 127 miles per person on buses outside London)
• spent 35 minutes per local bus trip in London and 37 minutes per other local bus trip

These represent:

• 4.3% of trips across all modes of transport
• 3.0% of the distance travelled across all modes of transport

Why do people travel by local bus?

The most common purpose for local bus travel in 2023 was shopping (23%). In previous years, the most common purpose was usually education or escort education (21% in 2023). As shown in Chart 18, shopping was also closely followed by commuting (22%) and leisure (21%).

Chart 18: Purpose share of local bus trips, England, 2023 (NTS0409)

How often do people use local bus services?

Over half of people (52%) rarely use a local bus (less than once a year), while 21% travel at least once a week by local bus, with the remainder (26%) travelling on less than a weekly basis but at least once a year.

Chart 19: Frequency of local bus usage, England, 2023 (NTS0313)

How long are local bus trips?

In 2023, 50% of local bus trips were between 2 and 5 miles. This was almost double the proportion of trips of the same distance travelled by all modes (26%). In contrast, 25% of trips by all modes were under 1 mile while 3% of local bus trips were under 1 mile.

Chart 20: Trip length distribution, for local bus trips and all modes, England, 2023 (NTS0308)

Who uses local bus services?

In 2023, on average, people in households without access to a car made over 5 times as many local bus trips than those with access to a car (116 trips per person compared to 22 trips per person respectively). Local bus services account for over half of all public transport trips made by people in households without access to a car (56%) and under half of all public transport trips made by people in households with access to a car (42%).

Chart 21: Local bus trips per person per year by car availability, England, 2023 (NTS0702)

Mobility difficulties

Mobility difficulties: The NTS definition of having a mobility difficulty is based on those adults who responded to say they have difficulties travelling on foot, by bus or both.

In 2023, the number of local bus trips made by adults aged 16 or over with mobility difficulties was 27 trips per person per year, down from the high of 67 trips per person per year in 2008. This has been steadily decreasing over this period, with larger decreases seen in 2020 and 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Typically, adults with mobility difficulties have used local buses less frequently but rely on them more for the trips they do make (compared to those who do not). Local bus usage makes up 5% of all trips for adults with mobility difficulties, compared to 4% for those who do not. These proportions were 10% and 6% respectively in 2008.

Chart 22: Local bus trips per person per year, by mobility difficulty, England, 2007 to 2023 (NTS0709)

Care should be taken when interpreting this data and comparing to other years, due to changes in the methodology of data collection, changes in travel behaviour and a reduction of data collected during 2020 to 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Household income

In 2023, people in the lowest real income quintile made 67 local bus trips on average, more than any other income quintile, while those in the highest income quintile made the least (25 local bus trips on average).

Age and sex

In 2023, on average, females made more local bus trips than males at 44 and 34 trips per person per year, respectively. This was similar number for females, and an increase for males, when compared to 2022.

When considering the number of trips made by different age groups, for both males and females, those aged 17 to 20 made the highest number of local bus trips per person, with 79 and 90 trips per person, respectively. As age increases after this, average bus trips decline for both males and females up to those aged 50 to 59, and then increases for people aged 60 and over, which may be due to concessionary bus passes.

Chart 23: Local bus trips per person per year, by age and sex, England, 2023 (NTS0601)

Other DfT sources containing bus data

National Travel Survey contains more detailed analysis on trends in public transport use and multi-modal public transport trips alongside several data tables not referenced in this release.

National Travel Attitudes Study (NTAS) is a panel survey made up of people aged 16 and over in England who have completed the National Travel Survey (NTS) and consented to being invited for further research. NTAS wave 10 covered topics on concessionary bus travel and bus fare caps.

Transport Statistics Great Britain (TSGB) contains additional modal comparisons, as well as providing a single publication containing statistics across all transport themes and modes.

Road casualty statistics provides detailed statistics about reported personal injury road collisions for Great Britain, including vehicles and casualties involved.

Speed compliance statistics contain information on speed and headway compliance for long and short buses.

Road traffic statistics provide estimates of the vehicle miles travelled each year in Great Britain by vehicle type, road category and region.

Background information

Methodology improvements

The data processing and imputation process for these statistics has been transferred onto a modern system.

During this transfer, several small improvements were made to the methodology, such as:

• improving data matching when national averages are used
• formalising the scaling process used to keep estimates reasonable during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery
• ensuring all available data was being used when estimating a value

These methodological improvements have resulted in more accurate and reliable figures, particularly in areas with limited data availability.

Consequently, figures from the year ending March 2019 to 2024 have been revised more than the usual annual updates that occur from new information.

Users and uses of these statistics

These statistics provide key information on trends in the bus sector. Within DfT they are used for:

• ministerial briefing and to answer public enquiries
• as background to policy development
• monitoring trends in the bus sector, for example in relation to accessible buses
• by economists in modelling policy options

Outside DfT, known uses include:

• passenger journeys figures are used as a measure of the overall health and state of the industry, for example by private research organisations, and are occasionally reported in the trade press
• local authorities may use these statistics to compare trends in their area with the national picture
• these statistics have also provided background information for reports by the Transport Select Committee
• bus fares data are used by the ONS in calculating the Retail and Consumer Price Indices and in the National Accounts

About these statistics

These official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in June 2012. The continued designation was confirmed in February 2013.

They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled ‘accredited official statistics’.

Some ministers and officials receive pre-release access to these statistics up to 24 hours before release.

Strengths and weaknesses of the data

These statistics are derived from a number of sources, with the main source being the DfT annual Public Service Vehicle (PSV) survey of over 500 local bus operators which provides data on passenger journeys, vehicle miles, revenue and costs, and vehicles and staff. However, certain statistics (for example annual statistics on bus fares) are derived from smaller surveys of the larger bus operators, or from local authorities. Information on passenger journeys and bus mileage for London is provided by Transport for London.

Many of these statistics have been collected on a broadly comparable basis from operators for many years. However, following revisions to the methodology used to compile the published figures, the year ending March 2005 is the earliest year for which figures are comparable on the same basis.

The PSV survey uses imputation techniques to derive key figures for operators who were either not selected in the sample for that year, or who did not respond. On occasion, imputations for earlier years can be improved using data collected from operators for later years. Minor revisions to back-data can occur as a result, although trends are rarely affected substantively.

For the key indicators (passenger journeys and vehicle miles operated) the data provided by operators covers around 95% of the total figure, with the remainder imputed. This will also have an impact on previous year’s data, where more up to date information is used to impute data, usually limited to the 2 preceding years and changes of under 1% to previously reported figures. In rare occurrences we receive corrections to previous data which may change figures to a more significant level particularly at local authority level, including re-allocations across local authority boundaries.

Comparison with other sources suggests that, at aggregate (national) level, the statistics provide a reasonably robust measure of levels and broad trends. However, figures representing smaller groups of operators and single year on year changes should be treated with caution as these are more susceptible to measurement errors (for example, an inaccurate return by an operator, or a change in an operator’s method of producing the figures) which are more likely to even out at the national level.

This has been more relevant in recent years as many companies have switched to ticketing machines and data solutions to record key data. As such, regional and particularly local authority level figures should be interpreted with caution. Local authority level data will change between boundaries, and it is not always possible to backdate the changes. Further details of the data sources and methods used in the production of these statistics can be found in the background quality report.

Next release

The next annual bus statistics are due to be published in late 2025. The next quarterly bus fare statistics for July to September 2024 is scheduled for release in December 2024.

Any updates to these plans will be advertised via the DfT statistical publications schedule.

To hear more about DfT statistical publications as they are released, follow us on X at DfTstats.

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Contact details

Bus statistics

Email bus.statistics@dft.gov.uk

Media enquiries 0300 7777 878