Accredited official statistics

Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2025

Published 26 November 2025

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.

Following a review of the methodology for table BUS03, the table has been fully revised back to 2005. These figures cover passenger miles and average bus occupancy, which are primarily used to compare bus usage with other modes of transport.

This is in addition to the routine minor revisions made to this statistical series to reflect new information received from local bus operators.

Headline figures

In England, there were 3.7 billion local bus passenger journeys in the year ending March 2025, an increase of 1% compared with the year ending March 2024, indicating stability, following a few years of large increases to recover after COVID-19. 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 2025, there were 1.0 billion bus service miles ran in England, an increase of 2% compared with the year ending March 2024.

Table 1 summarises the annual figures for bus passenger journeys and mileage for the year ending March 2025, 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 2025 (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	1.82	-1%	+3%	0.28	~0%	~0%
English metropolitan areas	0.78	+5%	+13%	0.24	+1%	+1%
English non-metropolitan areas	1.06	+3%	+15%	0.49	+3%	+2%
England	3.66	+1%	+8%	1.01	+2%	+1%
England outside London	1.84	+4%	+14%	0.73	+3%	+2%
Scotland	0.33	+2%	+14%	0.18	+5%	+5%
Wales	0.07	+1%	+17%	0.05	-1%	-6%
Great Britain	4.07	+1%	+9%	1.24	+2%	+1%

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.

Daily data

In 2025, a new data series was published detailing local authority level changes in bus passenger numbers and trips, aimed at offering more granular coverage than existing outputs. The data compares the figures for each date with a similar date in the previous year, and then takes a 7-day average to smooth out the trends.

In England outside London, during the year ending March 2025, compared to the previous year:

• passenger journeys were higher on 76% of days
• bus trips were higher on 95% of days

These figures are equivalent to the days when the line is above 100% in chart 1, and imply that local bus passenger journeys and local bus trips have both increased in the year ending March 2025. This is line with the headline findings from the annual PSV survey.

Daily data on passenger journeys and bus trips have been provided by Ticketer, one of the largest providers of Electronic Ticketing Machines (ETMs) in the UK. Currently, data from around 220 local bus operators (excluding Transport for London (TfL) and Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) data) are included in the Ticketer data, representing around 50% of the overall bus market. We are confident that these figures are robust enough to indicate overall trends for England outside London.

Passenger journeys: A count of the total number of boardings of each vehicle, so a trip which requires a change from one bus to another would be counted as two journeys in these figures.

It will include physical ticket sales, where money changes hands, as well as smart cards (commercial or concessionary), QR tickets, and where the driver counts passengers (such as school runs). If a passenger takes 2 buses it will be counted twice.

Bus trips: The number of trips by the operator for a specific vehicle, direction and driver where at least one passenger has taken the service i.e. any service with no passengers will not be included as a trip. A service that has been cancelled would not be included. A long route and a short route will each count as 1, but a service that has 10 buses an hour will be counted 10 times. There can be split trips, where all the passengers stay on board but there is a new driver, which would count as 2.

Chart 1: 7-day average of bus passenger journeys and bus trips in England outside London, as a proportion of a similar week in the previous year, the year ending March 2025 (Faster indicators)

These statistics are labelled ‘official statistics in development’. Official statistics in development are official statistics that are temporarily undergoing a development and are being tested with users, in line with the standards of trustworthiness, quality, and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics. We expect this release series to remain labelled as official statistics in development for the foreseeable future. Please see the methodology note for more details.

Passenger journeys

In the year ending March 2025, there were 3.7 billion passenger journeys made by local bus in England, an increase of 1% compared with the year ending March 2024, indicating stability, following a few years of large increases to recover after COVID-19 (see chart 2).

Chart 2: Local bus passenger journeys (billions) in England, the year ending March 2005 to 2025 (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 2025 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 2025 (BUS01a)

London

There were 1.8 billion passenger journeys made by local buses in London in the year ending March 2025, a decrease of 1% compared with the year ending March 2024. Passenger journeys in London accounted for 50% of all passenger journeys made on local buses in England in the year ending March 2025.

Prior to this, bus use in London has been on a downward trend since the peak of 2.4 billion passenger journeys in the year ending March 2014 (see chart 3).

England outside London

In the year ending March 2025, there were 1.8 billion passenger journeys made by local buses in England outside London, an increase of 4% compared with the year ending March 2024. This continues the recovery from the previous year, reaching 93% 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 2025, an increase of 5% compared with the year ending March 2024 (see chart 4). In non-metropolitan areas, there were 1.1 billion passenger journeys, an increase of 3% compared with the year ending March 2024 (see chart 4).

Chart 4: Local bus passenger journeys (billions) in England outside London by area type, the year ending March 2005 to 2025 (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 2025, an increase of 2% compared with the year ending March 2024. 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 10: England outside London, the year ending March 2025 (BUS01f)

Between the year ending March 2024 and 2025, there were increases across most local authorities. Brighton and Hove had the most bus passenger journeys per head at 154 in the year ending March 2025 (see chart 5).

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

Map 1: Journeys per head of population by local authority: England, the year ending March 2025 (BUS01f)

Concessionary travel

In the year ending March 2025, 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 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 2025. This was broadly similar in London, where the figure was 27%.

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.

Bus mileage

In the year ending March 2025, there were 1.0 billion bus service miles ran in England, an increase of 2% compared with the year ending March 2024. Bus mileage in England had returned to 89% of pre-pandemic levels.

In England outside London, bus mileage saw an increase of 3% compared with the year ending March 2024 (see chart 6). Bus mileage in England outside London had returned to 86% of pre-pandemic levels.

In London, bus mileage was broadly similar to the year ending March 2024. London bus mileage has changed very little since the year ending March 2005, fluctuating between around 282 and 304 million vehicle miles (see chart 6).

Chart 6: Vehicle miles (billions) on local bus services by area type: England, the year ending March 2005 to 2025 (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

Local bus services can be operated in broadly 3 ways:

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

Publicly controlled services is a new measure in these statistics introduced in 2025, currently covering London and Greater Manchester.

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 has seen a decrease of 29% compared with the year ending March 2005.

In the year ending March 2025, bus mileage in England outside London comprised of 574 million commercial miles, 123 million supported miles, and 33 million publicly controlled miles.

Chart 7: Vehicle miles (billions) on local bus services by service type: England outside London, the year ending March 2005 to 2025 (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 2025 was at 77% 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.

In the year ending March 2024, publicly controlled mileage started in Greater Manchester, as services started to transition into the Bee Network. In the year ending March 2025, 5% of services in England outside London were publicly controlled.

Bus fleet

As at March 2025, 30,410 buses were used by local bus operators in England, an increase of 1% compared with March 2024.

Nearly all buses:

• had CCTV (98%)
• were EMV enabled for payment by contactless bank card (96%)
• were ITSO smart enabled in England outside London (95%)
• had been issued with an accessibility certificate (99%)
• had an AVL device (99%)

Most buses:

• provided audio visual information to passengers (61%)
• had diesel engines (excluding hybrid) (69%)
• met Euro VI emission standards (61%)

Some buses:

• had device charging points (35%)
• had free Wi-Fi (13%)
• were zero emission (12%)

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.

Area type

Across England, buses were split by area type as:

• 8,913 buses were in London (29% of total)
• 7,894 buses were in metropolitan areas (26% of total)
• 13,603 buses were in non-metropolitan areas (45% of total)

Year of manufacture

As at March 2025, the most common (modal) year of manufacture for buses operated in England was 2016, accounting for 2,543 buses (see chart 8). The second most common year of manufacture was 2024, accounting for 2,363 buses.

Chart 8: Number of buses by year of manufacture: England, March 2025 (BUS06b, BUS06f)

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 9).

As at March 2025, the proportion of buses used by local operators in England that were equipped with CCTV was 98%, up from 44% in March 2006.

Almost all buses were fitted with an AVL device (99% of buses in England, compared with 35% in March 2007) as at March 2025. Of all buses in England, 98% of AVL devices were being used to monitor punctuality and 98% used the AVL device to provide real time service information to customers. All these AVL figures have been over 90% since March 2018.

As at March 2025, 61% of buses in England provided Audio Visual information to passengers (see chart 9). However, this proportion varies greatly in different parts of the country, being:

• 99% in London, up from 83% in March 2013
• 45% in England outside London, up from 7% in March 2013

Also, as at March 2025, there were 51% 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 2025, 96% of buses in England were EMV smart card enabled for payment (contactless), up from 43% in March 2017 (see chart 9).

Chart 9: Percentage of buses fitted with CCTV, AVL, Audio Visual and EMV smart enabled: England, the year ending March 2025 compared with previous years (BUS06d)

As at March 2025, the proportion of buses in England outside London that were ITSO smart enabled for payment was 95%, up from 25% in March 2011.

In England, free Wi-Fi has been gradually declining since March 2020, from a peak of 32%, prior to which figures had been increasing. As at March 2025, the proportion was 13%. This is due to some larger operators deciding to stop offering free Wi-Fi as a cost saving measure.

Bus emission standards

As at March 2025, 61% of buses in England met the latest Euro VI emissions standards (see chart 10). A further 16% and 4% of buses met older Euro V and Euro IV standards, respectively. London had higher emissions standards than the rest of England with 76% meeting Euro VI standards.

Chart 10: Percentage of local buses by Emissions standards in England, as at March 2025 (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 2025, 69% of buses in England had a diesel fuel engine. A further 14% had a diesel-hybrid engine, 12% were electric, 1% had a methane or biomethane engine, and a very small proportion were hydrogen (see chart 11).

Chart 11: Percentage of local buses by fuel type in England, as at March 2025 (BUS06e)

Financial outlook

Bus fares

The local bus fares index (BUS04di) saw an increase of 7% in England between March 2024 and March 2025. 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 increased above inflation.

The national bus fare cap for single tickets was in place throughout this period, with the £2 fare cap increasing to £3 from January 2025. This scheme has affected the local bus fare index for the latest period.

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

• broadly similar in London
• a 10% increase in metropolitan areas
• a 17% increase in non-metropolitan areas
• a 14% increase in England outside London

Retail Price Index (RPI) figures from the Office of National Statistics (ONS) (see chart 12) show that prices have seen large increases in the United Kingdom (UK) since 1987. In March 2025, the RPI increases were for:

• bus and coach fares, an increase of 9% compared with March 2024
• rail fares, an increase of 6% compared with March 2024
• motoring costs, broadly similar to March 2024

Chart 12: Retail Price Index for bus and coach fares, rail fares and motoring expenditure, UK, January to March (Q1), 1987 to 2025 (DOCX, DOCW, CHBK)

Government support

Central and local government support for local bus services is provided through several different types of scheme (see table 2).

Table 2: Government support schemes, as at March 2025

Type of support	Time period	Intended purpose	Notes
Public transport support	Ongoing	Support for bus services	Local Transport Authority support of bus services, either directly or by subsidies to operators or individuals.
Concessionary reimbursement	Ongoing	Support for concessionary passengers	Reimbursement from local authorities for carrying concessionary passengers.
Bus Service Operators Grant (BSOG)	Ongoing	Fuel duty rebate	Rate cut by 20% from April 2012. Devolved to TfL from October 2013 for London.
COVID-19 Bus Services Support Grant (CBSSG)	April 2020 to August 2021	Support due to reduced patronage	Support for bus operators in England due to impacts of COVID-19 on passenger receipts.
Bus Recovery Grant (BRG)	September 2021 to June 2023	Support due to ongoing reduced patronage	Support for bus operators in England after CBSSG ended.
Bus Fare Cap Grant (BFCG)	January 2023 to December 2024	Fare affordability	Implement a £2 cap on eligible single tickets for adults.
Bus Service Operators Grant plus (BSOG plus)	July 2023 to present	Long-term sustainability in bus funding	Supports reform and consolidation of bus funding. This is a separate grant from BSOG.
National Bus Fare Cap (NBFC)	January 2025 to present	Fare affordability	Implement a £3 cap on eligible single tickets for adults.

Data for public transport support and concessionary reimbursement comes from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG).

At time of publication, only provisional data has been published on revenue outturn. Consequently, this release doesn’t include estimates for public transport support, concessionary travel reimbursement, and total operating revenue for local bus services for the year ending March 2025.

We plan to publish updated tables at a later date once final revenue outturn data has been published by MHCLG.

In the latest available figures, the year ending March 2024, the total estimated operating revenue for local bus services in England was £6.1 billion.

Passenger fare receipts

In the year ending March 2025, passenger fare receipts in England were £3.4 billion, broadly similar to the year ending March 2024 (adjusted for inflation). Passenger fare receipts had returned to 87% of pre-pandemic levels in England (see chart 13).

Figures for passenger fare receipts have been impacted by the national bus fare cap scheme (and its previous versions) since the year ending March 2023. The scheme provides funding to operators to subsidise the reduced fares from passengers.

Chart 13: Passenger fare receipts on local bus services: England, the year ending March 2005 to 2025 (£ billions, March 2025 prices) (BUS05aii)

Operating costs

Break in series for operating costs

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.

In England outside London, operating costs in the year ending March 2025 for local bus services were £3.8 billion. When adjusted for inflation, this was a decrease of 1% compared with the year ending March 2024 (see chart 14).

Adjusted for inflation, operating costs increased between the year ending March 2005 and 2010. Between the year ending March 2010 and 2022, operating costs declined, 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 14: Operating costs for local bus services: England outside London, the year ending March 2005 to 2025 (£ billions, March 2025 prices) (BUS04eii)

Bus staff

Figures from the PSV survey (table BUS07b) show local bus operators employed an estimated 92,320 full-time equivalent staff in England, including maintenance and admin staff, as at March 2025. This was an increase of 2% compared with the year ending March 2024.

Legislation requiring drivers to be trained in disability awareness came into effect from March 2018. As at March 2025, the proportion of bus operators that required drivers to meet this requirement was 97%.

Bus and coach drivers

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

Earnings

Provisional figures from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) in the year ending March 2025 state that the median number of hours that bus and coach drivers worked was 40 hours a week, more than the national median figure of 36.9 hours a week (table 14.9a).

Over the same period, bus and coach drivers earned £639 a week, above the national median figure of £627 for the first time since 2019 (table 14.2a).

Demographics

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) highlighted some quality concerns with Annual Population Survey (APS) outputs in 2024.

Mitigating actions have been taken by ONS and users of these data should review their latest position when interpreting the figures.

Figures from the Annual Population Survey (APS) show that the average age of bus and coach drivers for the period 2022 to 2024 was 52, which has increased slightly over time from 49 for the period covering 2013 to 2015.

Over a quarter (27%) of bus and coach drivers were aged 60 or over in the period covering 2022 to 2024. This was an increase from 25% in the period covering 2013 to 2015 (see chart 15).

Most bus drivers were male (87%) for the period 2022 to 2024, which was lower than in the period covering 2013 to 2015, when it was 92%.

Chart 15: Age range of bus and coach drivers, England, 2013 to 2015 compared with 2022 to 2024 (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 2025, 80% of non-frequent services in England ran on time. ‘On time’ is defined here as between 1 minute early and 5 minutes 59 seconds late.

This was broadly similar to the year ending March 2024, in contrast to the decline between the year ending March 2021 and 2024. However, the latest figure was still lower than those seen prior to COVID-19 and was comparable to the year ending March 2009 (see chart 16).

At the regional level, non-frequent bus services running on time in the year ending March 2025 varied between 74% and 86% (see map 2). At the local authority level, there was greater variation ranging between 61% and 98%.

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

Chart 16: Percentage of non-frequent services running on time: England, the year ending March 2008 to 2025 (BUS09a)

Map 2: Percentage of non-frequent services running on time: England, the year ending March 2025 (BUS09a)

Bus passenger satisfaction

England outside London

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

The survey gathers information on levels of satisfaction of bus users with their most recent journey. 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.

The survey coverage will vary slightly from year to year and does not cover every local authority. However, it does cover those that account for around 75% of bus passenger journeys within England outside London.

In 2024, 83% of bus passengers making journeys in England outside London were satisfied with their journey, which was higher than the previous year (80%).

Satisfaction with the time the journey took was similar to overall satisfaction, at 83%, while for punctuality, 75% of passengers were satisfied. Amongst fare paying passengers, 73% were satisfied with the value for money of their ticket.

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 2025, there were 78% of bus passengers in London that were satisfied with their journey, which was one percentage point higher than the year ending March 2024, 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 travel diary, allowing travel patterns to be linked with individual characteristics. The survey covers travel by people in all age groups, including children.

In 2024, on average, people in England:

• made 41 local bus trips per person per year (13 trips per person on buses in London and 28 trips per person on buses outside London)
• travelled 188 miles by local bus per person per year (49 miles per person on buses in London and 139 miles per person on buses outside London)
• spent 36 minutes per local bus trip in London and 38 minutes per local bus trip outside London

These represent:

• 4% of trips across all modes of transport
• 3% 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 2024 was leisure (23%). As shown in Chart 17, leisure was also closely followed by commuting (21%) and shopping (21%).

Chart 17: Purpose share of local bus trips, England, 2024 (NTS0409)

How often do people use local bus services?

Around half of people (50%) rarely use a local bus (less than once a year), while 23% travel at least once a week by local bus, with the remainder (28%) travelling on less than a weekly basis but at least once a year (see chart 18).

Chart 18: Frequency of local bus usage, England, 2024 (NTS0313)

How long are local bus trips?

In 2024, 48% of local bus trips were between 2 and 5 miles (see chart 19). This was around 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 19: Trip length distribution, for local bus trips and all modes, England, 2024 (NTS0308)

Who uses local bus services?

In 2024, on average, people in households without access to a car made over 4 times as many local bus trips than those with access to a car, as shown in chart 20 (122 trips per person compared to 26 trips per person respectively). Local bus services account for 58% of all public transport trips made by people in households without access to a car and 44% of all public transport trips made by people in households with access to a car.

Chart 20: Local bus trips per person per year by car availability, England, 2024 (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 2024, the number of local bus trips made by adults aged 16 or over with mobility difficulties was 33 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 (see chart 21).

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 21: Local bus trips per person per year, by mobility difficulty, England, 2007 to 2024 (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 2024, people in the lowest real income quintile made 66 local bus trips on average, more than any other income quintile, while those in the highest income quintile made the least (29 local bus trips on average).

Age and sex

In 2024, on average, females made more local bus trips than males at 45 and 37 trips per person per year, respectively. These were broadly similar when compared to 2023.

When considering the number of trips made by different age groups, for both females and males, those aged 17 to 20 made the highest number of local bus trips per person, with 81 and 94 trips per person, respectively.

For those aged between 21 and 59, the average bus trips per person were much lower for both sexes, with females ranging between 33 and 53, and males ranging between 22 and 44 (see chart 22). The trend from those aged 60 upwards is likely affected by the use of concessionary bus passes.

Chart 22: Local bus trips per person per year, by age and sex, England, 2024 (NTS0601)

Other DfT sources containing bus data

National Travel Survey (NTS) 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

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 based on several data sources, with the main one being the DfT annual Public Service Vehicle (PSV) survey. This survey collects information from around 450 local bus operators on passenger journeys, vehicle miles, revenue, costs, vehicles, and staff. However, some statistics (for example annual statistics on bus fares) are derived from smaller surveys of the larger bus operators, from local authorities, or from transport operators such as Transport for London and Transport for Greater Manchester.

Many of these statistics have been collected on a broadly comparable basis from operators for many years. However, following revisions to the methodology used, data are only comparable back to the year ending March 2005 on the same basis.

For the key indicators (passenger journeys and vehicle miles operated) the data provided by operators covers over 95% of the total figure, with the remainder imputed. Figures for the previous 4 years are revised to use the best imputation method available. These corrections are usually minimal and rarely affect trends. In rare occurrences, we receive major corrections to previous data which may change trends at local authority level.

At an aggregate level, these statistics provide a 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. These errors could be, an inaccurate return by an operator, or a change in an operator’s method of producing the figures, and these are 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. 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 2026. The next quarterly bus fare statistics for October to December 2025 is scheduled for release in March 2026.

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