Bus and light rail statistics Great Britain: January-March 2008

This bulletin presents the latest quarterly data on passenger satisfaction, bus reliability and bus and light rail patronage and concessionary fare patronage.

The key points, in seasonally-adjusted terms unless otherwise noted, are as follows.

• The number of bus and light rail journeys in England is provisionally estimated to have reached nearly 4.7 billion in 2007/08, an increase of 18.1 per cent from 2000/01 and of 3.0 per cent from 2006/07.
• In the last year, patronage rose by 2.8 per cent in Great Britain, by 5.0 per cent in London, by 3.2 per cent in English non-Metropolitan areas and by 1.9 per cent in Scotland and Wales. By contrast, patronage in the English Metropolitan areas fell by 0.9 per cent.
• In the last quarter, there was a slight reduction (0.2 per cent) in the number of bus and light rail journeys in England, with patronage falling in both Metropolitan and non-Metropolitan but increasing in London.
• Following the 2004 spending review, the Department's PSA on local public transport has been restated as follows: By 2010, increase the use of public transport (bus and light rail) by more than 12 per cent in England compared with 2000 levels, with growth in every region.
• In Winter 2008, the average score for overall satisfaction given by passengers for the bus journey just completed in England was 81 out of 100, down one point from the previous quarter. Metropolitan areas recorded a score of 84, up one point from the previous quarter. The score in London fell by one point to 79. In Non-Metropolitan areas, the score rose by one point to 84.
• Satisfaction with reliability in England in the latest quarter remained unchanged at 70 out of 100.
• Satisfaction with bus stop information in England was up by one point to 73 out of 100. This value relates to a target agreed with the bus industry, under which operators in England will seek to achieve year-on-year improvement in information at bus stops, based on DfT national passenger satisfaction survey ratings during the period 2000 to 2010.
• The proportion of scheduled mileage run excluding losses outside the operators' control in England was 99.0 per cent, unchanged since the previous quarter. The Department has agreed a target with the bus industry to run 99.5 per cent of scheduled route mileage, except where this is affected by factors beyond their control.

Notes

Statistics Bulletin (08)08 Bus and Light Rail Statistics GB: January to March 2008 is available from DfT, ST1, Zone 3/09, Great Minster House, 76 Marsham Street, London, SW1P 4DR (Tel: 020 7944 4139).

Publication details

Published on 19 June 2008 by Transport Statistics

The next bulletin in this series will be published on Thursday 18 September 2008.

Email: bus.statistics@dft.gsi.gov.uk for queries concerning this publication.

For information about release of this product see National Statistics Online.