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Statistical Bulletin Transport Series - Trn/2005/1: Bus and Coach Statistics: 2003-04
3. Bus and coach service statistics
3.1 Distance travelled - by type of service (Table 1.1 and Chart A)
Scottish bus and coach services travelled 514 million vehicle kilometres in 2003-04, 1% less than in the previous year. There was a fall of 1% since 1993-94, the same as the corresponding figure for Great Britain as a whole.
The distance travelled by local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 was 390 million vehicle kilometres, 4% more than the previous year, and 8% more than in 1993-94. There was no change in the distance travelled over the past ten years by local bus services in Great Britain.
The distance travelled by other (non-local) Scottish bus services in 2003-04 was 124 million vehicle kilometres, 12% less than in the previous year.
Over the past ten years, the distance travelled by other (non-local) Scottish bus services fell by 21%, compared to a fall of 2% in other (non-local) bus services in Great Britain as a whole.
3.2 Local bus services - distance travelled per head of population
(Table 1.2 and chart B)
The distance travelled by local bus services per head of population has been consistently higher in Scotland than Great Britain (as can be seen clearly in Chart B). In 2003-04 it was over 77 vehicle kilometres per capita in Scotland compared with nearly 45 in Great Britain, and so was 73% higher in Scotland.
3.3 Local bus services - Commercial and Subsidised services' distance travelled (Table 1.2 and Chart A)
The distance travelled by commercial local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 rose by 2% on the previous year to 318 million vehicle kilometres, and was 4% higher than in 1993-94.
The distance travelled by subsidised local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 increased 14% on the previous year, and was 33% higher than in 1993-94. The corresponding rise in "Great Britain outside London" since 1993-94 was 32%.
The subsidised local bus services' share of the total distance travelled by all local bus services in 2003-04 was about 19% in Scotland, compared with about 22% for "Great Britain outside London".
3.4 Passenger journeys (boardings) - local bus services (Table 2.1 and Charts C & D)
In Scotland, there were 449 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in 2003-04. This was 4 million (1%) more than the previous year, in comparison the rise for Great Britain as a whole was 2%. However, the Scottish total for 2003-04 was 15% less than in 1993-94, having fallen in every year since then until the "low point" of 413 million passenger journeys in 1998-99, which was followed by increases in each subsequent year. The corresponding figure for the past ten years in Great Britain is an increase of 4%. The fall of 13% for "Great Britain outside London" was slightly less than for Scotland.
Chart G: Vehicle Stock (Scotland)
Chart H: Staff Employed (Scotland)
The number of passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 represented nearly 89 journeys per head of population, compared with 78 per head of population for Great Britain, and so was 13% higher in Scotland. However, the difference between Scotland and Great Britain as a whole had been reducing: in 1993-94 the Scottish figure was 32% higher than the figure for Great Britain. This reduction in the difference can be seen clearly in Chart D, which shows the Scottish figure had been falling steadily towards the level for Great Britain as a whole until 1998-99; since then, the Scottish figure has risen slightly.
On the 30 September 2002 a national minimum standard of free off-peak local bus travel for elderly and disabled people in Scotland was introduced. The 2003-04 financial year's figures are the first to show its full effect. These figures also reflect the extension, on 1 April 2003, of the arrangements to men aged 60-64 (who then became eligible to receive the same travel benefits as women aged 60+ and men aged 65+).
3.5 Passenger Fares (Table 3.1 and Chart E)
In real terms, bus passenger fares on local services in Scotland fell by 1% between 2002-03 and 2003-04, compared with a 1% increase for Great Britain as a whole. The increase in fares in real terms over the past ten years in Scotland was 16%, and a corresponding 17% rise for Great Britain.
3.6 Passenger price indices for different modes of transport in Great Britain-
(Table 3.2 and Chart E)
While fares for local bus services in Great Britain have risen by 17% in real terms since 1993-94, rail fares have increased by 9%, and motoring costs in Great Britain have, in real terms, decreased by 4% over the same period. (A corresponding range of price indices for Scotland is not available).
3.7 Passenger receipts (Tables 4.1 and 4.2, and Chart F)
The total of Scottish bus and coach service passenger receipts, from local and other services, was £474 million in 2003-04, in real terms a fall of £35 million (7%) from the previous year, but £2 million (less than 1%) more than ten years earlier. Total passenger receipts have increased from £472 million in 1993-94 to £474 million in 2003-04, at constant 2003-04 prices.
Chart I: Estimated distance travelled by local bus services for former regions
Chart J: Estimated distance travelled for former regions
Passenger receipts on local bus services were £358 million in 2003-04, a fall of 2% in real terms on the previous year. They were just £1 million less (in real terms) than in 1993-94. Local bus service passenger receipts have in the last ten years ranged from £338 million to £374 million at 2003-04 prices. However, passenger receipts for other (non-local) bus and coach services in 2003-04 were £116 million, a 20% fall in real terms over the previous year, but 2% higher than in 1993-94. Over the ten years they varied between £113 million and £159 million at 2003-04 prices, but there were several years in which there was very little change in real terms.
In real terms, local bus service passenger receipts in Scotland in 2003-04 were almost the same as in 1993-94. In comparison, in Great Britain outside London there was an 11% rise, while in Great Britain as a whole the rise was 14% .
3.8 Public Transport Support - local bus services (Table 5.1 and Chart F)
Public transport support for local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 was provisionally estimated to be £32 million, in real terms a fall of 3% on the previous year, but a rise of 14% over ten years previously. In comparison, over the same 10 year period, there has been a rise in support of 164% in real terms for Great Britain, with a 36% rise for Great Britain outwith London.
3.9 Concessionary Fare Reimbursement - local bus services (Table 5.3 and Chart F)
Concessionary fare reimbursement on local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 was provisionally estimated to be £40 million, in real terms a fall of 2% from the previous year, and 20% less than in 1993-94. In Great Britain there was a decrease of 4% in real terms over the past ten years.
3.10 Operating costs per vehicle kilometre - local bus services (Table 6.1)
The estimated average operating cost (including depreciation) of local bus services in Scotland, was 80 pence per vehicle-kilometre in 2003-04, in real terms 3% less than in the previous year, and 19% lower than ten years earlier. The corresponding estimated average operating cost (including depreciation) for Great Britain was 114 pence per vehicle kilometre, and the fall in real terms over the past ten years was 1%.
3.11 Operating costs per passenger journey - local bus services (Table 6.2)
The estimated average operating cost (including depreciation) per passenger journey for local bus services in Scotland in 2003-04 was 69 pence, in real terms slightly less than the previous year and a 2% increase on ten years ago. The operating cost per passenger journey for Great Britain was 65 pence, and had fallen by 4% over the past ten years.
3.12 Number of buses and coaches (Tables 7.1 and 7.2, and Chart G)
With effect from 2003-04, the Department for Transport's survey of Public Service Vehicle operators no longer asks operators for a breakdown of single deckers by their numbers of seats. This means that figures for the numbers of single deckers with 17-35 seats and with 36+ seats are no longer available.
There was a 2% rise in the overall total number of buses and coaches in Scotland in 2003-04 from the previous year, and it was 2% higher than ten years earlier.
In Scotland over the period since 1993-94, there has been a 12% increase in the number of single deckers (including coaches), from 6,600 to 7,400. The number of double deckers fell by 24% from 2,500 in 1993-94 to 1,900 in 2003-04, but has risen by 6% over the past year.
In Great Britain, the 6% increase in the total number of buses and coaches over the past ten years was greater than Scotland's 2% rise. The number of single deckers rose by 15% over the last ten years but is practically unchanged from the previous year. The number of double deckers in Great Britain fell by 18% in ten years but, like single deckers, is unchanged from the previous year.
Chart K: Estimated passenger journeys on local bus services
Chart L: Estimated passenger journeys on local bus services for former regions
Note: Figures may be subject to considerable uncertainty (see section 6.6)
Information about the numbers of buses and coaches which have low floors, powered lifts or ramps, or kneeling mechanisms has only been collected with effect from the return for the 1997-98 financial year. However, in 2000-01 the question within the DfT bus and coach survey was changed and in 2001-02 the question on low floor vehicles was changed again to record those which had a certificate under PSV Accessibility Regulations 2000, and those which did not have the certificate but were of low floor designs suitable for wheelchair access. In Great Britain in 2003-04, over one fifth (23%) of full size buses met the above criteria. As a result, figures within Table 7.2 for 2000-01 onwards are on a different basis to previous years. It should also be noted that some of the apparent year-to-year changes may be misleading, possibly being due to the effects of sampling variability - see the notes on the source of the figures, in section 6.
3.13 Staff Employed (Table 8.1 and Chart H)
There were 18,500 staff employed by bus and coach operators in Scotland in 2003-04, 300 (2%) more than the previous year, and unchanged from 1993-94. In contrast there was a 3% increase in the number of staff employed in Great Britain over the same ten year period.
In Scotland there was an increase in the number of "platform staff" (including drivers, conductors and other on-vehicle staff) of 300 (2%) when compared with the previous year. In Great Britain "platform staff" fell by 100 over the same period. In 2003-04, "maintenance and other staff" numbers in Scotland rose by 1% from the previous year, but were 21% lower when compared with 1993-94.
3.14 Local bus services: Estimated vehicle kilometres and passenger journeys (boardings) for areas within Scotland (Tables 9.1 and 9.2, and Charts I to L)
Estimates for areas within Scotland can be produced from the statistical returns but it should be noted that the statistical returns were not designed to produce figures for parts of Scotland, and therefore some of the estimates may be subject to considerable uncertainty. The reasons for this are explained in section 6.6.
The estimates for different parts of Scotland that are given in this bulletin should therefore be seen as a general guide to the levels and trends, with the occasional "hiccup" in the series being a reminder that the estimates may be affected by the kinds of factors described in section 6.6 and so are not necessarily reliable. This point is particularly relevant in the case of the estimates for the areas with the smallest populations where (for example) apparently large year-to-year fluctuations could be caused by the "luck of the draw" including in the sample several operators in one year and few operators in another year - or could reflect genuine changes in the level of provision and patronage of services in those areas due to (e.g.) expansion or contraction by one or more operators.
The estimates suggest that, over the past ten years, there have been increases in the number of vehicle kilometres run by local bus services in some parts of Scotland, and falls in other areas. At the same time, the numbers of passenger journeys (boardings) have fallen in all the main populated areas, with the scale of the percentage reduction apparently varying between areas. However, patronage in Lothian and Strathclyde appears to have risen since 1998-99, with the figure for Lothian in 2003-04 being only 2% less than ten years earlier. The overall figures for Lothian for 2001-02 do not appear to have been affected greatly by the Edinburgh "bus war", which took place between August 2001 and July 2002.
Chart M: Local bus services: passenger journeys and distance travelled by services (vehicle kilometres) - Scotland
logarithmic scale
Note: For the later years, the figures relate to the financial years which began in the specified calendar years (e.g. "1996" figures are for financial year 1996-97).
3.15 Local bus services: Longer term trends (Table 10.1 and Chart M)
Some key statistics are available for local bus services for years from 1975. However, due to changes in methods of collecting the data, figures for years prior to 1985-86, which was the last full year prior to deregulation, may be less reliable than those for later years.
The distance travelled (vehicle kilometres) by local bus services in Scotland has increased by 15% since 1975, mainly due to an increase between 1985 and 1994. (Prior to 1985, there had been falls in most years since 1975). However, the number of passenger journeys (boardings) has decreased by 50% since 1975, with falls in most of the years since then. There have been increases in only seven of the 27 years since 1975: the rise in 2003-04 was only the fifth since 1987-88, and the first time since the current records began in 1975 that there had been rises in five consecutive years. Chart M shows how the increase from the "low point" of 413 million passenger journeys in 1998-99 compares with the falls in the previous 20-or-so years.
For Great Britain as a whole, the distance travelled (vehicle kilometres) rose by 5% and the number of passenger journeys fell by 40% between 1975 and 2003-04.
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