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CHAPTER 2 BUS AND COACH TRAVEL
1.
Introduction
1.1 This chapter provides information about bus and
coach travel, such as the numbers of passenger journeys and
vehicle-kilometres, passenger receipts and local bus fare
indices, the numbers of vehicles of various types and the
numbers of staff employed.
2.
Main Points
2.1 The number of buses and coaches in 2003-04 increased
by 2% from the previous year, and the overall total was 2%
higher than in 1993-94. Over the period since 1993-94,
there has been a substantial increase in the number of
single decker buses: in 2003-04 there were 7,400 compared
to 6,600 in 1993-94. In contrast, the number of double
deckers fell from 2,500 in 1993-94 to 1,900 in 2003-04.
(
Table 2.1)
2.2 In 2003-04 there were 449 million passenger journeys
(boardings) on local bus services, which was 1% more than
the previous year but 14% less than in 1993-94. The
increase in 2003-04 was only the seventh increase since the
current records began in 1975, and the first time since
then that there have been increases in five consecutive
years.
(
Table 2.2)
2.3 The distance travelled by local bus services in
2003-04 (390 million vehicle kilometres) was 4% more than
the previous year, and 8% more than in 1993-94. The
distance travelled by other (non-local) bus services
decreased in 2003-04, by 12% from the previous year's
figure, to 124 million vehicle-kilometres, 21% less than in
1993-94.
(
Table 2.3)
2.4 There were 18,500 staff employed by bus and coach
operators in 2003-04, 2% more than the previous year and
the same as in 1993-94.
(
Table 2.4)
2.5 The total of bus passenger receipts, from local and
other services, in 2003-04 was £474 million, in real terms
a fall of £35 million (7%) from the previous year and £2
million (0.4%) more than in 1993-94. Passenger receipts on
local bus services decreased by 2% in real terms over the
previous year while other (non-local) services decreased by
20% in real terms over the previous year.
(
Table 2.5)
2.6 In real terms local bus fares in 2003-04 fell by 1%
over the previous year for Scotland and increased by 1% for
Great Britain as a whole. Since 1993-94 fares have
increased, in current price terms, by 50% in Scotland and
51% in
GB; over the same period the Retail
Prices Index rose by 29%. Therefore, local bus fares in
Scotland have risen by about 16% in real terms over the
past ten years. (
Table 2.6)
2.7 In the Scottish Household Survey interviews
conducted in 2004, about 86% of households said that they
were within 6 minutes walk of a bus stop. About 4% of
householders said that they had no bus service or were at
least 14 minutes walk away from the nearest bus stop (or
place where one could get on a bus). However, about 26% of
householders in "remote" rural areas, and around 13% of
those in "accessible" rural areas, said that they had no
bus service or were at least 14 minutes walk away from one.
(
Table 2.7)
2.8 In 2004, 72% of adults who had used a local bus
service within the previous month agreed with the statement
that the buses run on time. 75% agreed that the buses ran
when they were needed, 75% found them comfortable, 86% felt
safe and secure on the bus, 89% found the range and price
of tickets easy to understand, and 68% of bus users felt
that bus fares were good value.
(Table 2.8)
3.
Notes and Definitions
3.1
"Local" bus service: one which is available to the
general public, where passengers pay separate fares and
travel a radial distance no greater than 15 miles / 24
kilometres from the point of boarding.
3.2
"Other services": include contract, private hire,
express journeys, excursions and tours which are not
registered as local services.
3.3
Passenger journeys (boardings): the statistics are
compiled on the basis that each boarding of a vehicle
counts as one passenger journey. Therefore, each trip made
by a passenger on one vehicle on one route counts as a
separate journey. Return tickets therefore count as two
passenger journeys. The numbers of passenger journeys using
season tickets or travel passes may be estimated by
operators.
3.4
Vehicle kilometres: estimates include some
categories of empty running of buses (eg between garage and
terminus) but exclude driver instruction and vehicle
testing.
3.5
Local bus fare indices: Information about the size
of each fares change is supplied by a panel of large
operators. Indices are obtained by averaging charges using
weights based on receipts from passengers (excluding
concessionary fare reimbursement from local authorities).
In theory, therefore, the index measures the change in the
average charge to the fare-paying passenger.
3.6
Commercial services: are those run without direct
financial support from a local transport authority. They
are still eligible for central Government subsidy in the
form of the Bus Service Operators Grant (formerly known as
the fuel duty rebate) and (where applicable) for
concessionary fare reimbursement from local transport
authorities.
3.7
Subsidised services: are those considered socially
necessary and run under contract to local transport
authorities with some direct subsidy. They include a few
services subsidised without competitive tendering, under
Section 91 of the Transport Act 1985 ('de minimis'
arrangements).
3.8
Concessionary fare reimbursement: Local
authorities and Passenger Transport Authorities are able to
provide concessionary fare schemes for groups such as
elderly people and disabled people and children.
Authorities reimburse operators for revenue lost as a
result of their participation in the schemes, after taking
into account income from the extra travel generated. The
reimbursement by authorities should be seen as a subsidy to
the passenger, not to the operator. These schemes should
not be confused with the reductions offered to children,
for example, by many operators on commercial grounds.
3.9
Staff employed: Platform staff comprise drivers,
conductors and any other on-vehicle staff;
maintenance staff include all employees engaged on
cleaning, repair, service or maintenance of vehicles, while
other staff include administrative staff. There
may be some duplication of functions, particularly amongst
the smaller operators.
3.10
Walking time to nearest bus stop: the Scottish
Household Survey (
SHS) interviewer asks how long it would
take him/her to walk to the nearest bus stop (or place
where one could get a bus).
3.11
Frequency of bus service: the
SHS interviewer asks about the frequency
of service at the nearest bus stop (or place one could get
on a bus). If the householder says that the frequency of
service varies, the interviewer asks for the week-day
off-peak frequency.
3.12
SHS urban/rural classification:
notes on this appear in
Chapter 12.
4.
Sources
4.1
The DfT survey of Public Service Vehicle
Operators
4.1.1 The basis for most of the statistics in this
chapter is the annual returns which a sample of Public
Service Vehicle operators make to the Department for
Transport (DfT).
4.1.2 With effect from the 1997-98 survey, the sample
includes all operators who are licensed to run 30 or more
vehicles, plus random samples of smaller operators
(selected with probabilities depending upon their numbers
of vehicles -
e.g. 5% of those with one vehicle, 20% of
those with five vehicles, 40% of those with 10-14
vehicles). The figures for each smaller operator are
"grossed-up" using a grossing-up factor which is the
inverse of the achieved sampling fraction. For example, as
roughly 5% of the smallest operators respond to the survey,
the grossing-up factor for them will be about 20. (While
the aim may be to sample 1-in-20 of the smallest operators,
the survey is unlikely to obtain returns from
exactly 1 in 20 of them: for example, if there
were 250 such operators, and 12 of them were chosen for the
survey and made returns, the grossing-up factor would be
250 divided by 12, which is about 20.8)
4.1.3 For Scottish operators, the method of selecting
the sample is based purely upon the size of the operator's
fleet (in terms of the number of licence discs) and takes
no account of where in Scotland the operator is based. In
cases where the sample appeared to contain too few (or too
many) operators in a particular size-band in Scotland as a
whole, DfT changed the composition of the sample, adding
(or removing) operators in that size - band who are based
in Scotland.
4.1.4 The figures for Scotland for non-local services
are derived from the returns made by the operators who are
based in Scotland, and so will include services into
England which are run by operators based in Scotland, and
will exclude services into Scotland which are run by
operators based in England. (
NB: a large group, such as Stagecoach,
is
not treated as a single operator: there
will be a separate statistical return for each of its
subsidiary companies.)
4.2
Scottish Household Survey
4.2.1 Information about the Scottish Household Survey is
given in
Chapter 12.
5.
Further Information
5.1 The Scottish Executive statistical bulletin "
Bus and Coach Statistics" contains further
information on Scottish bus and coach services, including
more detailed comparisons with Great Britain and more
detailed analyses of the Scottish Household Survey's
questions on bus-related topics. More details of this
publication are given under "Scottish Executive Transport
Statistics Publications" which also indicates how it can be
found on the Scottish Executive Website.
5.2 DfT's "
Focus on Public Transport" volume and its
"Bulletin of Public Transport Statistics" include
some more detailed analyses of
GB bus and coach statistics.
5.3 Enquiries regarding the statistics in
Tables 2.1 to 2.6 should be
made to Paul O'Hara of the Department for Transport (
Tel: 0207 944 3076).
5.4 Enquiries regarding the Scottish Household Survey
figures in
Tables 2.7 and
2.8 should be made to Frank
Dixon of the Scottish Executive Transport Statistics branch
(tel: 0131 244 7254).
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