« Previous | Contents | Next »
Listen
CHAPTER 2 BUS AND COACH TRAVEL
Figure 2.1 Vehicle stock by type of vehicle
Figure 2.2 Passenger journeys (boardings) and vehicle-kilometres
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 2006-07 decreased by 3% from the previous year, but the overall total was 1% higher than in 1996-97. Over the period since 1996-97, there has been a substantial increase in the number of single decker buses: in 2006-07 there were 7,800 compared to 6,800 in 1996-97. In contrast, the number of double deckers fell from 2,400 in 1996-97 to 1,500 in 2006-07. ( Table 2.1)
2.2 In 2006-07 there were 482 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services, which was 1% more than the previous year and 1% more than 1996-97. Apart from a slight fall in 2005-06 there have been increases in every year since 1999-00. However, recent years' changes have not been large (the latest four years' figures are 478, 479, 477 and 482 million) and could well be due to sampling variability. ( Table 2.2)
2.3 The distance travelled by local bus services in 2006-07 (377 million vehicle kilometres) was 6% higher than the previous year and 2% more than in 1996-97. For the third year running, the distance travelled by other (non-local) bus services decreased in 2006-07, by 10% from the previous year's figure, to 121 million vehicle-kilometres, 27% less than in 1996-97. ( Table 2.3)
2.4 There were 17,400 staff employed by bus and coach operators in 2006-07, 7% less than the previous year and 2% more than 1996-97. ( Table 2.4)
2.5 Bus passenger receipts from local services, in 2006-07 amounted to £424 million. This was £39 million more than 2005-06 and in real terms it was an increase of £29 million (7%). In real terms it was also 14% higher than 1996-97. ( Table 2.5)
2.6 In real terms local bus fares in 2006-07 increased only slightly over the previous year for Scotland but decreased by 3% for Great Britain as a whole. Since 1996-97 fares have increased, in current price terms, by 40% in Scotland and 50% in GB; over the same period the Retail Prices Index rose by 30%. Therefore, local bus fares in Scotland have risen by about 8% in real terms over the past ten years. ( Table 2.6)
2.7 In the Scottish Household Survey interviews conducted in 2006, about 85% of households said that they were within 6 minutes walk of a bus stop. About 5% 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 28% of householders in "remote" rural areas, and around 16% 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 2006, 75% 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, 78% found them comfortable, 87% felt safe and secure on the bus, 90% found the range and price of tickets easy to understand, and 65% 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.)
4.1.5 In September 2005 DfT revised the series produced from the survey back to 1999/2000, using information from operators' recent returns to correct retrospectively the previous data in their earlier years' returns, and an improved method to gross-up the results from the sample. In September 2006, DfT revised the passenger numbers for each year from 1985/86 onwards in order to adjust for the under-recording by some operators of the numbers of passengers who did not pay cash (e.g. those using season tickets, concessionary fare passes, return halves of tickets etc).
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 Government 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 Government Transport Statistics Publications" which also indicates how it can be found on the Scottish Government Website.
5.2 DfT's " Focus on Public Transport" volume and its "Public Transport Statistics Bulletin" 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 Christopher Mottau 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 Andrew Knight of the Scottish Government Transport Statistics branch (tel: 0131 244 7256).
« Previous | Contents | Next »