Bus statistics for England for the year ending March 2023 have been published by the Department for Transport. Statistics include recovery from the coronavirus pandemic, passenger journeys, bus mileage, and vehicles.

One of the key points includes an increase in bus journeys from 2022.

• In the year ending March 2023, there were 3.4 billion passenger journeys made by local bus in England, an increase of 0.5 billion or 19.3% compared with the year ending March 2022.
• Passenger journeys in London accounted for 52.2% of all passenger journeys made by local buses in England in the year ending March 2023.
• In the year ending March 2023, there were 1.6 billion passenger journeys made by local buses in England outside London, an increase of 19%.

Bus mileage in England saw a decrease when compared to the financial year ending 2022 by 4.6% in England, 3.4% in London and by 5.1% in England outside of London.

The report covers the year to end March 2023, which is the first time since the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic where restrictions and guidelines were not in place.

Read the full report: Annual bus statistics: year ending March 2023

28 September 2023 – The government has pledged a further £80 million to support buses into 2025.

The funding will protect essential bus services and allow local authorities to make the improvements that would most benefit their communities.

Roads Minister Richard Holden today confirmed allocations for 64 local authorities across England from the £80 million investment in the bus service improvement plan+ (BSIP+) for 2024 to 2025.

Local authorities can use the funding to improve local buses by bringing in new services or routes, extending timetables through new morning or evening buses or making tickets cheaper through reduced fares for elderly or young people. They can also protect hundreds of bus services with low passenger numbers so that people who rely on them for essential services can continue to access their local bus.

Roads Minister Richard Holden said:  “Buses are the most popular form of public transport and millions of people across the country from the Tees Valley to Torbay rely on their local service to get to work, attend medical appointments and see loved ones.

“We are providing a further £80 million to help local authorities improve and protect essential services, delivering for local communities across the country by enhancing transport connections, supporting passengers and growing the economy.”

Today also marks the publication of the £2 Bus Fare Cap Second Interim Evaluation Report, analysing the initial impact of the cap in January and February 2023, the first 2 months of the measure.

£80 million to support buses into 2025: read the full story on the Department for Transport website.

The key points on public transport journeys are:

• In 2022-23, there were 73.5 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 14.2 million or 23.9% since 2021-22, but a decrease of 11.9% from 2019-20 (83.4 million).
• During 2022-23, there were, 60.6 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 19.9% when compared with 2021-22 (50.5 million), but a decrease of 11.3% from 2019-20 (68.3 million journeys).
• There were 12.9 million rail passenger journeys in 2022-23, an increase of 47.4% when compared with 2021-22 (8.8 million) but a decrease of 14.7% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).
• In March 2023, the number of bus passenger journeys reached it’s highest monthly level since the beginning of the pandemic with 6.7 million journeys. Monthly rail passenger journeys reached a post-pandemic peak of 1.4 million in December 2022.

The Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2022-23 report includes data on public transport passenger journeys during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic. Read the full report.