5 September 2021 – The latest edition of Northern Ireland Transport Statistics, containing statistics for 2020-2021, is now available on the Dfl website.

The compendium publication is produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure and contains information on the road network, public transport and accessible transport in Northern Ireland.

The key points for 2020-21 public transport are:

• At the end of 2020-21, there were 1,089 Ulsterbuses, 280 Metro buses and 32 Gliders on the roads which were, on average, 10.2 years, 8.5 years and 2.7 years old respectively.
• From late March 2020 and during the reporting year 2020-21 there were movement restrictions in place across Northern Ireland due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. This has resulted in a reduction in passenger journeys on public transport during 2020-21 when compared to previous years.
• The number of staff employed at the end of March 2021 was 2,183 (Ulsterbus), 772 (Metro) and 105 (Glider); the corresponding figures for March 2020 were higher at 2,256 (Ulsterbus), 795 (Metro) and 109 (Glider).
• During 2020-21, there were a total of 25.7 million bus and rail passenger journeys; 22.4 million bus passenger journeys (Ulsterbus, Metro and Glider), a decrease of 67% from 2019-20 (68.3 million), and 3.3 million rail passenger journeys, a decrease of 78% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).
• Of the 22.4 million bus passenger journeys during 2020-21, 12.2 million were on Ulsterbus, a decrease of 68% from 2019-20 (37.9 million) and 7.5 million were on Metro, a decrease of 67% since 2019-20 (22.7 million), 2.7 million passenger journeys were on Glider services, a decrease of 65% since 2019-20 (7.7 million).

Read the full document: Northern Ireland Transport Statistics 2020-2021

Download the infographic: Northern Ireland Transport Statistics 2020-2021 PDF