A range of statistics on buses in Great Britain, including passenger journeys, vehicle miles, costs, fleet and staff. Information on bus operator revenue will be added in December 2015.

The statistical summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2015, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased by 0.6% in England as a whole, with 4.65 billion journeys in total
• increased by 0.1% in London, which accounts for more than half of all journeys
• decreased by 1.3% outside London continuing the long-term decline in passenger journeys since 1985 to 1986

Over the same period, bus service mileage:

• fell by an estimated 0.6% in England
• in London was at the same level (over 300 million vehicle miles) seen since 2011 to 2012
• fell 0.7% outside London, with a 10% fall in mileage on services supported by local authorities (which accounted for 17% of total mileage) partly offset by an 1.4% increase in mileage on commercial services

At March 2015, 89% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which will be required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (99% of buses in London and 85% outside London).

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A range of statistics on buses in Great Britain, including passenger journeys, vehicle miles, costs, fleet and staff. Information on bus operator revenue will be added in December 2014.

The statistical summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

Main results

In the year ending March 2014, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• increased 2.3% in England as a whole, with 4.7 billion journeys in total
• increased 3.0% in London, which accounts for half of all journeys
• increased 1.5% outside London, the first increase since the year ending March 2009, with greater growth in non-concessionary journeys

Over the same period, bus service mileage:

• fell by an estimated 0.3% in England overall
• was at the same level as the previous year in London
• fell 0.4% outside London, with a 7% fall in mileage on services financially supported by local authorities (which accounts for 19% of the total) partly offset by an increase in mileage on commercial services

At March 2014, 84% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which will be required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (98% of buses in London and 79% outside London).

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Local bus statistics in Great Britain, including passengers, mileage and vehicle fleet, for the year ending March 2017.

The summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2017, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased by 1.5% in England
• decreased by 2.3% in London
• decreased by 0.8% outside London

In the year ending March 2017, bus service mileage:

• fell by an estimated 1.1% in England
• increased by 0.4% in London
• fell by 1.6% outside London

At March 2017, 98% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which will be required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (100% of buses in London and 97% outside London).

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Local bus statistics in Great Britain, including passengers, mileage and vehicle fleet, for the year ending March 2018.

The summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2017, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased by 1.9% in England
• decreased by 0.7% in London
• decreased by 3.2% outside London

In the year ending March 2018, bus service mileage:

• fell by an estimated 3.4% in England
• fell by 0.9% in London
• fell by 4.2% outside London

At March 2018, 98% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which were required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (100% of buses in London and 97% outside London).

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A range of statistics on buses in Great Britain, including passenger journeys, vehicle miles, costs, fleet and staff. Information on bus operator revenue will be added in December.

The statistical summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

Main results

In the financial year ending 2013, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased 1.4% in England as a whole, with 4.6 billion journeys in total
• was broadly unchanged in London, which accounts for half of all journeys
• fell by 2.5% outside London, continuing the downward trend of recent years

Over the same period, bus service mileage:

• fell by 0.6% in England overall
• was at the same level as the previous year in London
• fell 0.9% outside London, with an 8% fall in mileage on services financially supported by local authorities (which accounts for 20% of the total) offset by an increase in mileage on commercial services

At March 2013, 92% of buses in England were low floor designs, with 78% having the accessibility certificate which will be required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest.

Local bus statistics in Great Britain, including passengers, mileage and vehicle fleet, for the year ending March 2020. The summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2020, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased by 5.5% in England
• decreased by 4.9% in London
• decreased by 6.2% in England outside of London

In the year ending March 2019, bus service mileage:

• decreased by 3.1% in England
• decreased by 0.2% in London
• decreased by 4.1% in England outside of London

At March 2020, 99% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which was required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (100% of buses in London and 99% of buses in England outside of London).

This publication covers the year to 31 March 2020, which includes a period after movement restrictions due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) were announced in March. The collection of passenger data is not granular enough to distinguish numbers of passenger journeys before and after the restrictions were announced. An indication of changes in bus passenger volume during this period can be found in the separate weekly release covering transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Statistics on buses in Great Britain, including passenger journeys, vehicle miles, costs, fleet and staff. Information on bus operator revenue has been added.

The summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2016, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased by 2.6% in England
• decreased by 3.0% in London
• decreased by 2.1% outside London

Over the same period, bus service mileage:

• fell by an estimated 2.0% in England
• was at the same level in London
• fell 2.8% outside London
• on commercial services fell by 0.8%

At March 2016, 94% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which will be required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (100% of buses in London and 92% outside London).

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Local bus statistics in Great Britain, including passengers, mileage and vehicle fleet, for the year ending March 2021.

The summary relates only to England to match the coverage of the Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2021, the number of bus passenger journeys:

• decreased by 61% in England
• decreased by 59% in London
• decreased by 64% in England outside of London

In the year ending March 2021, bus service mileage:

• decreased by 16% in England
• decreased by 2% in London
• decreased by 21% in England outside of London

At March 2021, 99% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which were required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest.

This publication covers the year to 31 March 2021, which includes periods during which movement restrictions were in place due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The collection of passenger data is not granular enough to distinguish numbers of passenger journeys at different points during this period. An indication of changes in bus passenger volume during this period can be found in the separate weekly release covering transport use during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

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Local bus statistics in Great Britain, including passengers, mileage and vehicle fleet, for the year ending March 2019.

The summary relates only to England to match the coverage of Department for Transport bus policy, but the tables also cover Scotland and Wales.

In the year ending March 2019, the number of bus passenger journeys decreased by:

• 0.7% in England
• 1.2% in London
• 0.1% in England outside of London

In the year ending March 2019, bus service mileage decreased by:

• 1.3% in England
• 1.9% in London
• 1.1% in England outside of London

At March 2019, 99% of buses in England had the accessibility certificate which were required for all buses operating local services by 2017 at the latest (100% of buses in London and 98% of buses in England outside of London).

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