Punctuality is by far the most important factor in journey satisfaction for bus users, according to a newly published report from Transport Focus.
Making great bus journeys furthers analyses the results from the watchdog’s Your Bus Journey 2023 survey, for which researchers spoke to passengers about their experiences on 35,000 trips.
The latest report groups the individual ratings into six themes: timeliness, bus driver, bus environment, boarding and finding a seat, value, and bus stop. Transport Focus then analysed how much each theme contributed towards the overall journey satisfaction rating.
It found that timeliness was the theme contributing to what made a “good” journey in 65% of the cases. Although punctuality was by far the biggest factor, bus driver (11%) and bus environment (8%) were next most important. The report says that boarding and finding a seat was main factor 7% of the time, compared to value (5%) and bus stop (4%).
As to what makes a “great” journey in the views of the respondents, timeliness was again the clear winner at 51%. Bus driver (16%) and bus environment (13%) were also prominent, but bus stop (9%) was more of a contributory factor here than with regards to a “good” journey. Value was rated by 7% and boarding and finding a seat by 4%.
The ratings picked out as relating to timeliness were: satisfaction with waiting time, punctuality, length of journey, and overall satisfaction with boarding the bus stop.
Bus environment included factors such as temperature, seat comfort, cleanliness and safety. Customer information and lack of litter were among the questions considered relating to the bus stop theme.
The report highlights Department for Transport statistics which show falling bus punctuality over the past few years. In England outside London, 83.3% of buses were on time in 2019, rising to 89.1% by 2021 but dropping to 79.9% in 2023. “On time” relates to buses which were between one minute earlier and 5.59 minutes late.
In introducing the report, Transport Focus Director David Sidebottom says: “Passengers tell us they want their bus to turn up on time, without a long wait, and to reach their destination in good time, as set out in the timetable. This analysis gives insight into the ingredients to help improve local services and the experience for passengers.
“For more areas to maintain their high levels of service and for rural areas and small towns to offer more services, it’s vital that operators use this data to focus on delivering these basics better. We’ll be working with local transport authorities and bus operators to use this to drive further improvements and attract more people onto buses.”
Among the report’s recommendations is an improvement in bus priority measures made within Enhanced Partnership schemes, franchising plans and Bus Service Improvement Plans.
Another is that “operators should review their operational and ticketing arrangements to minimise cancellations and reduce the time spent at stops, where this can be safely done”.
It also said local authorities should take more coordinated action to control roadworks and speed up buses.
