New study highlights the ‘strong challenges’ the bus industry face
A report by KPMG, commissioned by the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT), has provided a comprehensive analysis of the factors that are driving demand for bus travel in England.
Steven Salmon, CPT’s Director of Policy Development, says: “There is a wealth of detail in the report, showing significant differences between the conurbations and smaller towns, and between the places in each category.”
Geographical decline
Between 2011/12 and 2016/17 bus patronage in England fell by 4.4%, falling from 4,640m to 4,438m journeys per year.
The decline in patronage has been more pronounced in metropolitan areas (6.6%), than it has been in non-metropolitan areas (3.9%) and in London (3.6%). Within metropolitan areas, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear have seen the biggest reductions at around 10% and Greater Manchester and Merseyside the lowest at less than 5%. With much local variation, in each of the nine English regions, at least one local authority area saw a decline in patronage and within five English regions at least one local authority area saw patronage growth.

Why the reduction?
The reduction comes as part of broader changes to travel demand.
The recent UK Research Council funded initiative17 to establish a better understanding of how travel demand is changing noted that people are making 16% fewer trips per year than in 1996, spending 22 hours less time travelling per year than a decade ago and travel 10% fewer miles than in 2002.
Noting that the industry is “facing some very strong challenges as a result of changing transport needs and continued competitive pressure from private transport,” the report concludes that with the right investment and the right set of co-ordinated transport and land-use policies, buses can continue to play a strong role in supporting sustainable and inclusive growth in English towns and cities.
Full report: bit.ly/2EGbLJH
