North-south divide in bus network recovery

DfT figures show bus use recovering fastest in the South East and East of England – contrasting with weaker growth, and even decline, in the North

 
The National Bus Strategy for England stated: “As we build back from the pandemic, better buses will be one of our major acts of levelling-up.”

 
Analysis of the latest bus statistics for England from the Department for Transport shows a north-south divide is emerging in the post-pandemic recovery of local bus networks.

The statistics go up to the end of March 2023 so they do not show the full impact of the goverment-funded £2 fare cap introduced across England (outside of London) in January 2023, a policy intended to attract more people to use bus services. However, they reveal stark differences in the fortunes of local bus services in different parts of the country.

In the year to March 2023, the biggest increases in bus use were in local authority areas in the South East and East of England. In contrast, the three areas that saw bus use fall over that period are all in the North.

As we build back from the pandemic, better buses will be one of our major acts of levelling-up

This contradicts the ambitions of the government’s National Bus Strategy for England, published in March 2021, which then prime minister Boris Johnson declared: “As we build back from the pandemic, better buses will be one of our major acts of levelling-up.”

Across England as a whole, passenger journeys on local bus services increased by 19.3% over the year to March 31, 2023, but numbers were still 21.5% below pre-pandemic levels. The strongest growth was in the East of England (+25.5%) and the South East (+23.5%) whereas the weakest growth was in the North East (+13.7%) and Yorkshire and Humber (+15.1%).

 
Highest growth:

Thurrock (+47.1%)
Cambridgeshire (+39.5%)
Surrey (+39.4%)
Central Bedfordshire (+36.4%)
Herefordshire (+36.4%)

Lowest growth:

Blackburn with Darwen (-7.1%)
East Riding of Yorkshire (-6.7%)
Durham (-3.4%)
Rutland (0.0%)
North East Lincolnshire (+3.8%)

 
This article appears in the latest issue of Passenger Transport.

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The post North-south divide in bus network recovery first appeared on Passenger Transport.

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