Bus Journeys

5.25 DfT figures show that South West residents made 195 million bus journeys (2006-7) an increase of 11 million journeys over the previous year. However the number of bus kilometers run has decreased by 12 million over the previous year to 169 million kilometres in 2006-7. The implication is that more passengers are traveling on fewer buses which may reflect the introduction of concessionary fares for local travel for over 60s.

Figure 5.4 Number of Bus Journeys made 1995 96 to 2006 07, million (Popup full image) 
Number of Bus Journeys made 1995 96 to 2006 07, million journeys.pdf

5.26 People in the South West have one of the least accessible bus services in England with only 81% (2004/05) living within a 13 minute walk of an hourly service, 1 compared with 89% in the country as a whole. On this criterion, accessibility in the region is considerably below the national average (see table) and well below that achieved in the best performing regions of London, the North East and North West (98%, 94%, 93% respectively). This reflects the difficulty of serving dispersed populations with traditional fixed route buses in rural regions.

Table 5.4 Proportion of Residents Living Within a 13 Minute Walk of an Hourly Bus Service, 1992 - 2006
 

1992 - 1994
(%)

1995 - 1997
(%)

1998 - 2000
(%)

1999 - 2001
(%)

2002 - 2003
(%)

2004 - 2005
(%)

2005 - 2006

South West

65

76

74

78

79

 81

81

England

77

88

88

89

89

 89

89

Source: National Travel Survey DfT