London buses failing to recover to pre-pandemic usage levels, figures show

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London buses failing to recover to pre-pandemic usage levels, figures show

Passengers in London took more bus journeys last year, though the total number remains below pre-pandemic levels, new figures show. Across England, 3.6 billion journeys were taken last year, just a 7 per cent rise on the year before but well below the 4.1 billion taken before the pandemic.

The Campaign for Better Transport said service provision and frequency must be improved to see more people using the bus. New figures from the Department for Transport show passengers in London took 1.8 billion bus journeys in the year to March a slight rise from the year before, but still below pre-pandemic levels of 2 billion.

Silviya Barrett from Campaign for Better Transport said: "It’s encouraging that once again we’re seeing more people take the bus, helped by the £2 bus fare cap making bus travel more affordable in the past year. But to truly see more people using buses more frequently, we need to see a boost to service provision and frequency too."

The "dystopian" video is just a proof of concept
The bus fare cap is increasing to £3 in January

She continued: "We urge the Government to introduce a bus service guarantee in the forthcoming Better Buses Bill, to define a minimum level of bus services in every community and ensure that local authorities have the necessary long-term funding to deliver them."

The figures also showed the number of bus journeys in London has fallen by 16 per cent from five years ago, while the last decade has seen the number drop by 22 per cent. Nationally, the number of journeys taken has dropped by 16 per cent since 2018-19, which saw 4.3 billion trips taken.

Meanwhile, separate figures from the Office for National Statistics show bus and coach fares in the first three months of 2024 were six times higher than the same period in 1987, compared with a five-fold increase in train fares and motoring costs rising by around three-and-a-half times. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced in October that the cap on single bus fares in England will rise from £2 to £3 from January 1.

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