Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published

[knutstransport]

Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistica...r-journeys

Compared to 14/15:

Halton - 0.3 million INCREASE
Cheshire East - 0.3 million INCREASE
Cheshire West - No change
Blackburn with Darwen - No change
Blackpool - 0.3 million DECREASE
Cumbria - 0.8 million DECREASE
Merseyside - 0.9 million DECREASE
Warrington - 1 million DECREASE
Lancashire - 2.5 million DECREASE
Greater Manchester - 8.1 million DECREASE

Obviously 0.3m increase in Halton is more impressive than the same figure for Cheshire East and 1 million decrease in Warrington is much worse than 0.9 million decrease in Merseyside due to the difference in population between areas.

[wirralbus]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published
Im sorry but there must be something seriously wrong with the figures for Greater Manchester if you lost that many passengers it would have been very noticeable

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published

(15/06/2017 13:39)wirralbus Wrote:  Im sorry but there must be something seriously wrong with the figures for Greater Manchester if you lost that many passengers it would have been very noticeable

According to TfGM, there over 225 million bus journeys a year in Greater Manchester, so 8.1 million wouldn't necessarily be overly noticeable.

As for the decline on Merseyside, it really isn't at all surprising when you consider how brutal the cuts have been in recent years, particularly from Arriva.

[knutstransport]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published
Also don't forget the opening of the Airport and Ashton Metrolink lines would have caused a drop in bus usage, especially as bus services to the Airport have been cut back since. (I'm not sure about bus services to and from Ashton.)

[E400]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published
One-off ticket prices are also beyond reasonable for many people. A bus operators main competition is not other operators, but car owners. If you want to get car owners to use your bus, you need to entice them. They may not be aware that a weekly ticket has such a big saving compared to a £5+ day ticket, so after using the bus once, could be completely put off.

[Barney]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published
It will be interesting to see if the newly elected metro mayors for Manchester and Merseyside will succeed in their pledges to arrest this decline and increase ridership over the next five years.

[H101GEV (Administrator)]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published

(15/06/2017 19:14)Dentonian Wrote:  Keep up! I've just checked past figures, and 225 million was the patronage in 2003/4! It dropped by about 6 million the following year, but stabilised over the latter half of the 'noughties and into the 2010s. However, more recent estimates from TFGM vary between 206 & 210 million depending on who you believe, but I do recall an outside source recently claiming it had dropped below £200 million.

You should be addressing your concerns to TfGM, not me: http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Media_Cent...gures.aspx, under heading 'How many people travel on buses in Greater Manchester?'.

[Mayneway]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published
Hardly surprising for Manchester. I've been a bus user for many many years and the decline in standards over the last 3-4 years sums it up. I feel very very sorry for anyone who has to rely on bus services in Manchester.
Yes the big operators have a lot to answer for. Stagecoach inparticular have rapidly gone down hill. New buses are all good and well but standards are well below what they once were.
Tfgm have a lot to answer for. They have decimated the evening subsidised network and made it impossible to get about after 6pm on buses. They live in this bubble where they assume everyone still works Monday to Friday 9-5, and that everyone is tucked up at home by 7pm so it dosen't matter what time they run a bus round.
They award tenders at rock bottom prices to incompetent operators. They effectively have pushed people like me off public transport into cars.

Sorry but the figures sum things up. Let's hope the new mayor can shake things up.

[Mayneway]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published

(15/06/2017 23:20)507009 Wrote:  You should be addressing your concerns to TfGM, not me: http://www.tfgm.com/Corporate/Media_Cent...gures.aspx, under heading 'How many people travel on buses in Greater Manchester?'.

Tfgm Carnt even get a simple thing like traffic light timings right their website will be well down the list.

[Mayneway]

RE: Local bus usage figures for 15/16 published

(16/06/2017 10:11)Dentonian Wrote:  That's the one thing on this thread criticising TFGM that I do have sympathy with. However, its a question of whether its as practical as it sounds - my guess it is in some cases, and not in others - and (possibly more so), is there pressure from either populist politicians or the Districts not to give any (more?) priorities to buses.

Priority in ALL areas goes to the golden goose Metrolink.