Nottingham has the third highest levels of bus usage in the UK, new figures have revealed. The city’s 157 bus journeys per person each year puts it at nearly three times the national average of 51 bus journeys a year, according to the Department for Transport. London topped the table of passenger journeys per head of population with Brighton coming second.
The figures also showed the number of bus journeys in the city increased by 100,000 to 48.8 million in 2013/14. Passengers and bus companies alike have said they are not surprised that public transport is popular in the city.
Anthony Carver-Smith from Nottingham City Transport said it believes the growth in bus journeys is due to investment in new vehicles: “Through significant investment in brand new buses, increasing frequencies and new technologies like free Wi-Fi and real-time tracking on buses, as well as partnership working with the two local councils, we expect to keep attracting more customers and keep Nottingham as a very good city for public transport.”
He added: “Our own figures show a steady increase in customer numbers as a result of innovative marketing and a focus on delivering better services.”
He said the company has spent £5 million on new buses this year with more features such as Wi-Fi and power sockets.
Other stats revealed by the Department for Transport show that 4.7 billion passenger journeys were made on buses in England in 2013/14 the highest figure since the mid-1980s.
Passenger numbers also grew outside London, by 1.5 per cent, the first increase since 2008/09 which was the first year of free national bus travel for older people.
