Category: General

Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22

Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22

29 March 2023 – The Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22 statistical report has been published.

The publication presents statistics on public transport operated by Translink in Northern Ireland and brings together information on public transport journeys, vehicles and staff. It is produced by the Analysis, Statistics and Research Branch (ASRB) of the Department for Infrastructure (Dfl).

Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22

The key points covered are:

Public transport journeys

  • In 2021-22, there were 59.3 million journeys on public transport; this was an increase of 33.6 million or 131% since 2020-21 when movement restrictions were in place due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The number of passenger journeys in 2021-22 was still much lower than in 2019-20 (83.4 million) with the advice and guidance around COVID-19 and working from home likely having an impact on public transport usage.
  • During 2021-22, there were, 50.5 million bus passenger journeys, an increase of 126% when compared with 2020-21 (22.4 million), but a decrease of 26% from 2019-20 (68.3 million).
  • There were 8.7 million rail passenger journeys in 2021-22, an increase of 164% when compared with 2020-21 (3.3 million) but a decrease of 42% from 2019-20 (15.1 million).
  • In March 2022, the number of bus and rail passenger journeys reached their highest monthly levels since the beginning of the pandemic with 5.9 million and 1.03 million journeys respectively.

Public transport vehicles

  • At the end of March 2022, there were 1,064 Ulsterbuses, 262 Metro buses and 34 Gliders in operation which were, on average, 9.4 years, 8.8 years and 3.6 years old respectively.
  • At the end of March 2022, there were 143 rail carriages in operation, with an average age of 18 years.

Public transport staff

  • The average number of staff employed by Translink in 2021-22 was 4,064, 74% of those in relation to buses (3,027) and 26% of those in relation to rail (1,037).

Read the full document: Public Transport Statistics Northern Ireland 2021-22

£2 bus fare cap to be extended with new funding

£2 bus fare cap to be extended

17 February 2023 – The £2 bus fare cap is to be extended for three months and bus services protected with new funding, the government has announced.

The Transport Secretary today confirmed £80 million from 1 April to 30 June 2023 to protect vital bus services people rely on for work, education, medical appointments and shopping.

£2 bus fare cap to be extended

The government has also announced plans to provide up to £75 million so that bus operators can continue to cap single bus fares outside of London at £2 until the end of June.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Travelling by bus remains the most popular option for commuters and families across the country, but the sector is still trying to recover after the end of the pandemic.

“We’re providing £155 million to help passengers save money on fares, get more people on the bus and protect vital bus routes – helping with the cost of living and enabling people to get where they need to in an affordable and convenient way.”

Read the full news story: £2 bus fare cap to be extended

Annual bus statistics for the year ending March 2022

Annual bus statistics for the year ending March 2022

31 January 2023 – Local bus statistics for England, including passenger journeys, bus mileage and vehicles, for the year ending March 2022 have been published on the DfT website.

The figures show an increase in passenger journeys by 1.3 billion or 79.6% to 2.8 billion. This was however still far lower than 2 years ago where passenger journeys in the financial year ending 2020 for England were 4.1 billion.

Annual bus statistics for the year ending March 2022

Bus mileage in England saw an increase when compared to the financial year ending 2021 by 93.3 million miles or 9.6%. Bus mileage has been less severely impacted than passenger journeys over the last couple of years. This is largely due to the Covid-19 Bus Service Support Grant (CBSSG) and then the Bus Recovery Grant (BRG) which was introduced to keep services running that may have otherwise operated at a loss, or not operated at all.

Read the full document: Annual bus statistics for year ending March 2022

Solutions certified on Government’s G-Cloud 13 Framework

Solutions certified on Government’s G-Cloud 13 Framework

5 January 2023 – EPM Group, Omnibus and EPM, is certified on the new Crown Commercial Services ‘G-Cloud 13 framework’ which went live in November 2022.

The G-Cloud Digital Marketplace is an online service allowing public sector organisations to buy cloud software and services from approved suppliers. The framework is an agreement between government and suppliers of cloud services. Buying services through the framework is faster and more cost-effective than entering into individual procurement contracts.

Solutions certified on Government’s G-Cloud 13 Framework

Public sector bodies can purchase the following services from us via the Digital Marketplace:

Access EPM and Omnibus on GOV.UK Digital Marketplace.

Read more on the Crown Commercial Service.

Empowering transport authorities with software solutions

Grow patronage, improve efficiency and deliver outstanding customer service

£2 bus fare cap scheme accepted by over 130 operators

Passengers on a bus

19 December 2022 – Passengers are being encouraged to get around for £2 by bus from January to March next year, with bus operators launching a campaign to promote the government fare cap scheme today.

The scheme is designed to help passengers save money this winter, backed by £60 million of government investment to cap single tickets at £2 from 1 January to 31 March 2023 across England, outside of London.

Passengers on a bus

The government has confirmed over 130 bus operators, such as National Express and Stagecoach, managing routes from the north to the south of England will charge no more than £2 for their single tickets.

Buses Minister Richard Holden said: “We’re investing £60 million to cap single bus fares at £2 to help families, students and commuters and help get people back on the bus. The scheme will also take 2 million car journeys off the road and it’s fantastic to see so many bus operators signing up.”

Bus fares vary across different parts of the country and between bus operators, and the government says the cap is an important step in ensuring passengers across the country are getting a fair deal.

Read the full news story: Millions encouraged to Get Around for £2 by bus

Operators taking part in the scheme: £2 bus fare cap

Powering the future of your bus operations

Grow patronage, boost revenue, and drive operational efficiency.

Omnibus Founder Peter Crichton reflects on his career after winning UK Bus Award

Peter Crichton receiving UK bus award

The Founder of Omnibus, Peter Crichton, has been recognised for his outstanding contribution to passenger transport at the UK Bus Awards 2022 – describing it as one of the proudest days of his life. 

Peter is the gold winner of the Services to the Bus Industry Award in recognition of his revolutionary timetabling and scheduling software which transformed the scheduling process in the 1990s and the innovative solutions Omnibus continues to develop to support the industry. 

Peter Crichton receiving UK bus award

The prestigious national awards scheme celebrates the successes and dedication of those who work in the sector. The ceremony took place in London on 15 November. 

“I am humbled and honoured to receive this award,” says Peter. “This is one of the proudest days of my life. It is great to be part of a brilliant industry.” 

Peter established Omnibus in 1990 with the aim of helping schedulers to easily produce efficient and workable schedules.  

“Development of the timetable and scheduling software started in the mid-1980s, but it was whilst working at Shearings as Traffic Manager (Buses) that I further developed OmniTIMES and OmniBASE,” says Peter.  

“After being made redundant, I joined Meridian, and part of my role was to liaise with operators on the planned depot allocation software. The operators weren’t too interested in that software, but a lot did express a need for scheduling software.  

“After I left Meridian, I was free to contact those operators, and some became customers. It was around this time that I got a call from Mark Savelli who had started working for Citybus in Hong Kong, and this eventually led to them being my first overseas customer.” 

Since then, Omnibus has grown to be one of the best known and highly respected suppliers of planning software in the UK and internationally. Its success, says Peter, is down to having a deep understanding of the passenger transport industry. 

He explains: “As a scheduler, Omnibus software has been developed with a deep knowledge and understanding of the scheduling process. You can’t get this built-in knowledge in other scheduling software.  

“Our approach was to make the software fit around the way the scheduler worked, and not make the scheduler fit around the computer program. My view was that the computer should take away the drudgery out of the scheduling process, not add to it.” 

John Crichton

John Crichton with black and white images taken from his days at the Queens Road bus depot

Peter developed his knowledge of the bus industry from an early age. His dad, John, was a bus conductor at the Queens Road bus depot in Manchester and Peter would often visit the depot with him on pay day. 

Peter says: “From an early age I was fascinated seeing the depot full of red buses and I developed an interest in the services and the routes they took. Though my English Teacher may have thought I was a little obsessed as he made a comment on a report, ‘Pity Peter’s essays are all about buses’. Then, as a teenager, I would go bus spotting with my friends Paul Wreghitt and Jon Brierley.” 

Both Paul and Jon later joined Omnibus as a software developer and timetables/publicity expert respectively, and today form part of a growing team, many of whom have a background in passenger transport. 

Peter continues: “I applied to be a Computer Systems Analyst Trainee with Greater Manchester Transport, but as I showed an interest in buses, I was asked if I was interested in applying to be a Traffic Trainee, which was trainee scheduler, the job I really wanted.  

“I was interviewed by Jim Hulme, who developed the manual scheduling course which Omnibus now offers. During the interview Jim said, ‘I’m a bit worried you’ve got an interest in buses, it might get in the way of your work because it does with some people.’ It later transpired that he’s a bigger bus enthusiast than me.” 

Peter got his dream job and started work on 16th October 1978. In 1981 as a reward for working hard on some major schedules his boss, Colin Reeve, put him through the bus driving school. “Once I got my licence to drive, I would often be called upon to work an evening or weekend duty,” says Peter. “I absolutely loved it and couldn’t believe I was being paid to drive buses.” 

John Crichton at the Queens Road depot

John Crichton at the Queens Road depot on 9 May 2022

Today, Peter still drives buses – his own. He is the proud owner of London Routemaster RM1152, inherited from a friend, and Manchester City Transport Leyland Titan 3706 which is steeped in memories. “When the Manchester bus came up for sale, I had to buy it. My dad had been conductor on it, and I caught it several times going to school.” 

Peter is not the only person in the family to receive recognition. Go North West organised a special day for John Crichton at their Queens Road depot on 9 May this year, exactly 60 years to the day when he started his career as a trainee conductor in 1962.

Peter says his dad, now aged 86, was lost for words; as was Peter on the day he received his prestigious award. 

Read the article in Routeone Magazine.

Powering the future of your bus operations

Grow patronage, boost revenue, and drive operational efficiency.

Quarterly bus statistics for April to June 2022

Quarterly bus statistics for April to June 2022

13 October 2022 – Quarterly bus figures showing local bus passenger journeys and fares statistics in Great Britain for April to June 2022, have been published on the DfT website.

For the year ending June 2022, the number of local bus passenger journeys in:

  • England was 3.09 billion, a 55% increase
  • London increased by 51%
  • England outside London increased by 59%
Quarterly bus statistics for April to June 2022

Comparing local bus passenger journeys for April to June 2022 to the same period in 2021, we see:

  • a 36% increase in England
  • London increased by 36%
  • England outside London increased by 36%
  • Scotland increased by 44%
  • Wales increased by 32%

The local bus fares index increased by 4.2% in England between June 2021 and June 2022.

For other areas, the local bus fares index change was:

  • 5.9% increase in London
  • 1.1% increase in metropolitan areas
  • 4.2% increase in non-metropolitan areas
  • 1.3% in Scotland
  • no change in Wales

The Consumer Price Index (CPI) increased by 4.1% over the same 12-month period.

This publication covers April to June 2022, but makes reference to previous quarters during which there were some restrictions due to coronavirus (Covid-19) in Great Britain.

Read the full document: Quarterly bus statistics: April to June 2022

£130 million to protect bus services across the country

Passenger on bus. Bus service funding

19 August 2022 – Buses across England will benefit from up to £130 million of government support, ensuring services keep running and millions of passengers can continue using affordable transport.

The funding package announced today will cover 6 months from October 2022 to March 2023, and builds on almost 2 years’ worth of unprecedented government support to keep bus networks running.

Passenger on bus. Bus service funding

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “This funding will ensure millions across the country can continue to use vital bus services, and brings the total we’ve provided to the sector throughout the pandemic to almost £2 billion.”

The government is also investing £3 billion in bus services by 2025, including over £1 billion to improve fares, services and infrastructure, and a further £525 million for zero emission buses.

Quarterly bus statistics for January to March 2022

Bus passengers

28 June 2022 – Quarterly bus figures showing local bus passenger journeys and fares statistics in Great Britain for January to March 2022, have been published on the DfT website.

For the year ending March 2022, the number of local bus passenger journeys in:

  • England was 2.91 billion, an 85% increase
  • London increased by 76%
  • England outside London increased by 96%
Bus passengers

Comparing local bus passenger journeys for January to March 2022 to January to March 2021, we see:

  • a 106% increase in England
  • London increased by 104%
  • England outside London increased by 109%
  • Scotland increased by 95%
  • Wales increased by 97%

The local bus fares index increased by 3.6% in England between March 2021 and March 2022. For other areas, the local bus fares index change was a:

  • 5.9% increase in London
  • 0.8% increase in metropolitan areas
  • 2.5% increase in non-metropolitan areas
  • no change in Scotland
  • no change in Wales

The Consumer Prices Index (CPI) increased by 5.0% over the same 12-month period.

This publication covers data for the year ending March 2022, which coincides with the application of movement restrictions due to COVID-19 in Great Britain.

Read the full document: Quarterly bus statistics: January to March 2022

David Brown joins the Board of EPM Transport Solutions

EPM Transport Solutions, David Brown

20 April 2022 – EPM Transport Solutions announces David Brown has joined the Board as a Non-Executive Director.

With 40 years of his career spent working in the passenger transport sector, David brings a vast amount of knowledge and experience to EPM Transport Solutions. Most recently David was CEO at The Go-Ahead Group retiring in the autumn of 2021 after 10 years leading the business.

EPM Transport Solutions, David Brown

As Non-Executive Director, David will be supporting the strategic development of the Group. He will be working with the Executive Team to identify opportunities for new solutions to address emerging challenges across the transport sector.

Ian Churchill, Chief Executive at EPM Transport Solutions, said: “I am excited that David has agreed to join the team. With his wealth of experience of the passenger transport sector, he will be invaluable in developing our portfolio of businesses to achieve our growth plans. His passion for innovation and transport is a natural fit with our organisation and I look forward to working together.”

David Brown commented: “I am delighted to have joined EPM Transport Solutions at this exciting point in the development of the business. The Group has developed an extensive portfolio of solutions which underpin the delivery of transport services on a daily basis. I am looking forward to working with Ian and the team in the development of solutions to further assist the industry in the delivery of high-quality services.”

– END-

Note to editors:

EPM Transport Solutions, formed in 1986, provides software to help passenger transport operators and transport authorities reduce operational costs, improve financial performance and better serve their customers. In addition, EPM is the UK’s leading BSOG auditor and concessionary reimbursement consultancy.

EPM Transport Solutions trades as EPM Bus Solutions, Omnibus Solutions and 3Squared.

EPM Bus Solutions: https://www.epm-bus.com/

Omnibus Solutions: https://omnibus.solutions/

3Squared: https://3squared.com/

Press contact:
Harminder Sangha
Harminder.sangha@epm-bus.com
07538 935 568