Scottish Government

3 Bus and coach operator statistics

• The distance travelled by Scottish bus and coach services increased 11% in 2007/08 - to 556 million vehicle kilometres
• There has been a recent increase in the number of passenger journeys but this is still below 1975 levels
• Overall Scotland saw larger percentage increases in staff than GB as a whole
• Scottish bus fares decreased slightly (-1 per cent) in real terms in 2007-08 - whereas GB fares increased (+1 per cent)
• Total government support to Scottish bus operators in 2007/08 summed to £275 million - a real term increase of 2 per cent on the previous year

Distance travelled

3.1 Scottish bus and coach services travelled 556 million vehicle kilometres in 2007-08, 11 per cent more than in the previous year. There was an increase of 2 per cent since 1997-98, similar to the GB increase of 3 per cent. [ Table 1].

3.2 In comparison, the distance travelled on local bus services is now higher in Scotland than those recorded in 1975 and has been rising since the mid '80s. [ Table 22].

3.3 The distance travelled by local bus services in Scotland in 2007-08 was 399 million vehicle kilometres, a 6 per cent rise on the previous year and an 8 per cent rise on 1997-98. There was a 7 per cent increase in the distance travelled over the past ten years by local bus services in GB. [ Table 1].

3.4 The distance travelled per head of population in Scotland on local bus services was 69 per cent higher than in GB as a whole, compared to 56 per cent high in 1997-98. The Scottish figures show a small increase since 1997-98 unlike the GB figures, which have stayed relatively stable. [ Table 2].

3.5 The survey's estimate of the distance travelled by other ( non-local) Scottish bus services can fluctuate markedly from year-to-year. In 2007-08, it was 157 million vehicle kilometres. [ Table 1].

3.6 The distance travelled by commercial local bus services in Scotland in 2007-08 was 301 million vehicle kilometres, no change on the previous year and 3 per cent lower than in 1997-98. [ Table 2].

3.7 The distance travelled by subsidised local bus services in Scotland in 2007-08 was 98 million vehicle kilometres, a 29 per cent increase on the previous year and was 69 per cent higher than in 1997-98. There has been a 39 per cent rise in GBsubsidised services outwith London since 1997-98.

3.8 Subsidised services' share of the total distance travelled by all local bus services was around 25 per cent in Scotland, compared with about 22 per cent for GB outwith London in 2007-08.

Figure 1: [ DfT: Passenger journeys] Growth in passenger journeys on local bus services

Passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services

3.9 In Scotland, there were 513 million passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in 2007-08. This was 1 per cent higher than in the previous year, similar to the results for GB as a whole. [ Table 3, Table 4].

3.10 The Scottish total for 2007-08 was 14 per cent higher than in 1997-98. The past ten years have seen an increase of 17 per cent in GB as a whole and a 2 per cent fall for GB outwith London (Figure 1).

In 2007-08 the number of passenger journeys (boardings) on local bus services in Scotland represented 100 journeys per head of population, compared with 85 per head of population for GB. [ Table 4].

3.11 Although there has been a recent increase in the number of passenger journeys (since 1998-99), there was a sustained period of decreasing passenger journeys (Figure 2). Passenger journeys are still significantly below their 1975 values. [ Table 22].

Figure 2: [ DfT: Local bus services] Passenger journeys and distance travelled on Scottish local bus services

Income

Fares

3.12 In real terms, bus passenger fares on local services in Scotland fell by 1 per cent between 2006-07 and 2007-08, compared with a 1 per cent increase for GB as a whole. This accounted for growth of 2 per cent over the last 10 years in Scotland, and 14 per cent in GB. [ Table 5].

3.13 While fares for local bus services in GB have risen by 14 per cent in real terms since 1997-98, rail fares have increased by 17 per cent and motoring costs in GB have, in real terms, fallen by 13 per cent over the same period. (A Scotland series is not available). [ Table 6].

Passenger receipts

3.14 Passenger receipts on local bus services in Scotland totalled £424 million in 2006-07, a real term increase of 7 per cent on the previous year and a 16 per cent increase over 10 years. Local bus service passenger receipts have in the last ten years ranged from £362 million to £424 million at 2006-07 prices. There was a 9 per cent rise in real terms for GB outwith London, while in GB as a whole the rise was 8 per cent. [ Table 7, Table 8].

Local Bus Services - Government Support

3.15 Total government support to Scottish bus operators in 2007/08 summed to £275 million (a real term increase of 2 per cent on the previous year. This consists of 3 elements: public transport support for local bus services; concessionary fare reimbursement; and Bus Services Operators Grant ( BSOG). [ Table 10 - Table 12].

3.16 Public transport support for local bus services in Scotland in 2007-08 was £51million, in real terms a rise of 6 per cent on the previous year, and an increase of 121 per cent over ten years previously. In comparison, over the same 10 year period, there has been a rise in support of 304 per cent in real terms for GB, with a 65 per cent increase for GB outwith London. [ Table 10].

3.17 Concessionary fare reimbursement on local bus services in Scotland in 2007-08 was £163million, in real terms a rise of 6 per cent from the previous year, and an increase of 288 per cent from 1996-97. In GB there was a rise of 86 per cent in real terms over the past ten years. [ Table 11].

3.18 Bus Service Operator's Grant accounted for £61 million of government support in 2007-08. A real term increase of 3 per cent. [ Table 12].

Local Bus Services - Operating Costs

3.19 The estimated average operating cost (including depreciation) of local bus services in Scotland was £1 per vehicle-kilometre in 2006-07, in real terms 7 per cent more than in the previous year, and 5 per cent higher than ten years earlier. The corresponding estimate for GB was 141 pence per vehicle kilometre, and the rise in real terms over the past ten years was 23 per cent. [ Table 13].

3.20 The estimated average operating cost (including depreciation) per passenger journey for local bus services in Scotland in 2006-07 was 78 pence, in real terms 11 per cent more than the previous year and 3 per cent more than ten years ago. The operating cost per passenger journey for GB was 76 pence, and has risen by 7 per cent over the past ten years. [ Table 14].

Staff and Stock

Number of buses and coaches

3.21 In 2007-008 there was a 12 per cent rise in the overall total number of buses and coaches in Scotland from the previous year, and 12 per cent higher than ten years earlier (Figure 3). [ Table 15].

3.22 In comparison, there was a 4 per cent increase in the total number of buses and coaches over the past ten years across GB (79.4 thousand and 76.2 thousand, respectively).

3.23 Since 1997-98 there has been a 21 per cent increase in the number of single deckers (including coaches) in Scotland, from 7,000 to 8,500. The number of double deckers has decreased over the past ten years, falling from 2,100 in 1997-98 to 1,700 in 2007-08.

3.24 In GB, the number of single deckers rose by 7 per cent, and double deckers fell by 5 per cent.

Staff Employed

3.25 There was 20,400 staff employed by bus and coach operators in Scotland in 2007-08, 16 per cent more than the previous year and 20 per cent more than ten years ago (Figure 4). [ Table 17].

3.26 In comparison there was a similar increase in the number of staff employed in GB over the past ten years (19 per cent). The one-year growth is smaller than in Scotland but this may be due to the larger staff numbers in GB.

3.27 In Scotland there was an increase in the number of platform staff (including drivers, conductors and other on-vehicle staff) of compared with the previous year (14 per cent); in GB platform staff saw a smaller increase (4 per cent).

Figure 3: [ DfT: Vehicle stock] Vehicle stock - Scotland

Figure 4: [ DfT Staff employed] Staff employed - Scotland