Transport User Voice March 2026 – Bus passenger satisfaction rises

30 March 2026

Your Bus Journey survey results 

Bus passengers across England and Scotland have had their say on more than 50,000 journeys in the third year of the Your Bus Journey survey. The results show a rise in overall satisfaction in both England, up to 85 per cent from 83 in 2024, and Scotland, up to 91 per cent from 86 per cent last year.  

Despite the increase to overall journey satisfaction, results continue to vary across different local authority areas. In England, passengers in both Greater Nottingham and Warwickshire are the most satisfied with their journeys at 93 per cent. Passengers in Thurrock are the least satisfied in England, scoring 73 per cent. Greater Manchester shows the biggest improvement, rising seven percentage points from 79 per cent to 86 per cent, putting it above the national average. 

In Scotland, passengers in Strathclyde are most satisfied with their journey at 93 per cent, while passengers in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire are least satisfied, at 82 per cent. Passengers in the South East saw the biggest improvement, with satisfaction up seven percentage points to 92 per cent.  

While satisfaction with bus journeys has increased overall, there is a broadening gap between satisfaction levels for disabled and non-disabled passengers.  

In England, satisfaction with value for money has fallen ten percentage points to 63 per cent.

Greater Manchester saw an increase of six per cent to 79 per cent of passengers saying they were satisfied with the value for money for their journey, while all other English areas saw this satisfaction level decline from last year. In Scotland, 75 per cent of fare payers say they are satisfied with value for money, staying at the same level as the last survey. However, significant variation remains across Scotland, with regional value for money satisfaction ranging from 44 per cent to 87 per cent. 

From 2026 all local authorities in England (outside London) will be required by the Department for Transport to participate in the survey in order to receive Local Authority Bus Grant funding. The survey will also include bus services in Scotland and Wales. This will help provide a comprehensive view of bus service quality that reflects what matters most to passengers.    

Transport Focus will continue to use the survey to drive improvements and innovation across the bus sector. 

Speaking on the results, Louise Collins, Director at Transport Focus, said:   

“Buses play a vital role connecting communities to jobs, education and essential public services. But as our results show, experiences still vary considerably across the nation. We will use the insights from Your Bus Journey with transport authorities and operators to support better services and help make bus the first choice for more people.” 

You can read the full set of results from the third year of the Your Bus Journey survey here. 

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