The passenger confidence ‘barometer’ gives a snapshot of bus and train passenger perceptions of travelling safely during the Coronavirus pandemic and, hopefully, as we gradually emerge from it. We show the views of current passengers in terms of how safe they felt making their journey, while for those not currently travelling, we show their views on how safe they would feel in relation to Covid-19 if they had to make a journey.
Throughout the pandemic, we have seen that current bus and train passenger perceptions of safety have consistently scored higher than those for people that aren’t using them. As more passengers return to making journeys by train and bus, these safety scores, and the differences between them, may change as capacity starts to be taken up. The shifting balance between passengers and non-passengers could be thought of as like changes in air pressure and this is how the term ‘barometer’ emerged. If you click on the barometer image, you will be taken through to a more detailed picture (on our data hub) which includes how satisfied current passengers were with factors such as the number of people wearing face coverings and cleanliness.
The figures used in the barometer are taken from questions asked in our regular travel surveys, that form part of our Coronavirus-related insight. The figures shown for bus passengers combine the results for London buses and buses outside of London. While other questions asked in the travel surveys change from week to week, the intention is to continue asking the questions that feed into the passenger confidence barometer for the foreseeable future.