Transport User Voice June 2024 – Your Bus Journey

31 May 2024

Year two survey on the road

How satisfied are bus passengers in England, Scotland and Wales? We’re asking that very question (and more) as the second year of our Your Bus Journey survey gets on the road!

The survey, which launched in 2023, has expanded into Wales this year and we’ll find out how satisfied passengers are with their bus journey in early 2025.

This year’s survey builds on last year’s impressive results, published in March this year, when more than 38,000 passengers responded to our survey onboard buses, at bus stops, and bus stations. The Your Bus Journey survey intends to build a picture of bus passenger satisfaction over the next decade and build on the insights of the previous Bus Passenger Survey.

Once again, we’ll be working with transport authorities, bus partnerships and the bus industry to find innovative ways to report on bus passengers’ experiences – including value for money, the bus stop and the bus driver.

As in 2023, the data will be collected continuously throughout 40 – 44 weeks of the year. We will be using this data to undertake regular analysis – spotting trends in the data and understanding how small changes impact customer satisfaction. We will also give more detailed journey feedback to transport authorities and bus operators at the six-month point.
Last year’s results established a benchmark for bus passenger satisfaction at 80 per cent across 35 areas of England, providing robust, comparable results for future years. The survey also provided insight into other key areas of the passengers’ experience and journey including:

In 2023 across 35 local areas in England passengers told us:

• 80 per cent of passengers were satisfied with their bus journey on the day
• 67 per cent of fare payers thought their journey was value for money
• 76 per cent of passengers were satisfied with the bus stop
• 68 per cent were satisfied with the time they had to wait at the bus stop
• 70 per cent were satisfied with the punctuality of the bus at the stop
• 85 per cent were satisfied with the bus driver
• 81 per cent were satisfied with the time the journey took

Our fieldwork team this year will be located across the regions and in local areas – contacting passengers at bus stops as well as on board buses, getting feedback on a wider selection of routes. Passengers fill in the survey themselves either online or on paper. The researchers can share the online survey with passengers they encounter through a QR code as well as by a text message or email.

The results from 2023 have helped us to push for improvements across bus services, operations and identify good practice. Transport authorities, bus operators and Governments have the Your Bus Journey data to help them plan and invest in the things that matter most to current and future bus passengers.

Read more about the results of the 2023 survey.

 

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