Transport User Voice June 2025 – Impact of Your Bus Journey survey

17 June 2025

Local change and improvement

Public transport and in particular buses, is the backbone of many communities, ensuring residents can access work, education, and essential services efficiently. The Your Bus Journey survey, designed to gather passenger feedback, is proving invaluable for local authorities and bus operators, offering insights that directly shape the future of bus services. 

A recent Transport Focus webinar brought together more than 100 local authority officers and bus operators to hear how they are using this year’s results to improve services for passengers.  

Attendees said that the survey results show greater ridership and contribute to a more sustainable and reliable bus network. Local authorities and bus operators can use this data to: 

• identify key ‘pain’ points, such as punctuality, value for money and accessibility issues. 

• improve bus routes and schedules based on travel patterns and demand. 

• enhance service reliability and cleanliness, making buses a more attractive option for commuters. 

But are local bus services improving? 

Three of the 49 local authorities involved in the 2024 Your Bus Journey survey shared some insights and benefit of using the results to improve the passenger’s experience: 

• East Sussex County Council has seen a considerable rise in its overall satisfaction results for 2024 – moving up the league table from 26th to 12th. The previous year’s results showed that passengers were unhappy about punctuality and waiting times. Improvements in the frequency of services and working in partnership with the main operator Stagecoach to recruit more drivers, has resulted in increases of 11 per cent satisfaction in this area. 

• Nottingham City Council has concentrated its efforts on improving the overall network for passengers, reinforcing the quality of a local network for the city and surrounding areas. Although it is in the top ten best local authorities in 2023 its ambition to improve satisfaction even further for passengers has included better bus stops and shelters and faster journey times delivering a 90 per cent overall satisfaction figure in 2024.  

• West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s results has shown a positive improvement in the last year, although still at the bottom end of the rankings. Having decided to adopt the franchising model it is now using Your Bus Journey data to ensure that the new framework actively involves passengers and focusses on the key areas for improvement. 

The Your Bus Journey survey is a powerful tool that supports smarter decision-making, ensures policies are grounded in real passenger experiences, and helps create a passenger focussed, user-friendly bus network for all. It informs policy changes that align with passenger expectations, supporting evidence-based improvements that enhance accessibility and affordability. 

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