London’s bus journeys top 2.4bn

London’s bus network carried more passengers in 2013/14 than in any year since 1959, with over 2.4bn journeys made. Tuesday 29 April saw the highest number of buses operating on the capital’s roads since 1953 with a record 7,961 on the roads, 266 more than usual. Half of all the bus journeys made in England each year take place in the city. The capital’s buses travelled 491 million km in passenger service in 2013/14. Bus ridership grew by 69% between 1999/2000 and 2013/14 and the number of bus kilometres operated increased by 41%. The continued population growth in the capital is expected to see usage of London’s buses increase by around 7% by 2020/21.

MD for TfL Surface Transport, Leon Daniels, said, ‘The London Assembly rightly recognises London’s bus network as world class, with it ranked top for size, frequency, reliability and accessibility when compared to other world cities including Paris and New York. We are committed to maintaining and further improving the bus network to maintain this world class service and meet the needs of London’s growing population. To this end, we will introduce improvements such as strengthening our engagement with the boroughs to better target our investment in bus services and publish more detailed data on how the network is performing. Critically, we need the Government to continue to support our investment while we work hard to get the most out of the existing network and match capacity to passenger demand.’