Whilst not only concerned with trams and light rail, a new report commissioned by the Urban Transport Group lays bare the current position of public transport in major English cities with the group calling on more clarity and certainty over funding to ensure the position improves.
The report – Inside track: The state of transport 2024 – reveals a wide variety of transport trends, from train and tram to bus and bike, over the past 10 years and obviously including the obvious impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Full members of the Urban Transport Group are London, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, Liverpool City Region, South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire and the North East. The report mainly focuses on the trends in these regions but also uses statistics for England as a whole. It features patterns on population and economic growth, showing that whilst city region economies are growing, they are failing to fulfil their potential. Gross Value Added per head of population remains below the national average (except for London).
Its not a completely gloomy picture though as there are seeds of optimism around the recovery from the pandemic and the acceleration of devolution and, with it, greater transport powers for local areas.
Key points from the report include:
- People are making fewer trips – the total number of trips made per person in 2022 (862) was 10% lower than 2013 (942)
- Commuting levels have been dramatically curtailed – the average number of commuting trips in 2022 (230) was 24% lower than in 2012 (302)
- Rail season ticket journeys have plummeted – number of journeys in 2022/23 (204 million) was 66% lower than before the pandemic in 2018/19 (620 million)
- The bus has lost one in four passengers – number of bus trips in 2022/23 (3.4 billion) was 26% lower than 2013/14 (4.6 billion)
- The car remains the most used form of transport – number of trips as a car or van driver is the highest of all forms of transport (337 trips in 2022/23) and even higher if including trips as a car or van passenger (502). The average number of walking trips – second most popular mode – was 318 in 2022/23. Car or van use has only seen a slight decline from 2013 in which 380 trip were made as a driver and 590 when including passenger.
Jason Prince, Director of the Urban Transport Group, said: “The report lays bare the precarious state of public transport in England’s city regions and the country as a whole – fewer people are travelling compared to a decade ago and the car still heavily dominates how people move.
“While the data shows that there is a recovery in progress, we are still short of where we were before the pandemic.
“More positively, devolution is accelerating – something which we should welcome. However, it will take time for some of the benefits to be realised.
“Now is the time to lock in the recovery for the long-term by providing greater clarity and certainty over funding, and truly recognising the value that public transport brings to our communities and local places.”
Whilst no doubt ridership is still reduced compared to pre-COVID levels the report is already out of date as it uses 2022 data. Most public transport operators have seen continued recovery with some now seeing almost levels in excess of 80% or better. Reports such as this one needs to be treated with caution as they are often written with a hidden purpose and can distort the facts. Ridership patterns may well have changed with lower commuting offset by higher leisure travel. The only way to obtain a true picture would be to see the questions that were asked in order to obtain the data behind the content.
Buses have lost passengers because services have been reduced. For example by bus, Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds took one hour before Covid. The route was then diverted after Covid to pass through other places on the way (slowly) which had had their services cut. So it takes almost two hours now for the same journey, I believe. So I will not use it any more. If you make the service less attractive, then people will be forced to use cars or not travel.