THE total number of bus journeys in Reading soared by
one million trips last year – once again bucking the national trend of a
fall in bus use.
Bus journeys in Reading increased again in 2016/17, this time by
4.9%. It is the fifth year in succession bus trips have increased in
Reading.
Reading Borough again sits in third position in the national league
table in terms of the number of bus journeys per head of population in
England outside of London. The number of bus trips per head of
population is now at 131, up from 126 the previous year.
In contrast, the latest Department for Transport figures released
last week show the average number of trips per head of population in
England was down from 82.3 to 80.3. Bus usage also fell in London. All
other parts of Berkshire similarly saw a fall in numbers of bus trips
per head of population. In Slough the figure is 32, in West Berkshire at
21, Bracknell 15.2, Wokingham 14.7 and Windsor & Maidenhead 11.0.
Councillor Tony Page, Reading Borough Council’s Lead Member for Strategic Environment, Planning and Transport, said:
“These latest figures show that Reading is once again
outperforming nearly every other bus service in England. A rise of one
million passenger trips at a time when bus use is falling across the
country is testament to both the town’s excellent Council-owned bus
service, and the tremendous efforts of our colleagues at Reading Buses.
“A busy town like Reading has many competing demands for limited road
space and limited scope to expand that road capacity. The only
sustainable way to cope with demand is to continue to invest in public
transport and public transport infrastructure to give people easy, quick
and reliable bus services.
“The coming year will see the Council continue to focus efforts on
improving public transport. Park and Ride Buses from Mereoak are now
using the newly opened bus lane on the A33, there are plans to build a
bus, pedestrian and cycle only route in east Reading and major
investment in cycle infrastructure through the Route 422 scheme. We will
also continue to make bus services even more reliable through the
introduction of a Red Route along the length of the Route 17 bus
corridor, the first phase of which is expected to go live in February.”
Martijn Gilbert, Chief Executive Officer at Reading Buses, said:
“Put simply, these figures show that buses in Reading work! Our
region is growing so it’s essential that we get more people on-board
buses and help keep Reading moving and prospering. We’re delighted to
play an integral part, in partnership with the Borough Council, in
delivering another year of growth in the use of the local bus network
that outstrips national trends, especially against a backdrop of decline
in many other parts of the UK.
“This, we believe, is testament to a combination of our ongoing focus
on investing and improving services where demand exists, and the
Council’s focus on highways schemes, including Park & Rides and Mass
Rapid Transit lanes.
“These figures demonstrate that locally managed and
delivered bus services, supported by strong partnerships’ with local
authorities, truly work and we are very fortunate to benefit from such
an approach here in Reading.
“A great example is our popular purple 17 route which will see
investment in a brand new fleet of bio-gas buses over the coming weeks,
alongside the Council’s forthcoming Red Route scheme, to make services
even more attractive to our local community.”
The latest Department for Transport figures can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/bus-statistics#data-tables
The top performing local authority areas were Brighton & Hove
with 171.8 trips per year per head of population, Nottingham with 149.4
and Reading with 131.3.
Reading Borough concessionary trips also remained stable at 4.8m per
year, equating to 23% of total journeys. This is in line with the
England average of 22%.
NOW SEE THE LATEST ON THE NEW FOCUS FLICKR SITE
Complementing this news, a fine selection of colourful buses from the Reading Buses fleet, courtesy of Mark Lyons, has now been placed into an album on the site, which can now be viewed by clicking here
AND ONE MORE SET ON THE SAME SITE
Saturday 23rd December 2018 saw First in Berkshire cease operation of the Green Line route 702 (London & Windsor/Bracknell), and Reading Buses took over a new operation from Wednesday 27th. However, apart from no services on the Christmas or Boxing Days 25th/26th, this left a gap on Christmas Eve, Sunday 24th December.
Thus Reading Buses organised a limited hourly free service between London Victoria & Windsor via Hammersmith and Slough, with a separate hourly service onwards to Bracknell. The bonus of this was a splendid variety of buses and coaches in all shapes and sizes. Almost all were captured and kindly supplied to the website by intrepid photographers David Heath, Mark Lyons and Martin Ruthe.
These are now in an album, which can be viewed by clicking here
