Highest recorded journeys by bus in 2019
NEARLY two million bus journeys were taken last year – the highest recorded since the current system of counting was introduced.
The current system was introduced in 2010, when around 1.6m. journeys were recorded. But last year there were 1.9m.
The bus service has enjoyed a steady year-on-year rise for the last six years.
Compared with 2018, there were 105,698 more journeys last year. April to September was the busiest period for people using the buses. But more than 400,000 journeys were still made during the last quarter of 2019.
Environment & Infrastructure president Barry Brehaut welcomed the news.
‘These increases are particularly encouraging given that much of the growth is in the winter when the overwhelming majority of passengers are residents and this is reflected in the number of journeys being recorded during commuter times,’ he said.
Fare income for 2019 has exceeded £1.25m., an increase of around £120,000 on 2018, largely due to the introduction of a new £5 fare for using the Route 91/92 for visitors wanting to travel around the island – 22,981 sales – but also because of the increase in fare paying passengers using the service – up from 1,380,667 passengers in 2018 to 1,454,775 passengers in 2019.
Contactless technology was introduced on the buses last September and more than 11,200 journeys have been paid for using this. The Nightowl services continue to operate on three routes on Friday and Saturday evenings and remains popular carrying, 27,942 passengers in 2019 – an increase of 10.7% from 2018.
Deputy Brehaut said it had never been so important to provide affordable, reliable, and frequent service.
‘Demand for the bus service continues to grow and we are committed to improving the bus service and facilities for passengers with sustained investment in the buses and the supporting infrastructure,’ he said.
‘The buses now have free wifi and accept contactless payment and there are now more bus shelters around the island to protect passengers from the weather and we’ve recently installed lighting in several shelters.’
