First rise in bus users since first lockdown
BUS passenger numbers have finally climbed back above the numbers seen pre-pandemic for the first time since the island went into lockdown in March 2020.
Last month, the number of bus passengers was higher than March 2019 with an increase of 2.54%, about 4,000 passengers.
‘It’s fantastic to see the number of bus passengers continuing to increase, even though more people are probably working from now compared with before the pandemic,’ said Environment & Infrastructure vice-president Adrian Gabriel.
The numbers of bus passengers was rising consistently in the six years prior to the pandemic, reaching a record of nearly two million individual journeys in 2019.
The pandemic shattered this trend, as people worked from home and visitors were rare.
‘Travelling by bus has many benefits – both for individuals and for the wider community,’ said Deputy Gabriel.
‘For the wider community, the more people that travel by bus, the more we all benefit – the less congestion there is on our roads and parking infrastructure, the lower our carbon emissions and air pollution, the greater the public health and safety benefits, the lower the cost to the taxpayer, and the stronger wider economic impacts.’
Bus passenger numbers vary through the seasons, but the committee has taken an increase in March as a real positive, suggesting the greater uptake in bus travel is primarily from islanders rather than visitors.
