New research published by the Department for Transport suggests that fewer people are willing to change their own behaviour or support changes in government policy in this area than was the case twelve months ago.

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and tagged with Buses, Demand, Rail, Trains, Public Transport, Railways

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A new analysis by TAS of the structure and ownership of the UK Bus Industry has shown that FirstGroup is set to lose its status as Britain's largest operator by revenue.

The analysis also shows that almost a quarter of the industry - 24.4% to be precise - is now overseas owned following Deutsche Bahn's acquisition of Arriva's 15.2% market share in the summer of 2010.

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and tagged with bus profits, Buses, Public Transport, FirstGroup

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DfT survey shows falling trip rates for last two years

The latest version of the Department for Transport’s National Travel Survey was published at the end of July and highlights the effects that the economic downturn has had on overall demand for travel.

The analysis shows that total trip making by the public has fallen for the last two years: from a peak of 992 trips per person per year in 2008 to just 960 in 2010. This represents a fall of 3.3%, and is the lowest level of trip making since the early 1970s.

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ORR statistics provide a snapshot of the market performance of each train operator in 2010/11

TransPennine Express, FirstGroup's joint venture with Keolis, achieved the highest like for like patronage growth on the UK's nationally franchised rail network in 2010/11, according to new statistics from the Office of Rail Regulation.

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and tagged with Demand, Rail, Trains, Public Transport, Train, Railways, FirstGroup

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There seems to be a view developing amongst the political classes that, because bus services are primarily a local product, their provision is not something with which central government should become involved – and, to the extent that it is involved already, this should be scaled back as quickly as possible. What Yes Minister's Sir Humphrey once memorably referred to as a “no policy policy”.

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An Eeyore-like performance from Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn King before the Treasury Select Committee in June did little to cheer a nervous economy already battered by record oil prices, rising inflation and the ongoing sovereign debt crisis.

The Governor’s view that consumer demand was unlikely to recover significantly for up to a decade will have sent shivers down the spine of many in the retail sector already struggling to cope with the structural changes prompted by internet shopping and a digital publishing revolution. The rash of retailers slipping into administration last week served to reinforce Sir Mervyn’s gloomy prognosis.

It should not have done much to cheer the bus industry either.

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Rises in London, English Shires and Wales offset falls in Scotland and PTE areas

Bus demand in Great Britain rose by just over 1% in the quarter ended 31 March 2011, according to new statistics published by the Department for Transport. The rise came despite continuing concerns about the sluggish growth in the wider UK economy, which grew by just 0.5% in the same quarter.

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The figures from the ORR for the first quarter of 2011 show continuing growth in passenger demand.

Demand for passenger rail services in the UK continued to grow during the first quarter of 2011, but average journey lengths and revenue yields fell, according to the latest National Rail Trends statistics published by the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) last month.

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and tagged with Demand, Rail, Recession

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One of the key debates about the imposition of Quality Contracts (also known as 'franchising') on the bus network outside London is about the costs of the London operation.

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and tagged with Buses, Concessionary Fares, London buses, Public Transport, Bus fares, Bus Deregulation, Transport Policy

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Last week, the Labour-controlled Integrated Transport Authority in Merseytravel voted to instruct the Passenger Transport Executive (PTE) to stop discussions with the Department for Transport and Network Rail over plans to take over the infrastructure for the Merseyrail Electrics rail network.

This was a decision with major significance for the future of transport policy development over the life of this Government, for all sorts of reasons.

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and tagged with Buses, Rail, Public Transport, Bus Deregulation, Transport Policy, Railways, Merseytravel, RMT

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Profits in the UK bus industry rose in 2009/10 for the third year running, according to new analysis published this week by The TAS Partnership. The 101-page report Bus Industry Performance 2011 presents the results of the analysis of over 110 bus companies around the UK, in what is the 20th year of TAS’s Bus Industry Monitor analysis.

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and tagged with bus profits, London buses, Bus Deregulation, Arriva, Stagecoach, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead Group, National Express Group

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The onset of the recession checked growth in car ownership in most parts of the country, and the proportion of households without a car has barely changed in five years

The onset of the 2008 recession has apparently resulted in the first check in the growth in car ownership outside London, according to analysis of DfT statistics. The analysis also reveals that the percentage of households without a car has barely changed in most regions over the last five years, and has actually risen in London and the South East.

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and tagged with National Travel Survey, Transport Planning, Transport Statistics, Public Transport, Transport Policy

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Statistics from the National Travel Survey show significant changes in the underlying market for different modes of public transport over the last decade

The Department for Transport's National Travel Survey provides analysis of attitudes, habits and behaviour amongst users of all forms of transport in the UK, and provides a fascinating insight into the nature and structure of the transport market – and how it is shifting. The survey is based on interviews of a sample of over 20,000 households – and started off as a biannual programme in the 1980s but during the last decade has been stepped up into an annual programme. The next edition is scheduled for publication in July this year.

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In the Financial Times for Saturday (21 May), the well-regarded Lex column had two fascinating pieces – one about High Street retailers in the wake of the Government's appointment of shopping guru Mary Portas as a retail Tsar (or should it be Tsarina?), and the other about book retailing in the wake of the proposed takeover of Waterstones and Barnes & Noble.

Both made very significant points about the future of retailing as we know it – in the case of High Streets about the move towards non-food retailing in supermarkets (it's grown by three quarters since 2003, apparently); and about the huge changes to book retailing, in the light of the twin revolutions of on-line shopping and the development of e-books on devices such as the Kindle and the iPad.

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and tagged with Buses, Demand, Public Transport, Bus patronage, Bus fares, Bus Deregulation, Transport Policy, Stagecoach, FirstGroup, Go-Ahead Group, National Express Group

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