Growing The Economy

Buses have a key role to play in facilitating economic growth at national and local levels. They provide essential access to labour markets, businesses and education and training; are crucial to congestion reduction on key corridors; stimulate investment and regeneration; and provide vital support to local businesses and retail economies.

Research we commissioned the Institute for Transport Studies to conduct shows:

Bus enables access to employment

• More people travel to work by bus than all other forms of public transport combined
• There are 2.5 million bus commuters, and a further 1 million use bus as back up. This is around 12% of working population, accounting for £64bn of GVA
• One fifth of working age population outside of London use buses at least once a week
• Around 20% of full time employed and 30% of part time employed are frequent bus users

Bus supports businesses

• Over 50% of businesses surveyed considered bus had a role in recruitment and retention
• A fifth of businesses considered the bus to be central to their business operations
• 11% of employees who commute by bus would be forced to look for another job if they could no longer commute by bus

Bus facilitates retail and leisure spend

• With 1.4 billion shopping trips per year and an average spend of £29.66, this gives a total estimated retail spend by bus users in GB of £21bn
• With 471 million leisure trips and average spend of £26.26 total, estimated spend on leisure activities facilitated by bus is £6.2bn
• Combined retail and leisure is £27.2bn of which £21.5bn is spent in town or city

Bus commuter contribution to GVA

• Bus commuters in GB generate £45bn of economic output
• Those who use bus as a back-up contribute a further £19bn of economic output
• 391,000 workers are in better more productive jobs, and the additional economic output they produce by being in more productive jobs is £400m per year

Curbing the cost of congestion

• Congestion is widely acknowledged to be a serious constraint on growth and estimated to cost at least £11bn per annum in urban areas alone, according to government analysis
• A survey of businesses by the British Chambers of Commerce put the cost of congestion at £17,350 per business
• The same survey found congestion to be a problem for around 90% of businesses, with around 45% viewing it as a significant problem

Bus companies themselves are local businesses and major local employers and make a vital contribution to the economy.

• Over 170,000 people are employed in the bus and coach industry
• Through its supply chain, the bus industry creates a further 83,000 jobs.
• Bus industry employees spend £2.1bn in the economy
• Bus sector spends £2.5bn in its supply chain

Find out how npower turned to bus services after a staff relocation.