New data from the Department for Transport, released recently has revealed that Nottingham’s bus network is continuing to go from strength-to-strength post-covid.

Nottingham saw a 10% rise in passenger figures versus 2023 – an incredible feat for a city which has had a strong and popular bus network for decades.

The Department for Transport’s figures showed that nationally, bus passenger journeys rose just over 8% to over 4 billion, or 11million journeys a day, in the year ending March 2024.

To ensure that both bus and tram networks could thrive in the city, Nottingham City Council continue to work with NET and the bus operators to plan how bus and tram routes could integrate rather than compete with each other.

The positive passenger data additionally highlights the importance of our region’s Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIP), where the City Council and partners work continually to improve our bus network. Nottingham was one of the first cities in the UK to begin delivering a BSIP.

Some notable successes coming out of our BSIP plans include:

• Supporting young people leaving care with subsidised travel
• Giving people aged 19-21 discounted bus travel
• Bus priority schemes ensuring our network runs smoothly and buses aren’t caught up in traffic jams – with more coming soon
• Protecting and enhancing the frequency of bus services and delivering electric buses in partnership with local bus companies

Other funding via the Transforming Cities Fund, also saw projects such as Nottingham Contactless launching in 2022, resulting in Nottingham becoming the first city outside London to enable contactless payment on buses and trams with a daily price cap helping residents and visitors to get around cheaply.

Councillor Neghat Khan, Leader of Nottingham City Council and Executive Member for Strategic Regeneration, Transport and Communications said:

“To see Nottingham’s buses continuing to go from strength to strength at the same time as continuing to recover from the covid pandemic is incredible, and a testament to the tireless partnership working from the City Council, operators and partners across the city.”

“This data reflects what we already know – that investment in our bus network has a great return and is vital to any thriving modern city.”

“We look forward to working with East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward to ensure the momentum is maintained and our brilliant buses get even better across the region.”

Jon Parker, the Independent Chair of the Nottingham Bus Partnership said: “This is great news for the city, and reflects the hard work of all the partners involved over many years.

It shows how impactful a proactive and collaborative bus partnership can be, and as a result this latest data confirms that Nottingham remains a leader in bus excellence in the UK”.