Buses are an essential public service. Every day, buses take millions to school, training, work, hospital appointments and high streets. But our research shows four in five people would use public transport more if it was better. To enable even more people to travel sustainably and affordably by bus, service provision must be enhanced so buses are more frequent and reach every community and more places people would like to go.
With 70% of trips under 5 miles, many local authorities have shown that revenue investment in bus improvements through government grants can successfully boost patronage. The wider value for money of bus investment is also well documented, with £4.55 generated in economic, social and health benefits for every £1 invested.
As Local Authority Bus Grant allocations have been set until March 2029, now is the time to plan improvements for the next three years. But how should local transport authorities identify the gaps in bus service provision to target investment? The Bus Services Act requires authorities to identify existing socially necessary services that they should protect, but it sets no process for identifying gaps in provision.
To answer this question, we have been working with transport planning software provider Podaris and have developed a tool for mapping bus service shortages. First, we have defined two standard levels of service to work towards – a minimum baseline that we believe everyone should have access to, and an ambition benchmark that local authorities can strive to get to in the future. The metrics for these are based on population density, bus stop accessibility and service frequency, with parameters for the minimum baseline and ambition benchmark set at lower and higher levels respectively.
Next, we mapped existing provision at the ward level to identify places that fall below these service standards. Each ward is scored on the basis of meeting one or both parameters, with green meeting both, yellow needing additional bus stops, amber needing additional services, and red falling short on both bus stop density and service frequency.
The tool is freely available on our website, with information on the methodology and how to use it. It provides detailed information on services at the ward level, though – as with any data-based approach – there are limitations. For example, the tool does not reflect variations of service levels on different days of the week and times of day, and demand responsive services are not included. Therefore, the scoring and the ward data need to be seen through the lens of local knowledge of residents’ needs and services on the ground. Users can also select custom parameters for the service levels desired, to fit any funding or other local constraints they may have.
The Department for Transport bus team have welcomed the tool and are encouraging local authorities, bus companies and their partners to use it to identify where there are gaps and how best they can be addressed. This may include:
· Increased frequencies on existing routes
· Improved evening and weekend services
· Extended or additional routes
· Additional bus stops
· Accompanying local services, such as on-demand services, community transport, park and ride, or better integration with statutory provision.
In addition to the resources on our website, you can see a presentation and demo at the April 2026 Bus Forum (from 21:07 minutes). Please get in touch if you require additional support. We are keen to hear how authorities are using the tool and any updates we may consider.