Use of the London Underground and bus network has been rising slowly but steadily since the August Bank Holiday weekend, Transport for London figures show.
Though still far below usual pre-pandemic levels, there have been rising percentage increases in journeys made on both services compared with last week during the morning peak travel hours and for most days as a whole.
TfL says the uptick in bus use is probably significantly a result of London’s children returning to school, while that in Tube use is likely to be mostly due to workers returning to workplaces.
For the Underground, the week-on-week figures up until 10:00 a.m. have been as follows:
- Tuesday, up by 8% compared with last Tuesday.
- Wednesday, up by 11.5% compared with last Wednesday.
- Thursday, up by 17.2% compared with last Thursday.
- Friday, up by 21.1% compared with last Friday.
For buses, the week-on-week figures up until 10:00 a.m. have been:
- Tuesday, up by 6% compared with last Tuesday.
- Wednesday, up by 10.7% compared with last Wednesday.
- Thursday, up by 22.2% compared with last Thursday.
- Friday, up by 29.6% compared with last Friday.
Today’s morning peak saw 630,000 entries and exits from Underground stations and 800,000 bus boardings, both of which are the highest figures for the morning peak this week.
Today’s Tube ridership numbers represent a drop of 69.2% compared with the equivalent date last year while those for the bus are 50.8% lower. However, TfL says it expects further increases in the use of both modes, especially as some schools have yet to fully re-open to students.
The whole day week-on-week figures for the Underground this week have been:
- Tuesday, up by 2.2% compared with last Tuesday.
- Wednesday, down by 2.8% compared with last Wednesday.
- Thursday, up 8.4% compared with last Thursday.
The percentage fall on Wednesday is thought by TfL to be due to a fall off in leisure-related travel compared with the amount that took place the previous Wednesday (26 August).
The whole day week-on-week figures for the bus service this week have been:
- Tuesday, up by 8% compared with last Tuesday.
- Wednesday, up by 2% compared with last Wednesday.
- Thursday, up by 13% compared with last Thursday.
Increased use of the bus has, however, been accompanied by a fall in bus passenger satisfaction according to a weekly survey for London TravelWatch, the capital’s official transport-users’ watchdog.
Its findings are that the bus passenger satisfaction level overall has fallen from 78% last week to 66% this week, with satisfaction with cleanliness falling from 72% to 56%, with the behaviour of fellow passengers down from 57% to just 40%, and with the number of people wearing face-coverings down from 59% to 53%.
The national figure for the level of bus satisfaction overall is 81%. Among Londoners, 24% said they believe public transport is “less safe” than shops, restaurants or pubs.
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