Speeches

Justin Tomlinson – 2014 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Justin Tomlinson on 2014-03-18.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of new buses in the UK outside London are fitted with audio visual announcements.

Stephen Hammond

According to figures published by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) on 7th January 2014, 2842 new buses were registered in the UK in 2013, along with 843 coaches.

Although we do not hold specific data from each bus operator on the number or percentage of new buses using audio/visual systems outside London, we are currently examining whether this information can be gathered as part of the Department’s next annual bus operator survey, due to be published in the Autumn.

Research commissioned by the Department for Transport estimates that in 2012 there were 8877 buses operating in England that offered audio announcements on the destination of the bus and the next stop, compared to 8812 buses in 2011. This amounts to approximately 25% of all buses in England.