WARRINGTON’S Own buses are leading the way nationally for improving passenger satisfaction.
The borough’s commitment to transforming bus travel has been recognised by independent watchdog, Transport Focus, with the town achieving the most significant improvement in passenger satisfaction nationwide.
“Your Bus Journey” – the 2024 Transport Focus survey – reveals a big increase in passenger satisfaction in Warrington, with 85 per cent of journeys rated positively, aligning with the average for urban areas.
The increase of eight percentage points from 2023’s survey moves Warrington up 10 places in the table to 26th place and makes the town the most improved area in the country, alongside East Sussex.
In its report, Transport Focus recognises the substantial investment being made in Warrington, which is helping drive up standards across the board, with improvements including:
• Affordable fares: Continuation of £1 capped fares for under 22s and £2 adult capped fares, despite January’s national fare cap increase from £2 to £3
• Better accessibility: Free concessionary pass travel at any time of day.
• Improved network: Enhanced timetables and new routes.
• Sustainable fleet: Replacement of Warrington’s Own Buses’ entire fleet with 105 new electric buses.
• Improved bus stops: Replacement of more than 200 bus shelters, new timetable casings, and improved information at stops.
• Enhanced security: Improved security at the main interchange and collaborative work with local agencies to address anti-social behaviour.
The survey shows that these initiatives have helped yield significant improvements in passenger satisfaction in Warrington across the following areas:
• Bus journeys – up 8 per cent
• Value for Money – up 9 per cent
• Bus stops – up 10 per cent
• Journey times – up 11 per cent
• Waiting times – up 10 per cent
• Punctuality – up 6 per cent
• Bus driver – up 4 per cent
The “Your Bus Journey” survey, a definitive and independent measure of passenger satisfaction in England, Scotland, and Wales, collected feedback from 48,000 journeys, providing a comprehensive benchmark of passenger experiences.
Borough council leader and cabinet member for transport, Cllr Hans Mundry, said: “We’re delighted that the investment we are making in improving our bus services is paying off. These results from Transport Focus are a testament to our commitment to providing reliable, affordable, and sustainable bus services for everyone in Warrington.
“There’s much more still to achieve, and we’ll be driving forward with our bus transformation journey, with the continuation of cheap fares, along with the protection of socially necessary services, more frequent buses, new bus priority schemes and real time passenger information systems.
“All of this, alongside the arrival of our new all-electric bus fleet, means passengers have much more to look forward to in the months ahead.”
Transport Focus spoke to 41,000 passengers across 39 areas in England (outside of London), 3,500 in Scotland and 3,600 in Wales about their overall satisfaction with their journey.
Louise Collins, director at Transport Focus, said: “The results from areas like Warrington, Derby City, Derbyshire and East Sussex show what can be done when everyone is focused on delivering for passengers. We’ll be using the results from the survey with local transport authorities and bus operators up and down the country to drive improvements and help make bus the first choice for more people.”
