West Midlands Bus passengers vote with their feet after fares rises - find out how numbers have fallen

Members of the West Midlands Combined Authority’s Transport Delivery Overview and Scrutiny Committee will be presented with a report detailing usage of public transport in the region.

And statistics show the number of bus boardings at Quarter Three (October to December) in 2025/26 stood at 59.99 million – a drop of 5.9 per cent from 63.74 million in the same period the previous year.

Midland Metro boardings suffered a slight decrease of 1.6 per cent with 2.45 million in Q3 of 2025/26 compared with 2.49 million the previous year.

But there was better news for rail usage with data showing 67.12 million boardings in 2025/26 – a 3.7 per cent increase on the 64.7 million recorded in 2024/25.

A report to the committee, which meets on Monday, March 9, said there were a number of factors for these changes.

It said: “Bus patronage has declined during this period largely due to the change in the national bus fare cap, which resulted in an increase in single fares from £2 in December 2024 to £3 from January 2025.

“This assumption is largely supported as the underlying trend is that passenger decline has been greatest in the off-peak periods where travel is more discretionary.

“There has additionally been a decrease in the sales of single tickets which was previously supported by the fares cap.

“Use of English National Concessionary Travel Scheme passes continues to see some growth. These passengers are less price sensitive to fare paying passengers.

“It is also thought that some societal changes, such as working age people going back in to the office meaning cross generation childcare being re-established, is leading to increased travel for this demographic.

“Between these periods we have seen a reduction in the overall commercial bus network because of operators seeking to reduce the impact of increasing costs and reduced revenue.

“Whilst overall network performance between the two periods, 75.3 per cent (Q3 2024) and 76.3 per cent (Q3 2025), remains relatively unchanged, journeys times have increased due to increasing congestion and disruption on the bus network.

“Longer journey times for passengers makes bus service less attractive and customers turn to alternative modes.

“Transport for West Midlands are in the process of delivering bus priority capital schemes to improve journey times and other measures to improve customer satisfaction.

“TfWM are liaising with the local highways authorities seeking to ensure that the existing bus priority measures are enforced and that the new schemes are enforceable once delivered.”

The report added operational pressures such as engineering overruns, recurring signalling faults and emergency repairs on the Metro service affected delivery during the period.

But, on rail usage, it said several factors may have resulted in the positive increase.

It said: “Firstly, train service performance has improved in the last 12 months. In particular, cancellations caused by train crew are far lower than in 2024.

“This is providing customers with greater confidence, which is reflected in growing patronage.

“Secondly, more services have been added to the network. For example, Avanti West Coast have finally restored the three trains an hour timetable between the West Midlands and London that had been lost during the pandemic.

“Thirdly, there is evidence that people are starting to work more days in the office than was the case in the previous few years.

“As the West Midlands local rail network is primarily a commuter one, this has translated into more journeys by train. That said, some days of the week are still busier than others.”