Bus use in the West Midlands saw a Boxing Day boom as passengers took to the network – according to Centro, the delivery arm of the conurbation’s Integrated Transport Authority (ITA).
Newly compiled figures show a total of 276,083 passengers made journeys across the region, an 11% rise on the previous year which saw 246,963 passenger journeys.
On the day, there were 40 special Centro-funded routes in operation by National Express West Midlands, Arriva, Diamond and iGo (formerly West Midlands Special Needs Transport). They were bolstering 176 commercial services operating at Sunday levels that day.
Cllr John McNicholas, Chairman of Centro’s Transport Delivery Committee, said: “I am particularly pleased that the routes we have subsidised are shown to be valued by passengers, which shows there is a need regardless of whether they are commercially viable.”
Boxing Day services saw the return in Coventry of seven evening services following a successful trial in 2014. The city saw 23,309 people using the buses on Boxing Day, a 12% rise on the 22 routes in Coventry the previous year.
