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For local authorities
Bus punctuality by region
How often buses run on time, early or late across England and in each region and town, from live bus positions checked against the timetable every 15 minutes.
Method
How we measure punctuality.
Sampled every 15 minutes
Every bus reporting its position anywhere in England is checked against its timetable, around the clock, and the figures are published each night.
Measured against the timetable
We work out where the timetable says the bus should be at that moment, and how far ahead or behind it is.
The standard on-time window
On time means between 1 minute early and 5 minutes 59 seconds late, the window used for bus punctuality in Great Britain.
Open data, independently measured
Positions and timetables come from the Department for Transport’s Bus Open Data Service, not from operators’ own reports.
For your network
Punctuality reporting for your routes.
See which corridors slip at which times of day, compare operators, and track the effect of bus priority schemes and stop improvements over time.
- Route and operator league tables
- Hour-of-day and weekday patterns
- Daily trend and late-running trips
- CSV downloads for your own analysis
- Alongside RTI displays at the stops themselves
FAQ
Punctuality statistics questions
What counts as on time?
A bus counts as on time when it is between 1 minute early and 5 minutes 59 seconds late against its timetable. Late means 6 minutes or more behind, very late 15 minutes or more, and early more than 1 minute ahead.
How are the figures worked out?
Every 15 minutes we take the live position of every bus in England, find the timetabled trip it is running, and compare where it is with where the timetable says it should be. Each check is one sample; percentages are the share of samples in each band. Figures are published each night, up to the end of the previous day.
Why are some routes missing?
A route appears once it has enough samples to be meaningful. Buses that don’t report their position, or can’t be matched to a published timetable, aren’t counted.
Is this the same as official punctuality statistics?
No. Official figures are measured at timing points by operators and local authorities. These figures are an independent view built from open data, useful for spotting patterns between official reports.
Why do some busy routes show buses as early?
On very frequent services, such as many London routes, buses are run to keep an even gap between them rather than to the minute, so they can be ahead of the printed timetable while passengers barely notice. Official figures judge these routes by waiting time instead; read their early shares with that in mind.
Can we get this for our own network?
Yes. We can set up punctuality reporting for your routes, corridors or stops, alongside the real-time passenger information displays we supply and maintain.
Get in touch
Discuss your network
If you are a local authority, transport organisation, or public-sector partner looking to deliver or maintain passenger transport infrastructure, our team would be pleased to discuss your requirements.