Bus driver shortage: Almost 1 in 10 positions vacant

Bus driver shortage: Almost 1 in 10 positions vacant

Almost 1 in 10 bus driver positions are vacant in the UK, driving a drop in the number of services, the Confederation of Passenger Transport (CPT) has said.

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The group, which represents operators, is calling on the government to help increase the number of its drivers.

But low pay, long hours and shift patterns that leave drivers "exhausted" remain a barrier, the Unite union said.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said it was working with the industry to attract and train drivers.

The CPT found Scotland had the greatest shortage of bus drivers, with 14% of positions vacant. In England, the West had the largest shortage.

Operators are "running hard to catch-up and fill the vacancies, but that's really difficult when the labour market is tighter than ever before", according to the group.

DfT data shows the number of people employed by local bus operators has been dropping. In March 2022, bus and coach companies employed 94,606 people across England. That is down 16% from March 2011.

This comes as the number of bus journeys are still below pre-pandemic levels. For the year ending June 2022, there were just over three billion local bus passenger journeys in England. That is up 55% from the year before, but is still down from over four billion in 2019.