Once again TfL have silently published their annual spreadsheet listing the number of passengers using every London bus route and how many kilometres those buses travelled. Data is for April 2023 - March 2024. Comparisons are with the previous year.
n.b. Because of leap years this year's data is for 53 weeks rather than the usual 52 (but I've tried to balance this out when making comparisons).
London's ten busiest bus routes (2023/24) 1) -- 18 Euston - Sudbury (13.0m) 2) -- 149 London Bridge - Edmonton Green (12.3m) 3) -- 29 Trafalgar Square - Wood Green (11.5m) 4) ↑6 207 White City - Southall (10.9m) 5) -- 86 Stratford - Romford (10.7m) 6) ↓2 25 Holborn Circus - Ilford (10.5m) 7) ↓1 5 Canning Town - Romford (10.2m) 8) -- 279 Manor House - Waltham Cross (10.1m) 9) ↓2 36 Queens Park - New Cross Gate (10.0m) 10) ↑1 35 Shoreditch - Clapham Junction (9.9m)
The next ten: 109, 53, 243, 141, 43, 38, 55, 185, 21, 183
For the fifth year running London's busiest bus is the 18, long-term plier of the Harrow Road. The runners up remain two northern workhorses, the 149 and 29. The 207's leap is because it's the sole non-express route between Southall and Acton now the 427's been cut back. The 25 tumbled from the top spot in 2019 after being cut back from Oxford Circus, but along with the 86 is proving that east Londoners are still happy to use the bus rather than ride Crossrail. The 36 is the busiest route with a significant presence south of the Thames. To give you some idea of how passenger numbers have yo-yo-ed, five years ago route 18 recorded 17 million passengers, mid-pandemic just 6 million and since then it's rebounded to 13 million.
The next ten: U10, 375, 146, 209, 497, 464, 467, 359, R2, 404
These are all the usual suspects, topped off by a pair of brief turns in Barnet connecting daytime residents to the shops. The only change in the top 10 is that the R5 and R10 have swapped places (they operate the same route in rural Bromley but in opposite directions). However the 549 was withdrawn a couple of months so won't be appearing in the list again and the 347 is also getting the chop on a date yet to be advised. Technically the new 439 should be third in the list but I've ignored it because the passenger data only covers four weeks. Route 18 is busier than the fifty least used buses put together.
London's ten most travelled bus routes (2023/24) 1) -- 18 Euston - Sudbury (2,000,000 km) 2) ↑7 111 Kingston - Heathrow (1,890,000 km) 3) -- 5 Canning Town - Romford (1,870,000 km) 4) ↑1 86 Stratford - Romford (1,840,000 km) 5) ↑5 182 Brent Cross - Harrow Weald (1,810,000 km) 6) ↑2 174 Harold Hill - Dagenham (1,800,000 km) 7) ** SL7 Croydon - Heathrow (1,784,000 km) 8) ↓2 102 Brent Cross - Edmonton (1,781,000 km) 9) ↓2 96 Woolwich - Bluewater (1,760,000 km) 10) ↓6 53 Lambeth North - Plumstead (1,760,000 km)
The next ten: 207, 38, 466, 183, 34, 113, 55, 229, SL8, 279
This is a chart of the routes whose vehicles travelled the greatest distance in one year. Long distance buses (like the 111) and high frequency buses (like the 18 and 86) tend to travel the furthest. Only three of these serve central London, most are busy zipping across the suburbs. The SL7 has leapt into the top 10 because its frequency doubled when it joined the Superloop (and because the route's ridiculously long). Meanwhile the 183 has tumbled out of the top tier because its frequency was reduced when a new Superloop route paralleled it. The 389 remains London's least travelled bus route, covering just over 8000km per year.
London's ten most crowded bus routes (2023/24) 1) -- W7 Finsbury Park - Muswell Hill (8.3 passengers per km) 2) ↑4 98 Holborn - Willesden (8.25) 3) ↓1 149 London Bridge - Edmonton (8.0) 4) ↓1 238 Stratford - Barking (7.8) 5) -- 29 Trafalgar Square - Wood Green (7.8) 6) ↓2 35 Shoreditch - Clapham Junction (7.7) 7) ↑1 109 Brixton - Croydon (7.2) 8) ↓1 41 Archway - Tottenham Hale (7.1) 9) ↑18 120 Northolt - Hounslow (6.9) 10) -- 69 Canning Town - Walthamstow (6.9)
This Top 10 is determined by dividing the number of passengers by the number of km travelled to get a 'number of passengers per km'. The higher the number, the less likely it is you'll be able to find a seat. By this measure the most crowded bus is the W7 which, along with the 41, delivers residents of Muswell Hill and Crouch End to their nearest tube stations. The 98's big leap is probably from passengers who can no longer ride the 16. The 120's bigger leap is harder to explain. Most London bus routes carry 2-5 passengers per km.
The next ten: 58, 9, 104, 205, 94, 25, 18, 52, 141, 169
The ten routes with the biggest increase in passengers: SL7, 1, 485, 533, H26, 482, 278, U5, 9, E11 The eight routes with the biggest decrease in passengers: 11, 209, 23, R68, 427, 187, 22, 359
The SL7 has the biggest year-on-year increase because its frequency doubled when it stopped being the X26. The 1's also 50% up on last year as a result of absorbing the 168. The other route with a really chunky increase is the 485 which now serves Wandsworth Riverside Quarter and runs on Sundays. The 11 has the biggest decrease because its entire City section got withdrawn. Other big tumblers following a major route tweak include the 23, 427 and (temporarily) the R68. The eight routes listed all lost more than 10% of their passengers last year.
Routes introduced between April 2023 and March 2024: SL1-SL10, 439, S2 Routes withdrawn between April 2023 and March 2024: 168, 332, 455, 497, 507, 521
Thanks to the Superloop London's gained more new routes than it's lost.
London's ten busiest nightbuses: N15, N25, N18, N207, N29, N279, N9, N8, N98, N140 London's ten least busy nightbuses: 486, 158, 213, N33, 365, 85, 474, N72, 321, 119
Passengerwise the N15 is 40% ahead of its nearest competitor, the N25.
London's ten busiest single deckers: 235, C10, 195, W15, 316, 170, 366, 214, 112, 358 London's ten least busy double deckers: 467, SL6, 481, 412, 317, 498, 215, 492, 428, 357
All those single deckers are busier than all those double deckers.
