Buses and coaches for efficient mobility!

Endowed with unparalleled flexibility, buses and coaches are key components in public transport, tourism, energy savings, environmental preservation, road safety, mobility and the economy. No other mode of collective passenger transport plays as key of a role in all of these aspects at once.

The backbone of public transport

Buses and coaches provide 55% of Europe’s public transport, while railway, trams and metros together account for 45%.

In Europe, Scandinavians are the top bus and coach users, followed by the Austrians and Italians. Each Dane clocks up an average of 2,100 km by bus and coach per year.

In Spain, the demand for bus transport has been increasing at an annual rate of 3% over the last 10 years.

In France, more than 1.1 billion people are transported by buses and coaches each year.

In Turkey, road transport carries 95% of all passengers, half of which by buses and coaches.

EU-27 modal split of collective passenger transport (pkm).

Source: EU Energy & Transport in Figures, Statistical Pocketbook 2009

Americans made more than 10.3 billion trips by public and community transportation in 2007 - the highest figure in 50 years. On average, US coaches account for 751 million passenger trips annually.

Giving back to communities

With billions of day excursions, weekend and educational trips, plus vacation trips to all kind of destinations, buses and coaches help provide essential income for many tourist towns and remote sites.

Figures show that tourists travelling by coach spend at least 40% more money at their destinations than other tourists.

In the US, one coach spending one night at a destination generates as much as USD 11,660 for that local economy. American coach traveller and tourist demand generates more than $55 billion annually in economic transactions. 

In Canada, each coach tour spends between USD 6,000 and USD 12,000 per night in the destination community, supporting community events, restaurants, shops and hotels.

In Germany, each tourist travelling by coach spends an average of USD 97 per day during their holiday.

In the UK, coach travel accounts for USD 3.74 billion pounds injected into the economy every year.

Millions of jobs

Buses and coach are not only the backbone of public transport and tourism; they also provide millions of skilled jobs. Moreover, many other jobs depend indirectly on bus and coach transport: i.e. the travel and tourism industries, restaurants, hotels, etc.

The private coach industry in the US and Canada provides jobs to 118,000 people. On average, a US and Canadian coach company provides 34 jobs or 3.5 jobs per coach. In the US, the coach travel and tour industry together generates employment for more than 792,000 people.  Public and community transportation employs more than 360,000. One job created in the bus and coach sector in the US, generates 3 to 3.5 additional jobs in partner industries.

Employment by mode of transport (Source: EU Energy & Transport Figures, 2009)

In Europe, bus and coach operators employ more than two million drivers, mechanics, accountants and marketing experts. Leading manufacturers of buses and coaches and their partners based in Europe employ around 700,000 employees to provide vehicle components, sell, insure or inspect buses and coaches. Altogether in Europe, there are approximately 7.5 million jobs that depend directly or indirectly on buses and coaches.

Promoting collective transport by bus and coach allows for more jobs, a cleaner environment, enhanced road safety and better social cohesion and justice all at once.

Buses and coaches are an Efficient Move!

Find out which policy measures should be implemented to further enhance bus and coach transport efficiency.