Domestic Transport Usage by Mode
Updated 14 May 2025
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Usage of transport by mode from May 2024
Usage is shown as a percentage of pre-COVID-19 baseline; baselines used vary between modes (see the methodology note for further information). For rail, usage is shown as a 7-day rolling average ending on the indicated date. For all other modes, daily usage for weekdays (excluding bank holidays) is shown.
The latest TfL data (tube and London buses) is available in this report, since the cyber incident which occurred at TfL in September 2024. National Rail data remains to be provisional until updated adjustment factors for the Elizabeth line are available.
Figure 1: Transport usage progressively recovers to pre-COVID-19 level, across all modes
Transport usage as a proportion of pre-COVID-19 levels, Great Britain, May 2024 to May 2025
Figure 1 presents a series of 4 line charts which show transport usage as a proportion of pre-COVID-19 levels, for motor vehicles, buses (excluding London), National Rail (excluding the Elizabeth line) and Transport for London (tube and buses) over the last 12 months. Over the past year, public transport mode usage (National Rail, buses and TfL) has remained below pre-COVID-19 levels, whereas motor vehicles usage has remained closer to pre-COVID-19 levels.
For all modes, usage fluctuates day-to-day, and bus usage outside of London is heavily impacted by school holidays throughout the year. Sharp changes in modal usage are as a result of weather events, industrial action or other events. More detail about this can be found in the footnotes of the published data table.
Table 1 below compares the range of usage during the current and previous publishing periods[footnote 1] for each mode as a percentage of the pre-COVID-19 baseline. For all modes, except rail, transport usage excludes weekends and bank holidays, with rail presenting a 7-day rolling average of usage for all days.
The exclusion of weekends and bank holidays for all modes, except rail, is to prevent direct comparisons between these days and weekdays. This is because usage over weekends and bank holidays is less representative of typical weekday usage patterns (see the methodology note for further information).
The publishing periods vary between some modes due to data lags, which are specified in Table 1.
Table 1: Latest transport usage, by mode
| Mode | Publishing period | Latest usage at date | Commentary |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rail (GB excluding Elizabeth Line) | 31 Mar to 04 May 2025 | 97% (Sunday 4 May 2025) | Passenger journeys in the week ending Sunday 4 May 2025 were 97% of those observed in the equivalent week in 2019. In the current publishing period, weekly average usage figures have been between 81% to 102%, compared to 85% to 96% in the last publishing period. These figures exclude Elizabeth Line services usage. |
| Bus (GB excluding London) | 08 Apr to 12 May 2025 | 86% (Monday 12 May 2025) | Bus boardings outside of London on Monday 12 May 2025 were 86% of the volume observed on the equivalent day in the third week of January 2020. This is 1 percentage point lower compared to the equivalent day in the previous year (87% on Monday 13 May 2024). In the current publishing period weekday, bus usage has been between 69% to 92% of the pre-COVID-19 baseline, in comparison to between 77% to 93% in the last publishing period. |
| London Bus | 05 Apr to 09 May 2025 | 83% (Friday 9 May 2025) | TfL bus boardings on Friday 9 May 2025 were 83%. In the current publishing period weekday, TfL bus usage has been between 82% to 88% of the pre-COVID-19 baseline, in comparison to between 78% to 86% in the last publishing period. |
| London Tube | 05 Apr to 09 May 2025 | 77% (Friday 9 May 2025) | Tube entries and exits on Friday 9 May 2025 were 77% of the equivalent day in 2019. In the current publishing period weekday, tube usage has been between 75% to 86% of the pre-COVID-19 baseline, in comparison to between 76% to 86% in the last publishing period. |
| Motor Traffic (GB) | 08 Apr to 12 May 2025 | 106% (Monday 12 May 2025) | On Monday 12 May 2025 traffic volumes were 106% of the levels during the first week of February 2020. This is 3 percentage points higher compared to the equivalent day in the previous year (103% on Monday 13 May 2024). Weekday usage in this publishing period has been between 99% to 107% of the pre-COVID-19 baseline, in comparison to 99% to 104% in the last publishing period. |
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Rail and TfL data are lagged compared to other modes due to the availability of data at time of publishing. For rail, the current period therefore covers Monday 31 March 2025 to Sunday 4 May 2025, while the previous publishing period covers Monday 3 March 2025 to Sunday 30 March 2025. For TfL data, the current period covers Saturday 5 April 2025 to Friday 9 May 2025, while the previous publishing period covers Saturday 8 March 2025 to Friday 4 April 2025. ↩