What it means: journeys on the main kinds of public transport in Great Britain each year, stacked to show both the total and the split between them. Buses carry the most people, mostly on short local trips; rail journeys are fewer but much longer. All modes collapsed in the year to March 2021 during Covid lockdowns. Rail has recovered faster than buses and the Underground. Each boarding of a bus or train counts as a journey, so a trip with a change counts twice. Coach, taxi and ferry journeys are not included. The area comparison uses local bus journeys per person, because rail use is not published by council. A change of 2% or more in the total on the year before counts.

Source: DfT, bus statistics (BUS01a); Office of Rail and Road, passenger rail usage (table 1220); DfT, light rail and tram statistics (LRT0101).