What do we see?
There is a significant difference between the bus use intensity of PT buses, which ranges between 90,000km (2010) and 73,000km (2020) per year, and that of other buses: between 27,000km and 29,000km. As shown in the graph, PT buses are used far more extensively than other buses: the yearly number of kilometres driven is 3 times higher. Nevertheless, there was a decrease of 20% in the use intensity of PT buses between 2010 and 2020, with numbers evolving from 90,000km in 2010 to 80,000km in 2018 and 73,000 km in 2020. The recent decrease could however be related to the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly reduced the use of public transport and mobility in general.
What’s the aim?
In a circular economy we aim to minimise the material and carbon footprint of our mobility system, which means minimising the number of vehicles needed. An increase in use intensity of buses could indicate decreased idle time for buses. This would in turn allow a drop in the number of buses, and hence in the material needs of the system, while further supporting an increased use of public transport.
What does this indicator measure?
The use intensity of buses is an estimated ratio between the total number of kilometres driven by buses per year, and the total number of buses. The ratio is calculated using data provided by the Federal Public Service Mobility & Transport – data on all buses up to 2017 – and by De Lijn – data on PT vehicles up to 2020.
