A new report released today, highlights the urgent need for better quality public transport data to improve bus networks across England. The Mosaiq Global Public Transport Index (GPTI) ‘Spotlight on England’ focuses on On-Time Performance (OTP) across six key regions, revealing significant gaps in publicly available data and offering a chance to rethink how we use data to collaborate and improve public transport policies and services.

Snapper Services CEO, Miki Szikszai, said: “The results show clear disparities in On-Time Performance across regions, offering a data-driven roadmap for improvement. Quality data is essential for making meaningful improvements in public transport. Without high-quality, publicly available data, it’s difficult for stakeholders to accurately assess performance and make meaningful adjustments.”

Key Findings: On-Time Performance across England

The analysis, based on data from 6th January to 2nd February 2025, tracked 3.8 million trips across six regions; Greater London, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and West Midlands.

• Greater London stands out for having over 90% of trips not detected at the first stop. This discrepancy is largely attributed to the high-frequency network model used by Transport for London.
• West Yorkshire and West Midlands lead the way in OTP performance, with around 73% of trips falling within the OTP range of -1 minute to +4.59 seconds.
• Greater Manchester achieves an exceptional performance by limiting early running to under 1% of trips, a remarkable feat given the completion of the region’s new franchising system on January 5, 2025.
• Merseyside and West Yorkshire show notable improvements in late running when the OTP scenario is adjusted to -1 minute to +5.59 seconds.

The role of data quality in shaping future improvements

One major issue highlighted in the report is the inconsistency in how bus trips are recorded, especially at the first stop. In Greater London, data was missing for 93% of trips at their starting point, making it difficult to accurately assess performance. These gaps in public transport data affect how reliably services run, how decisions are made, and how improvements can be planned.

The Mosaiq Global Public Transport Index aims to set a global standard for reporting On-Time Performance (OTP) and other benchmarks. While its goal is to promote transparent, accessible data, it’s important to recognise that current data practices fall far short of what’s expected from open data systems. If we are serious about making public transport more reliable and responsive to passenger needs, we need to do much better than this.

Szikszai adds: “As transport systems evolve, better data will improve services and provide a foundation for more efficient networks. We urge regions, operators, and policymakers to work together, learn from each other, and close data gaps. Improving data quality will make public transport more reliable and accessible for all.”