Cardiff ’10th best in Britain’ for public transport links: national study

• Glasgow ranks top as Great Britain’s best public transport area, averaging 1.2 train stops and 43.29 bus stops per square mile
• Liverpool comes second in the study, with the average person in the city using a train station 86.32 times per year; the fourth-highest figure nationwide
• Other locations to make the top 10 rankings include Manchester, Birmingham, Reading, and Brighton

Glasgow has been named the best area of Great Britain for public transport, according to a new study.   

Bus travel expert GetByBus analysed government data on over 300 local authorities across Great Britain for several metrics relating to public transport. Each area was ranked based on bus and train stops per square mile, train station usage per capita, the percentage of bus and train journeys to work, and the number of taxis, airports, and private hire vehicles (PHVs) per 100,000 people. All London boroughs were aggregated to create a score for the city. The areas secured a score out of 100 and were ranked from highest to lowest. 

Table: The best areas in Great Britain for public transport 

Reading comes fourth in the study, scoring 67.07. The area ranks among the top 4% of locations for bus and train stops per square mile (46.16 and 0.96), train station usage per capita, and the percentage of workers using the bus to commute. The average person in Reading uses a train station 75.13 times per year, while 12.21% of workers cite the bus as a mode of transport to work.   

Manchester rounds out the top five areas of Great Britain with the best public transport, securing a score of 65.68. Rail services prove particularly popular in the city, with the total number of train station entries and exits at 41,576,382, or 75.61 per capita, second in England behind Nottingham. The area is also home to 51.62 bus stops and 0.94 rail stops per square mile, which rank among the top 5%.  

Crawley claims sixth place in the study. With a score of 64.70 out of 100, the West Sussex borough has the highest rate of train station usage per capita (174.50), almost double that of places like Liverpool and Glasgow. The location is among the top 5% of places for people taking the bus to work, with bus journeys representing 11.05% of all commutes for locals.   

Residents of Brighton and Hove council area have access to the seventh-best public transport in Great Britain, scoring 63.63 in the study. The rail network is popular among locals, with 19,381,366 station entries and exits recorded at a rate of 70.14 per capita, the ninth-highest figure nationwide. The area also ranks in the top 7% of locations for taxis per 100,000 people (217.13).   

Birmingham places eighth in the study with a score of 62.93. The city has the sixth highest number of rail stops per square mile, with 1.14, while also ranking among the top 10 spots for the percentage of people using a bus to get to work (13.13%).   

Luton takes ninth position, scoring 58.92, thanks to a high number of bus stops per square mile, with 45.88. The area is also among the top 10% of locations where commuters take the bus to work. Approximately 8.67% of locals cite a bus journey as their method of transport to work.   

Cardiff is the final area to be named in the study and the best location for public transport in Wales. Scoring 58.35 out of 100, the city has the ninth-highest number of rail stops per square mile (1.04) and is in the top 12% of areas for taxis per 100,000 residents (191.65).   

Richmondshire, Dumfries and Galloway, and Staffordshire Moorlands ranked bottom of the study as the worst spots in Great Britain for public transport, with each spot scoring less than 15 out of 100. Powys also ranked bottom for Wales with a score of 16.79.   

Ante Dagelić, CEO of GetByBus, commented on the study: “With workers, students, and others relying on public transport daily, it is vital for links across Great Britain to be strong and reliable.   

“England tends to be the strongest nation in Great Britain for public transport, with eight of the top 10 locations found here, while Wales and Scotland each have one area in the top ranking. Similarly, two Scottish spots are among the worst in the nation, Dumfries and Galloway, and Moray.   

“While bus journeys in Great Britain have fallen from just over 5 billion in 2013 to a little over 3.7 billion in 2023, some areas are still heavily reliant on these services, with one in four workers in areas like Edinburgh taking the bus on their regular commute.”