Cost of individual bus routes

Summary

The requester asked for annual passenger numbers, daily costs, and daily income for specific Isle of Man bus routes for the 2023-2024 financial year. The Department of Infrastructure provided annual revenue and passenger figures but refused to calculate daily costs and income, citing that such data would need to be derived and would vary significantly based on operational factors.

Key Facts

• The request was amended to cover the period from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.
• Specific bus routes requested included 1h, 3, 4, 4n, 5, 6a, 11, 16, 17, and 22.
• The authority refused to provide daily cost and income figures under Section 8(3)(a) as this would require creating or deriving information.
• Annual revenue and passenger counts were provided for all requested routes.
• Bus Vannin operates services 364 days a year, with revenue variances due to school days, weekends, and payment types.

Data Disclosed

• 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024
• £126,151.70
• 152190
• £374,478.10
• 363131
• £13,415.70
• 19912
• £1,300.90
• 2815
• £237,275.40
• 207367
• £81,519.40
• 80420
• £116,936.80
• 111115
• £186.20
• 5231
• £569.20
• 532
• £33,441.30
• 69429
• 21%
• 27%
• 364 days

Exemptions Cited

• Section 8 (3)(a) - Not required to create or derive information from information held

Original Request

Please provide the number of passengers who use each bus route on an annual basis. The daily cost of each route and the daily take home on each route. For clarification, I wish to see for bus number 1 x passengers per year, y cost per day and z daily take home income. Please also include the northern dial up bus.. Last the last two financial years (2022-2023 & 2023-2024) 'I would like to amend my request to a shorter timeframe and specific bus services. The time frame is reduced to 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Bus routes 1h, 3 , 4 , 4n, 5, 6a, 11, 16, 17 & 22'

Data Tables (1)

Full Response Text

Department of Infrastructure Sea Terminal Building, Douglas, Isle of Man, IM1 2RF

Contact: FOI Response Team Telephone: (01624) 686785 Email: dpo-doi@gov.im

Our ref: 4007445 13 August 2024

Dear ###

We write further to your request, received 24 July 2024, which states:

"Please provide the number of passengers who use each bus route on an annual basis. The daily cost of each route and the daily take home on each route.

For clarification, I wish to see for bus number 1 x passengers per year, y cost per day and z daily take home income. Please also include the northern dial up bus..

Last the last two financial years (2022-2023 & 2023-2024)

'I would like to amend my request to a shorter timeframe and specific bus services.

The time frame is reduced to 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024.

Bus routes 1h, 3 , 4 , 4n, 5, 6a, 11, 16, 17 & 22'"

Our response to your request is as follows:

Some Information Held

Under Section 8 (3)(a), we are not required to ‘create or derive information from information’ that we hold. As Bus Vannin operates services 364 days of the year, a daily income can be calculated however, the variances would be broad.

For example, the factors that would impact the daily figures include:

School day or non-school day operation (less journeys during non-school days)

The day of the week (significantly less on a Sunday)

Payment type (as on average 21% are zero value concession cards and 27% are prepaid, generally discounted smart cards- please note prepaid card revenue is not included in the figures below)

Due to this, we have provided the annual revenue and passenger figures for the bus services that you have requested for the period 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 that we hold.

1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024- Bus Service Revenue and Passenger Figures

Service Revenue Passengers 1h £126,151.70 152190 3 £374,478.10 363131 4 £13,415.70 19912 4n £1,300.90 2815 5 £237,275.40 207367 6a £81,519.40 80420 11 £116,936.80 111115 16 £186.20 5231 17 £569.20 532 22 £33.441.30 69429

Please quote the reference number 4007445 in any future communications.

Your right to request a review

If you are unhappy with this response to your freedom of information request, you may ask us to carry out an internal review of the response, by completing a complaint form and submitting it electronically or by delivery/post.

An electronic version of our complaint form can be found by going to our website at https://services.gov.im/freedom-of-information/Review . If you would like a paper version of our complaint form to be sent to you by post, please contact me and I will be happy to arrange for this. Your review request should explain why you are dissatisfied with this response, and should be made as soon as practicable. We will respond as soon as the review has been concluded.

If you are not satisfied with the result of the review, you then have the right to appeal to the Information Commissioner for a decision on; 1. Whether we have responded to your request for information in accordance with Part 2 of the Freedom of Information Act 2015; or 2. Whether we are justified in refusing to give you the information requested.
In response to an application for review, the Information Commissioner may, at any time, attempt to resolve a matter by negotiation, conciliation, mediation or another form of alternative dispute resolution and will have regard to any outcome of this in making any subsequent decision. More detailed information on your right to a review can be found on the Information Commissioner’s website at www.inforights.im. Should you have any queries concerning this letter, please do not hesitate to contact me. Further information about freedom of information requests can be found at www.gov.im/foi.

I will now close your request as of this date.