Key Passenger Road Transport facts and figures

The road passenger transport sector has been unevenly impacted by COVID-19. Some data collection was also impacted. In 2024 as part of Member renewals, the BCA is looking to generate some much richer insights at an Association-wide level. This will provide a good proxy for the passenger road transport sector as the BCA members deliver all Public Transport bus services in New Zealand, 98% of the Ministry of Education school bus services and most tour coach services and charter services. 

• The BCA consists of around 160 full members providing road transport services and around 75 associate members that are generally industry-related suppliers.
• Collectively our members transport over 150 million passengers annually with a fleet of around 5,500 buses and passenger service vehicles.
• In doing this, our members employ over 13,000 staff and contribute more than $1.8 billion annually to New Zealand’s GDP.
• Effective public and charter transport contributes to New Zealand’s environmental, social, and economic goals. Because of this, BCA is a strong advocate for greater use of public transport in all its forms.
• Buses are the most utilised form of public transport in New Zealand as shown below while usage growing annually:

Figure 1: Boardings per year by Ferry, Train and Bus - Ministry of Transport data

• Buses and trains are the safest land transport mode with the risk of serious injury or death on a per kilometre travelled basis being 10 times lower than for pedestrian and car travel 50 times lower than for a cyclist and 250 times lower than for a motorcyclist!
• On a per person basis, buses are also one of the lowest cost modes of passenger transport with indicative comparisons below: