Buses in the United Kingdom complete more than three billion journeys each year. Many of these routes are in London, where 1.8 billion journeys accounted for three hundred million miles traveled in 2023. Whether for school, work, recreation, or any other purpose, many people rely on the UK’s buses.
What is it like to be one of these buses? That’s something Craig Taylor, a data visualization specialist and designer with ITO World, has given a lot of thought. With hundreds of millions of miles traveled, buses encounter a wide variety of scenarios. For instance, they may share routes near to or distant from other buses. Some buses may travel routes that are flat, while others are challenged by elevation. To answer these and other questions, Taylor performed a range of analyses and generated a three-part series of animated maps. Data from the UK’s Bus Open Data Service (BODS) powered the analysis.
The first video in the series explores the idea of the loneliest bus. That is, the bus with the lowest proximity to any other bus for a length of time throughout its route. This happens to be the Stagecoach South West (SDVN) bus route six. Shown in the animation above, this bus leaves its peers behind in Exeter. It then travels the countryside, through Okehampton and Holsworthy, before arriving in Bude. At times, it is the only bus within nearly eight miles.
Other questions Taylor wanted to answer are which is the hardest working bus? And which bus has the longest journey? A bus that climbs up and down a variety of terrain works harder than a bus that remains on flat ground. This also factors in distance: A long trip over moderate terrain might require more work than a short trip over more intense elevation. The second animation in the series shows a collection of buses on the Borders Buses Line LI8335 powering through its long, hilly route across the Southern Uplands.
The bus with the longest journey is the X99 Inverness to Thurso route. This trip completes around 71 stops over the course of three and a half hours.
Each of these animations showcase a clean and playful style, making them as entertaining as they are informative. This is made more impressive when given a look behind the scenes at the enormity of data collected and the statistical analyses performed.
Just as it takes a hardworking bus time and effort to arrive at a destination, it takes a cartographer a great deal of expertise and artistry to connect with an audience. And these maps deliver with remarkable effect.
