The table illustrates the percentage of people in the UK who travelled by bus for five different purposes (shopping, study, work, visiting friends, and day tours) between 2009 and 2011.
Overall, shopping was consistently the most common reason for bus travel throughout the period, although its proportion declined each year. In contrast, travelling to visit friends and for day tours generally increased, while bus use for work fell sharply and eventually disappeared.
In 2009, a significant majority of bus users travelled for shopping, accounting for 65% of all trips. This figure decreased to 56% in 2010 and further to 51% in 2011, though it still remained the dominant purpose. Visiting friends was the second most common reason, representing 19% in both 2009 and 2010 before rising to 23% in 2011.
Travel for study was relatively low but doubled from 4% in 2009 to 9% in 2010, remaining stable at 9% in 2011. By contrast, commuting to work showed a continuous decline, falling from 5% in 2009 to 2% in 2010, and reaching 0% in 2011.
Finally, day tours became slightly more popular, increasing from 7% in 2009 to 12% in both 2010 and 2011. Overall, the data suggests a shift away from work-related bus travel toward leisure and social activities.