Out-of-home advertising inside and on buses is still an incredibly effective way to promote companies and products to engage with urban audiences on the move. Unlike digital ads online, bus adverts can’t be switched off and are likely to catch the eye of many people from different walks of life.
Offline marketing experts from Oppizi investigated the best areas of the UK to advertise using buses. By analysing data from the Department of Transport statistics, the experts gathered bus miles driven in each local authority in the UK per 100k of the population.
By ranking these numbers, the experts could determine which areas of the UK will likely have the most bus advert views from the general public, bus riders, and passers-by. Below are the top ten best locations in the UK to place a bus advert for your business:
- North West Leicestershire – 125 million bus miles per 100k
- Lancashire – 15.37 million bus miles per 100k
- Norfolk – 5.44 million bus miles per 100k
- Tyne and Wear – 3.48 million bus miles per 100k
- West Midlands – 3.26 million bus miles per 100k
- London – 3.25 million bus miles per 100k
- Brighton and Hove – 2.88 million bus miles per 100k
- Darlington – 2.8 million bus miles per 100k
- Nottingham – 2.71 million bus miles per 100k
- North East – 2.69 million bus miles per 100k
North West Leicestershire is the best area of the UK to advertise your business outside of the home, on buses. There were 125 million miles driven by buses in North West Leicestershire per 100k of the population from 2021 to 2022. In comparison, London has 38 times fewer bus miles; this is quite astounding as 2.2 billion bus trips are made on London buses each year.
Lancashire is the second-best area to target bus riders with advertisements for your business, as 15.37 million bus miles are driven per 100k. Blackpool, Blackburn, Preston, and Burnley are just a few of the urban areas contributing to the massive amount of bus miles driven last year. Despite ranking second in this study, Lancashire bus miles per 100k are eight times less than North West Leicestershire.
Norfolk is the third best area in the UK to advertise your business on buses. 5.44 million bus miles were travelled per 100k of Norfolk’s population last year. Bus services in Norwich, Great Yarmouth, and Kings Lynn contribute to Norfolk’s great bus advertising potential.
Tyne and Wear takes fourth place with 3.84 million bus miles driven per 100k of the population in 2021/22. Sunderland, Newcastle, and Gateshead contribute many bus miles to the total.
West Midlands is the fifth best area to target bus riders with your business adverts, with 3.26 million bus miles driven per 100k of the population. Birmingham, Coventry, and Solihull significantly contribute to the bus miles driven and its bus advertising potential.
The ten worst places to advertise on buses in the UK
- Rutland – 0.05 million bus miles per 100k
- West Berkshire – 0.54 million bus miles per 100k
- Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead – 0.6 million bus miles per 100k
- Wokingham – 0.66 million bus miles per 100k
- Slough – 0.7 million bus miles per 100k
- Surrey – 0.75 million bus miles per 100k
- Cheshire East – 0.78 million bus miles per 100k
- Somerset – 0.8 million bus miles per 100k
- Bracknell Forest – 0.84 million bus miles per 100k
- Worcestershire – 0.86 million bus miles per 100k
A spokesperson from Oppizi commented on the study:
“Tapping into bus riders and passers-by outside of the home is a great way to gain an audience for company advertisements. Buses provide a rather effective means of conveying a message as they are always on the move and are often bright and eye-catching. Buses are often on a consistent route, so they will likely catch the eye of those travelling on their daily commute.
“Unlike digital ads found online, bus ads will catch the eyes of a vast variety of people. This is an excellent tool for your business as the untapped markets, such as older age groups and those who are tech-averse are likely to see your business advert; this would ideally lead to more customers for your business!
Adverts on a bus can be located in the interior, sides, rear, or even full wraps. This data may be valuable to companies wishing to expand their out-of-home advertising strategies as they can target UK areas with the highest chance of views.”
Vehicle miles on local bus services by local authority (commercial and local authority support buses) England, from 2021/22
Local Authority 2021/22 Bus miles driven per 100k population (millions) Population North West Leicestershire 127.7 125.00 102,126 Lancashire 17.5 15.37 113,949 Norfolk 12.8 5.44 235,089 Tyne and Wear 39.5 3.48 1,136,000 West Midlands 95.4 3.26 2,928,000 London 292.3 3.25 8,982,000 Brighton and Hove 8.4 2.88 290,395 Darlington 2.6 2.80 92,363 Nottingham 9.0 2.71 331,297 North East 71.6 2.69 2,657,000 York 5.3 2.63 201,672 Bath and North East Somerset 4.8 2.50 192,106 Derby 6.3 2.45 258,746 Merseyside ITA 34.3 2.41 1,423,000 Bristol 11.2 2.39 467,099 Leicester 8.5 2.39 357,394 Plymouth 6.3 2.37 264,700 Kingston upon Hull 6.2 2.36 261,149 Oxfordshire 15.4 2.25 687,466 Isle of Wight 3.2 2.23 141,606 West Midlands ITA 65.1 2.22 2,928,000 Torbay 3.0 2.21 136,051 Middlesbrough 3.1 2.15 142,691 South Yorkshire ITA 30.1 2.14 1,405,000 Cornwall 11.8 2.09 565,968 Luton 4.5 2.05 218,045 Blackpool 2.9 2.03 141,100 West Yorkshire ITA 46.3 1.99 2,325,000 Redcar and Cleveland 2.7 1.97 136,718 Southend-on-Sea 3.5 1.91 183,453 Yorkshire and the Humber 103.3 1.88 5,486,000 Southampton 4.7 1.84 254,316 Greater Manchester ITA 51.0 1.81 2,822,000 North Somerset 3.8 1.78 213,919 Swindon 4.2 1.78 233,713 Portsmouth 3.7 1.76 208,100 Medway 4.8 1.73 280,894 Northumberland 5.5 1.73 319,010 Hartlepool 1.6 1.69 92,571 Milton Keynes 4.8 1.68 288,201 South West England 93.6 1.67 5,616,000 Nottinghamshire 13.7 1.66 823,126 Devon 13.0 1.64 795,012 Cambridgeshire 10.6 1.62 653,412 Borough of Halton 2.2 1.57 141,100 Cumbria 7.8 1.56 498,083 Peterborough 3.3 1.55 215,700 South Gloucestershire 4.4 1.54 282,644 Stockton-on-Tees 3.0 1.51 197,213 Gloucestershire 9.6 1.51 633,558 Derbyshire 12.0 1.50 796,142 East Midlands 72.3 1.50 4,811,000 Blackburn with Darwen 2.1 1.38 148,753 Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole 7.0 1.37 514,000 South East England 124.2 1.35 9,175,000 Suffolk 10.1 1.33 760,472 East of England 82.7 1.33 6,235,000 East Sussex 7.4 1.32 558,626 Cheshire West and Chester 4.4 1.30 339,824 North East Lincolnshire 2.1 1.30 159,821 Warwickshire 7.2 1.27 568,167 West Sussex 10.6 1.23 858,852 East Riding of Yorkshire 4.2 1.22 342,200 Warrington 2.5 1.21 210,829 Telford and Wrekin 2.1 1.20 177,450 Lincolnshire 8.9 1.18 756,920
