Last week's UK bus and coach registration data showed overall bus and coach volumes down 38.2% in October and down 12.9% for the year to date.  At the same time, 8.5 to 16t midi-bus registrations rose by 19.3% in the month.  Coach numbers dropped 5.9% in October, but were up 21.3% over the year to date.  "Overall bus and coach registrations fell for a seventh straight month in October.  They dropped for all but one month since April 2008.  But it is not all bad," said Paul Everitt, SMMT chief executive.  "Coach figures stayed firm over the first ten months of the year, up by a fifth.  It was also good to see midi-bus numbers up almost 20% in the month.  Some manufacturers still benefit from the Green Bus Fund and some sectors of the market may continue to improve.  Changes to concessionary travel from 2011, to the Bus Scheme Operators Grant in 2012 and cuts in Local Authority spending will make for a tough year ahead."
More from Robin Dickeson on +44 (0)2 073 449 222 or rdickeson@smmt.co.uk