Passenger bus and urban transit, 2013

Released: 2015-03-30

The Canadian passenger bus industry saw its overall financial performance grow in 2013.

Total revenue increased 3.0% over the previous year to $16.3 billion. Expenses rose as well in 2013, advancing 4.9% to $12.5 billion. As a result of the stronger growth in expenses, net income fell 2.6% to $3.8 billion.

The urban transit industry continued to account for most of the revenue generated by the bus industries in 2013. For the year, its revenue increased 2.9% to $12.7 billion. A key component of the urban transit industry's revenue was tied to operating subsidies, which rose 4.1% to $3.9 billion, and to capital subsidies, which fell 0.9% to $4.2 billion.

From a provincial perspective, most of the operating revenues for the bus industries in 2013 were generated in Ontario (40.4%) and Quebec (26.0%).

Human resource expenses represented 57.5% of the overall costs incurred by the bus industries in 2013. Compared with the previous year, employment costs rose 3.3% to $7.2 billion. Within the industries, the urban transit and the school and employee bus industries accounted for 54.4% and 32.3% of the workforce, respectively.

Fuel consumption expenses also rose in 2013, with diesel and electricity being the two largest energy sources consumed. For the year, diesel usage increased 5.2% to 970.2 million litres while electricity usage advanced 2.0% to 856.5 million kilowatts.

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