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.