I'm surprised at the claim that overcrowding is a thing of the past. Try getting an overground on the windrush line and changing to the jubilee at Canada water! It's madness at rush hour
I do exactly that sometimes! And yes - that figure is 'by passenger km', so there's definitely pinch points where for short journeys it's still unpleasant. But the big change has been people no longer riding across London on a massively overcrowded Central line.
Thanks for the reply. I sometimes get the windrush to whitechapel and get on the elizabeth to avoid the jubilee so i can see the difference it must have made on the central line. Seems to me that the motto for london transport infrastructure is "if you build it they will come":)
Always a fan of these transport focused articles. TfL is in a hole of the central government doesn't do something. I thought there were supposed to be benefits (read fiscal) that came with a Labour Mayor-Labour government combo, though seems like another one of the innumerable disappointments that have come with the current government and it's lack of ambition or even really lack of trying at all. The quiet isn't it nice.
Tube accessibility needs much more improvement. You're right it's not just wheelchairs, but also buggies and prams and those with limited mobility that makes stairs difficult. Transport system lifts would also be more usable if there was system to easily check online which are not working on the network, like the MTA does in New York https://mta.info/elevators There are QR codes on each lift to easily report an outage.
That's a great idea! I'm going to ask about it. As someone who often ends up balancing on a buggy on the escalator when a lift is out of order, it's a mess.
Thank you. Very interesting. My only question is do TFL have the stats for Lime bikes & scooters? Or are they guessing.
Given the amount of them you see in Central London, I suspect they might skew the statistics somewhat. Helped by the massive increase in Cycle Lanes since the pandemic.
Interesting. I drive early in the morning - 5.30am - from south-east to west London and I think the traffic is getting heavier, earlier. In the evenings, it's currently chockablock. I don't know if this is extra roadworks before the end of the financial year, changed traffic lights or just more people in their cars, but it feels like almost everywhere has turned into the madness of Streatham High Road traffic.
I went to South Kensington and it certainly didn’t feel like it was any quieter than pre covid. Seems to have got busier in fact. Do these numbers take into account tourists?
Excellent analysis but those rental bikes are very unlikely to attract more older women - the very ones who use public transport more - while they are so big, heavy and unwieldy.
Investment also needed into safe places to leave bikes when not in use and truly unbreakable locks.
And as ever, walking is neglected with walkers inhibited because of so many unsafe places to cross roads, pavement parking, and poor lighting
Good point! There may be other factors at play. And remember that the national trend is for more cars, which during the 2010s became more affordable due to changes in car leasing.
Another factor is that in 2012 TfL produced some research (and of course it may have changed since then) about how ethnicity shapes who drives: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/BAME.pdf
One of their findings is that people from an Asian background are more likely to drive than other minorities, put a higher value on driving, and often prioritise having one car to share between a family group. Over the last decade the Asian population of Barking and Dagenham has doubled, overtaking the old resident black population.
I was in Barking, Dagenham, and Havering yesterday. It's a place where driving is the cultural norm and it's fairly easy to do so. And , like most of N London outside the N circular, it's not a great place to catch a bus. Buses are for poorer people.
It's also an area where no one cycles, rather like Redbridge. I don't think bike infra or hire bike will change that.
What might shift people from cars is high end mass transit using trams or similar....
Btw, I think you are too gentle on the failure of cycling to move out it's niche. Perhaps Londoners don't want to cycle?
Was discussing this with my girlfriend and her observation was that maybe a different way of looking at the map is that it shows where people can afford to not have a car. Wealthier areas with normal working hours, wfh etc. vs areas where people work shifts or lates and as such need the car.
I'm surprised at the claim that overcrowding is a thing of the past. Try getting an overground on the windrush line and changing to the jubilee at Canada water! It's madness at rush hour
I do exactly that sometimes! And yes - that figure is 'by passenger km', so there's definitely pinch points where for short journeys it's still unpleasant. But the big change has been people no longer riding across London on a massively overcrowded Central line.
Thanks for the reply. I sometimes get the windrush to whitechapel and get on the elizabeth to avoid the jubilee so i can see the difference it must have made on the central line. Seems to me that the motto for london transport infrastructure is "if you build it they will come":)
Always a fan of these transport focused articles. TfL is in a hole of the central government doesn't do something. I thought there were supposed to be benefits (read fiscal) that came with a Labour Mayor-Labour government combo, though seems like another one of the innumerable disappointments that have come with the current government and it's lack of ambition or even really lack of trying at all. The quiet isn't it nice.
Tube accessibility needs much more improvement. You're right it's not just wheelchairs, but also buggies and prams and those with limited mobility that makes stairs difficult. Transport system lifts would also be more usable if there was system to easily check online which are not working on the network, like the MTA does in New York https://mta.info/elevators There are QR codes on each lift to easily report an outage.
That's a great idea! I'm going to ask about it. As someone who often ends up balancing on a buggy on the escalator when a lift is out of order, it's a mess.
Thank you. Very interesting. My only question is do TFL have the stats for Lime bikes & scooters? Or are they guessing.
Given the amount of them you see in Central London, I suspect they might skew the statistics somewhat. Helped by the massive increase in Cycle Lanes since the pandemic.
Interesting. I drive early in the morning - 5.30am - from south-east to west London and I think the traffic is getting heavier, earlier. In the evenings, it's currently chockablock. I don't know if this is extra roadworks before the end of the financial year, changed traffic lights or just more people in their cars, but it feels like almost everywhere has turned into the madness of Streatham High Road traffic.
I went to South Kensington and it certainly didn’t feel like it was any quieter than pre covid. Seems to have got busier in fact. Do these numbers take into account tourists?
Excellent analysis but those rental bikes are very unlikely to attract more older women - the very ones who use public transport more - while they are so big, heavy and unwieldy.
Investment also needed into safe places to leave bikes when not in use and truly unbreakable locks.
And as ever, walking is neglected with walkers inhibited because of so many unsafe places to cross roads, pavement parking, and poor lighting
Also, bit odd that Barking has biggest increase in access to cars, while tfl say most drives are wealthy. Isn't B&D the poorest borough?
Good point! There may be other factors at play. And remember that the national trend is for more cars, which during the 2010s became more affordable due to changes in car leasing.
Another factor is that in 2012 TfL produced some research (and of course it may have changed since then) about how ethnicity shapes who drives: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/BAME.pdf
One of their findings is that people from an Asian background are more likely to drive than other minorities, put a higher value on driving, and often prioritise having one car to share between a family group. Over the last decade the Asian population of Barking and Dagenham has doubled, overtaking the old resident black population.
I was in Barking, Dagenham, and Havering yesterday. It's a place where driving is the cultural norm and it's fairly easy to do so. And , like most of N London outside the N circular, it's not a great place to catch a bus. Buses are for poorer people.
It's also an area where no one cycles, rather like Redbridge. I don't think bike infra or hire bike will change that.
What might shift people from cars is high end mass transit using trams or similar....
Btw, I think you are too gentle on the failure of cycling to move out it's niche. Perhaps Londoners don't want to cycle?
Was discussing this with my girlfriend and her observation was that maybe a different way of looking at the map is that it shows where people can afford to not have a car. Wealthier areas with normal working hours, wfh etc. vs areas where people work shifts or lates and as such need the car.