Transport for London 4th Travel in London Report

24 January 2012
Dear Colleague,
Transport for London publishes the fourth Travel in London Report
Transport for London has published its fourth annual Travel in London report.
This is available at: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/corporate/travel-inlondon-
report-4.pdf
This updated report provides a comprehensive analysis and interpretation of
trends in travel and transport in the context of the implementation of the Mayor
of London’s Transport Strategy, and spotlights other developments of
contemporary interest, such as the impacts of the removal of the western
extension of the congestion charging scheme.
The fourth Travel in London report highlights how Londoner’s travel behaviour,
and the extent and performance of the transport networks, has changed over
the last decade, and points out key developments in the latest year. Key
highlights include:
- Growing demand for travel, with strong growth between 2009 and
2010, in spite of the economic recession: 24.8 million trips were made
on an average day in 2010 – an increase of 1 per cent over the previous
year and 9 per cent more than in 2000. Patronage on the Underground
grew particularly strongly, with 5 per cent more passenger kilometres
travelled in 2010/11 compared to 2009/10.
- An unprecedented modal shift of 7.5 percentage points away from car
use onto public transport, walking and cycling: continuing the
established trend with a further 0.6 per cent shift to public transport
between 2009 and 2010. Without this modal shift, there would have been
one million more car driver trips in London in 2010.
- Fewer car journeys: traffic on London’s roads fell by six per cent between 2000 and 2009, with a further fall of 0.9 per cent in vehicle kilometres driven over the most recent year.
- Greater public transport capacity: including 33 per cent more bus kilometres and eight per cent more Underground train kilometres operated in 2010/11 compared to 2000/01;
- Sustained improvements in the reliability of bus and Underground services: as has now been the case for several years, key indicators of service performance were either at, or close to their recorded highs in 2010/11, with 97 per cent of scheduled kilometres operated on the bus networks and 96 per cent on the Underground network.
- Continued strong growth in cycling in London, reflecting initiatives such as Barclays Cycle Hire and Superhighways: the number of journey stages made by bicycle in 2010 increased by 6 per cent from the previous year, an increase of 70 per cent since 2001. There was a 15 per cent increase in the number of cycles counted on the main Transport for London road network between 2009 and 2010.
- Continued improvements to road safety and crime: 2010 saw a 10.6 per cent reduction, relative to 2009, in the number of people killed or seriously injured on London’s roads, continuing the long-standing trend of reduction and now standing 57 per cent lower than the average between 1994 and 1998.
The report also focuses on two developments of particular contemporary interest – cycling in London and the impacts of the removal of the Western Extension to the central London congestion charging scheme (effective from the start of 2011).
- The report contains a summary of cycle trends in London and a comprehensive update on the Mayor’s cycling revolution in London, which has seen the successful launch of Barclays Cycle Hire for members and casual users, and four Barclays Cycle Superhighways, alongside a range of interventions to improve conditions for cyclists. Nearly a quarter of Londoners cycled in 2010 and the number of London households that
owned a bicycle increased by 8 per cent from the previous year to 35 per cent; there were more than 2 million bicycles in the city. Investment in cycling is delivering results: nearly half of Barclays Cycle Hire members had been inspired by the scheme to start cycling in London, and one in five journeys on the two Barclays Cycle Superhighways launched in 2011 would not previously have been cycled.
- The traffic impacts of the removal of the Western Extension to the congestion charging zone have been relatively benign, with the observed increase of 8 per cent in traffic entering the former zone in 2011 compared to the equivalent period of 2010. This is towards the lower end of TfL’s range of expectation. The equivalent observed increase in congestion was 3 per cent – again at the lower end of TfL’s range of expectation, and in part reflecting effective road network management.
For further information on the contents of this report please contact the following e-mail address: TILenquiries@tfl.gov.uk
Yours faithfully,
Michèle Dix
Managing Director, TfL Planning