Travel in London Travel in London

Overview
of 67.1 per cent in journey stages and 86.8 per cent in kilometres travelled
between 2008/09 and 2014/15, an average growth rate of 8.9 per cent per year
(journey stages).
• The new London Overground network, largely established over the period since
2008, has seen a 321.4 per cent increase in journey stages over the period, on a
like-for-like basis, equivalent to 27.1 per cent per year – reflecting the rapid
development and enhancement of this network, including improved customer
service aspects.
• Patronage on Tramlink increased by 13.7 per cent between 2008/09 and
2014/15 in terms of journey stages, equivalent to 2.2 per cent per year.
• Patronage of National Rail services serving London (London and South East
operators) continued to grow strongly, with a 4.3 per cent increase in journey
stages over the latest year. Journeys on National Rail totalled 1,155 million in
2014/15, an increase of 35.2 per cent since 2008, despite the economic
recession, equivalent to 5.2 per cent per year.
Levels of road traffic have fallen for much of the last decade, but have increased
for the last two years. This reversal of trend, thought to reflect increasing
population and economic growth post-recession, coupled with unprecedented
demands on road network capacity to support a range of priorities, is bringing
increased pressures to London’s road networks.
• Levels of road traffic in London have fallen for most of the last decade, but
have shown signs of increasing again over the last two years. Taking the period
from 2008 to 2014, the net decline has been 7.5 per cent in central London, 9.3
per cent in inner London, and 0.4 per cent in outer London, equating to an
overall reduction of 3.1 per cent at the Greater London level. This fall in road
traffic has been attributed to a much-improved public transport offering, various
wider societal changes affecting car ownership and use, and reductions to
available road network capacity.
• Over the most recent year traffic volumes have started to increase in all parts of
London – by 3.4 per cent in central London, 1.4 per cent in inner London, and
1.9 per cent in outer London (1.8 per cent at the Greater London level), relative
to 2013.
• This combines with increasing reallocation of available road network capacity to
support a range of other MTS priorities, as well as increased general
construction activity affecting the road network, leading to further renewed
congestion pressures.
Continued strong growth in cycling and on TfL River Services.
• Cycling levels increased by 10.3 per cent between 2013 and 2014. The net
growth since 2008 in terms of journey stages has been 31.9 per cent, equivalent
to 4.7 per cent per year on average.
• TfL River Services has seen significant expansion between 2008/09 and 2014/15,
with passenger traffic on the Thames increasing by 19.1 per cent in the latest
year.
9 Travel in London, Report 8