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8. Transport connectivity, physical accessibility and understanding London’s diverse communities
• We continue to invest to improve levels of physical accessibility to the
transport networks. The composite indicator that measures this has increased
from 36 per cent in 2008/09 to 54 per cent in 2014/15, this being the proportion
of the public transport network that is fully accessible. This is a substantial
improvement, but still means that just under half of the network is not fully
accessible, therefore those with travel-related disabilities often face longer
journeys and some journeys may not be physically possible.
8.3 Transport connectivity – access to jobs
One measure that can be used to quantify the development of the transport
networks in terms of the support that they give to London’s economy is the
number of jobs (whether filled or currently vacant) that are potentially available
within a given travel time from a particular residential location. The basis for
assessing this is a travel time contour of 45 minutes by the principal public
transport modes, expressed as an aggregate measure across Greater London.
Figure 8.1 shows these results for 2015. The map should be interpreted in terms of,
from any one point, the number of jobs that are potentially reachable in 45 minutes
by public transport. As might be expected, the map reflects the concentric pattern
of employment density and also the primarily radial orientation of the public
transport networks. Typically, for people living in outer London, between 0.25 and
0.5 million jobs are potentially available from their home location within 45 minutes
travel time. However, this rises to typically around 2.5 million jobs potentially
available to a resident of central London.
Table 8.1 shows the available time-series for this indicator, and shows steady
progress in terms of increased access to employment in London, with a 5.2 per
cent increase between 2009 and 2015 (using values on a consistent basis). In
interpreting this indicator, it should be recognised that the recent increase to the
number of jobs available in London will also have an impact, as more jobs will have
become available irrespective of any change to the transport networks.
Table 8.1
Year
Number of jobs available by mass public transport within 45 minutes
travel time, 2013. London-wide average of small-area scores.
Number of jobs
available within 45
minutes travel time
2006 937,900
2009 959,400
2011 980,200
2012 989,450
2013 995,950
2014 1,002,523
2015 1,009,124
Source: TfL Planning, Strategic Analysis.
140 Travel in London, Report 8