Travel in London Travel in London

11. Spotlight: How has travel by Londoners changed – insights from 10 years of the London Travel
Demand Survey (LTDS)
Walking trip distributions by length are however perhaps more intuitive (figure
11.27), with a prevalence of short trips among older Londoners and younger
Londoners making longer trips on average. Some 75 per cent of walking trips made
by Londoners over the age of 85 are 500 metres or less in length, whereas the
average walking trip length for Londoners aged between 17 and 24 is 800 metres.
Figure 11.27
Distance walked by age – London residents.
25%
20%
Percentage of trips
15%
10%
5%
0%
0 0.5 1 1.5 2 2.5 3 3.5 4 4.5 5
Walk trip distance (kilometres)
05-16 years 17-24 years 25-44 years 45-64 years 65-74 years 75-84 years 85+ years
Source: TfL Planning, Strategic Analysis.
1. Walk trip distances are calculated as the crow flies.
Which journeys are being walked?
As might be expected, walking mode share is particularly high for shorter trips: 91
per cent of all trips under 500 metres made by Londoners are made on foot. In
terms of journey purpose (figure 11.28), the overall profile is similar across the
journey purposes, although there are proportionately more short trips for shopping
and personal business.
236 Travel in London, Report 8