Travel in London Travel in London

2. Overall travel trends in London
• In terms of mode share for public transport, there was a 3.0 per cent net
shift at the trip level, and a 2.9 per cent net shift at the journey stage level,
between 2008 and 2014. This is much greater than the MTS expectation of
a net change in mode share of 0.2 per cent over the same period, and
continues the consistent trend that has been seen in London over the last
14 years, with a 10.1 per cent shift in net mode share towards public
transport, walking and cycling since 2000.
2.7 Morning peak travel to central London
Background – the CAPC and Isle of Dogs Cordon Surveys
Since the late 1970s TfL have monitored the numbers of people entering
central London during the weekday morning peak period (07:00 to 10:00)
through a long-established yearly count, taken in the autumn. The Central Area
Peak Count (CAPC) survey covers all modes except walking and those travelling
in commercial vehicles or travelling as part of their job (for example, licensed
taxi drivers). Most of these people are commuting to work in central London,
and this indicator provides a good picture of this one specific, but important,
aspect of travel in London.
With the regeneration of London Docklands during the late 1980s, TfL
extended this idea and instituted a similar cordon-based count survey to cover
the Isle of Dogs. As well as the AM peak period this survey covers an extended
weekday (05:00 to 23:00). Over the past 25 years, London Docklands has
developed as an area of high density high-value employment, primarily in
financial and business services, to complement the historic centre of these
activities in central London. Taken together, therefore, the travel trends
revealed by both surveys provide valuable insight into the growth and dynamics
of travel to these two key central London employment hubs.
Morning peak travel to central London (CAPC)
Long-term trends
Figure 2.5 shows the trend for the total number of people entering central
London over the past 36 years. The year 2014 saw the highest number of
people entering central London in the morning peak since the current survey
started in 1978 – 1.26 million. The total number of people entering has varied
relatively little over the period of the survey. These variations tend to follow
the economic cycle in central London and interestingly show no clear trend
over much of the period, although the trend over recent years has been sharply
upwards.
37 Travel in London, Report 8