Travel in London Travel in London

3. Travel trends by mode
and 3.1 per cent on London Overground, while Tramlink saw a decrease of 1.5
per cent.
• 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 in London have fallen for most of the last decade, but
have shown signs of increasing again over the most recent two years. Taking the
period from 2008 to 2014, the net aggregate 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. However, over the most recent
year traffic volumes have started to increase – 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). This reversal of trend is thought mainly to
reflect particularly rapid population growth and recovery from the recession, but
it takes place in the context of a continued net shift in mode share away from
the private car. 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.
• Cycling levels increased by 10.3 per cent between 2013 and 2014 – a much
stronger rate of growth than has been typical over recent years. 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.
• Some 6.4 million walk-all-the-way trips were made on an average day in
London in 2014. This is an increase of 9.3 per cent since 2008, and mainly
reflects population growth over the period (which was also 9.3 per cent). This
gives a walking mode share (for all travel) of 24 per cent, which is identical to the
position in 2008. However, there is evidence that increased public transport use
has, as a by-product, increased the number of walk journey stages undertaken
by Londoners, with associated health benefits.
• Trends for the amount of freight traffic on London’s roads have particularly
mirrored the fortunes of the wider economy. Van traffic in London increased by
3.4 per cent in aggregate between 2008 and 2014, driven by an 8.3 per cent
increase in outer London, although there were declines in central and inner
London of 4.9 and 6.0 per cent respectively over the same period. However,
this masks the effects of the recession. Between 2008 and 2011, van traffic
declined by 6.1 per cent, but has been growing strongly since then, with van
traffic in 2014 10.1 per cent higher than in 2011.
• Heavy goods vehicle traffic declined by 3.2 per cent between 2008 and 2014,
with falls of 8.0 per cent in inner London and 1.9 per cent in outer London,
although there was a 2.7 per cent increase in central London.
• TfL’s River Services have seen significant expansion, with passenger traffic on
the Thames increasing by 19.1 per cent in the latest year.
50 Travel in London, Report 8