Travel in London Travel in London

3. Travel trends by mode
Although Uber was active in London from June 2012, at that time the firm operated
only its ‘UberLux’ product, offering premium minicab services at relatively high
prices. The launch of UberX in July 2013 represented a change in London’s PHV
market where it became easier, and in many cases cheaper, for people to find and
use minicabs. Demand for this service appears to have created a larger market than
previously existed, leading to more registrations of PHV drivers. However, this does
not appear to have fed through directly to significantly increased traffic levels.
Figure 3.19
90,000
80,000
70,000
60,000
50,000
40,000
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
Recent trend of licensed London taxis and private hire vehicles.
Licensed Taxis
Licensed PHVs
Licensed Taxi drivers
Licensed PHV drivers
Source: Taxi and Private Hire, TfL Surface Transport.
3.17 Key reference statistics
Table 3.5 brings together indicators of travel demand across the principal modes of
transport, covering change over the most recent year, and looking back to 2008 or
2008/09 – the nominal period covered by the Mayor’s Transport Strategy to date.
71 Travel in London, Report 8