"The car-free ideal... seems impractical for... those living in areas where public transport options are more limited."
Well, sure. IF you don't improve public transport, then people will use cars. IF I don't exercise, I'll get fat. But I CAN exercise, and I SHOULDN'T be fat!
Is it beyond the powers of London's devolved government to improve public transport? Is a London with bad public transport really a "Greater" London? Or can we shake off the tyranny of low expectations and, for once, just build something?
This article makes a massive assumption that households that own a car couldn’t live without one. Many households in London own a car but don’t need it for daily life. This is common in my NW6 neighborhood - only a few cars on our street move on any given weekday. We’re close enough to transit and cycling routes that driving often doesn’t make sense. My family’s car has been in the same spot since March.
That's a good question. I'm not aware that there is - there are separate data sets for journey purpose and journey mode, but I don't know of a data set that would allow you to assess journey purpose for a specific mode. And presumably compare that with journey purpose by other modes. The bar chart in my article is based on the "How do you travel to work?" question in the ONS labour force survey which gives you a modal share just for that specific type of journey.
"The car-free ideal... seems impractical for... those living in areas where public transport options are more limited."
Well, sure. IF you don't improve public transport, then people will use cars. IF I don't exercise, I'll get fat. But I CAN exercise, and I SHOULDN'T be fat!
Is it beyond the powers of London's devolved government to improve public transport? Is a London with bad public transport really a "Greater" London? Or can we shake off the tyranny of low expectations and, for once, just build something?
This article makes a massive assumption that households that own a car couldn’t live without one. Many households in London own a car but don’t need it for daily life. This is common in my NW6 neighborhood - only a few cars on our street move on any given weekday. We’re close enough to transit and cycling routes that driving often doesn’t make sense. My family’s car has been in the same spot since March.
Is there data about what people use their cars for in the different areas of the city?
If it does exist, you might find it either in the national data, which is here:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/nts04-purpose-of-trips
Or the TfL LTDS data covering London, which is here.
https://tfl.gov.uk/cdn/static/cms/documents/travel-in-london-2024-the-travel-behaviour-of-london-residents-based-on-the-ltds-data-acc.xlsx
That's a good question. I'm not aware that there is - there are separate data sets for journey purpose and journey mode, but I don't know of a data set that would allow you to assess journey purpose for a specific mode. And presumably compare that with journey purpose by other modes. The bar chart in my article is based on the "How do you travel to work?" question in the ONS labour force survey which gives you a modal share just for that specific type of journey.