While the trends in car, bus and train usage in Britain outside London are similar (increased use of car and less use of bus but more occasional use of train) there has been a very distinct shift in travel patterns in London since 2004. Ten percent fewer Londoners are driving at all these days and there has been the same reduction in the proportion using their car two or more times a week. Bus use has shown an even more marked shift with 15% more people in London using the bus at least twice a week and a corresponding proportion fewer never using the bus. Regular train usage however has declined slightly. The increase in bus usage can be ascribed to improvements to the frequency and coverage of service and reduction in fares combined with an increase in population in inner London where there is a higher propensity to use buses. There are signs however that the trend to increased bus usage is slowing and may have reached a peak. The increased occasional usage of the train nationally is reflected in other data such as the increased market share of rail over plane for longer inter-city journeys.
Samenvatting