Quote:
Originally Posted by Roland Perry
In message , at
00:02:31 on Fri, 10 Feb 2012, Arthur Figgis
lid remarked:
"It is a fact is it not that relatively few Londoners use London
transport in any way. Most people don’t use London transport with any
sense of regularity."
/quote
What do we reckon of the claim?
If "most" is to have the classic meaning, we'd be thinking of the
whether or not more than 50% use it 'regularly', which I'd suggest means
something like 'at least once a week' rather than 'only every 29th
February without fail'.
The "relatively few... in any way" is a much harder test, because then
you might be looking at showing that perhaps two thirds of Londoners
hadn't used a bus or tube at all in the last year (leaving the one third
who had). Of course, London is a big place and out in the suburbs there
might be a lot of people who only walk or drive.
Having looked at the report MizerT pointed us at, I wonder if it's
missing a large number of walking trips (despite having walking as quite
a large number). For example, is going to the corner shop for a sandwich
at lunchtime included?
The methodology says "A trip is a one-way movement from one place to
another to achieve a specific purpose (eg to go from home to work)", so
perhaps it wouldn't.
--
Roland Perry |
I agree that the first thing is to establish our terms of reference. I also agree that "most" and "majority" mean 51% or more and that "regularly" should mean quite often.
It is true that many people in the outer suburbs do not use public transport frequently unless minicabs are regarded as public transport. These tend to be people who do not work in Central London. The majority of those who do work in Central London travel by public transport. What is quite certain is that buses in the outer suburbs are used by only a small minority which is why buses are almost empty for much of the day.
Any proper, rational attempt to understand the use and potential of public transport in London should take into consideration the fact that London has large numbers of elderly people who prefer door to door transport, who can no longer tolerate extreme weather and who find standing at a bus stop stressful. This is why minicabs are so prevalent in the outer suburbs. (If anyone doubts this, go to a suburban hospital or supermarket and watch)
I sympathise with Mr. Arbour's contention that for the most part public transport should be paid for by the people who use it. Although in general I am critical of Boris Johnson, I support his efforts to shift the balance of the burden from tax payers to users.