In message , at
11:07:15 on Tue, 15 Feb 2005, Dan Gravell
remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
Something like 90% of journeys in London are by public transport, so
the remainder who are using their car have obviously got a very good
reason. Often (amongst those I've asked) it's because they have had
very bad experiences with public transport in the past, and feel they
need the extra flexibility that a car provides.

That statistic does not really mean a great deal though; the fact that
the public transport system can support that figure is because it is
more scalable.

Most of the commuter rail in and out of London is at bursting point, and
has nowhere to scale *to*. It is at maximum capacity.

The issue is that some individuals still appear to consider the private
motor vehicle (read: car), which is not scalable or anywhere near it, a
good way to get around London. A feel your statistic proves my point.

Only 10%, which means they are the real persistent people who must have
a *very* good reason.

As an aside, where did you get that figure from? I've been looking for
a good stats site for a while.

From a LUL (or similar) survey done 5-8 years ago. I've no immediate
reference.

I used to travel to London from Cambridge 3 or 4 days a week, for a
couple of years, and in that time I used the train except for perhaps
half a dozen times when I went by car because I had lots of
luggage/items-to-deliver to cope with. And most of those trips I did
on a Sunday. And one time I knew I was going to be very late and it
wasn't practical to get a train.

That's wonderful for you, I wish everyone were so considerate.

Self preservation, more like.

Of course, it depends what you call London. Years ago, I would
regularly drive down the M4 and park at Marble Arch (under Hyde
Park), or perhaps at one of the car parks in the squares north of
Oxford Street. There was never very much of a problem, traffic-wise,
and as the nearest sensible railway station to my home in rural
Oxfordshire was more than halfway into London (at the edge of the
Metropolitan), a lot of the time it just felt "right" to carry on,
having got that far.

I am referring to anywhere that is densely populated, not just central
London. I cannot recall the development density index where car use
becomes difficult, but I would think zones 1-6 are past it.

M4, Westway, then Marble Arch via Paddington aren't particularly
congested most of the day.
--
Roland Perry