It's vital that all Londoners are able to make the journeys they
need to.
Whether it is taking a child to school, caring for an elderly
relative, going to work, socialising with friends or completing a
weekly shop, using public transport is a vital part of daily life
for many Londoners.
In 2023, an estimated 8.6 million public transport journeys took
place in London every day [1] on our world-leading
transport network. Yet, there are still some journeys which are
too long, more difficult and less welcoming for some groups, as
London's transport network doesn't fully consider the needs of
the widest range of Londoners.
In its report released today, the London
Assembly Transport Committee looked closely at how
Transport for London (TfL) is building its understanding of how
and why Londoner's travel – its data-led approach.
Recommendations in the report ‘Accessibility & Inclusion
in Transport Planning' include:
- TfL should refresh its London Travel Demand Survey (LTDS) in
order to collect more detailed data on the travel patterns and
needs of different user groups.
- TfL should analyse and present the data it collects from the
LTDS consistently each year in its Travel in London report. This
includes publishing data disaggregated by different
sociodemographic groups.
- The Mayor should require TfL to publish an equality
assessment on its budget starting with the 2027/28 budget
process. The Mayor should use his budget guidance to require TfL
to pilot gender-responsive budgeting.
- TfL should establish new advisory panels to ensure it has
diverse representation of different demographic groups across its
advisory panels.
Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, AM, said:
“Disabled Londoners, older Londoners, young Londoners,
low-income Londoners, parents with young children and women; all
these groups could currently face barriers to using London's
transport network.
“TfL collects a significant amount of data on its passengers,
but this is lacking depth and nuance around issues concerning
accessibility and inclusion and those people who are not using
its services.
“Our investigation also examined TfL's engagement with key
stakeholders to understand their varied travel needs, and while
the Committee welcomes TfL's engagement with its advisory groups,
we feel this is limited and TfL could do more to engage with more
diverse voices.
“Inclusion is not only about fairness – it's also about
functionality and the future resilience of our city.”
Notes for editors:
- TfL, Travel in London
2024, December 2024, p.6
