Greens Say 'Forced' Car Ownership Needs To Be Tackled

Call for restoration of funding to public transport in the capital

Quarter of people in outer London say they have other option but to drive
Quarter of people in outer London say they have other option but to drive. Picture: Marathon

 

Tube Passenger Numbers Starting To Increase

Mayor Wants Road Charging Scheme for London

TfL Has OneSantander Cycle Hire Scheme Breaks New Record

TfL Has One Million Speeding Ticket Target

Fines on London's Red Routes To Rise

Car Usage Back To Pre-pandemic Levels in London

Huge Growth in Number of e-Scooter Collisions

E-scooters To Be Banned on Transport Network

Leaked Report Says Driverless Tube Trains Unviable

Mayor, TfL and Bus Companies Blamed for Driver Fatality Rates

Sign up for email newsletters from ActonW3.com, BrentfordTW8.com, ChiswickW4.com, EalingToday.co.uk, FulhamSW6.com HammersmithToday.co.uk, PutneySW15.com, ShepherdsBushW12.com, WandsworthSW18.com and WimbledonSW19.com

Almost a quarter of people in outer London say they feel “forced” to own a car due to a lack of transport options, according to a new YouGov survey.

The research, which was commissioned by former London mayoral candidate and Green Party Assembly Member Sian Berry, found that 24 per cent of people surveyed in outer London felt forced to own a car for essential travel.

In comparison, just 14 per cent of those surveyed in central London reported feeling forced to own a car, while half said they were already able to live car-free.

It comes amid warnings of cuts to London’s buses and the Tube over the next few years due to TfL’s financial situation, while suburban rail services are already seeing reduced timetables.

Sian Berry has said that forced car ownership “needs to be eliminated” but that cuts to public transport will only make the problem “even worse”.

She said: “Cuts to public transport services will make this awful situation of Londoners feeling forced to own a car even worse. The Government and the mayor must step up and restore funding to national rail and bus services across the whole city.

“Smarter, fairer road charging is now finally on the horizon, and it must be accompanied by dramatic improvements in alternatives, particularly for outer Londoners.

“Forced car ownership needs to be eliminated and the money raised from an effective smart, fair road-charging scheme must be used to help Londoners with high quality new services.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan recently revealed proposals to introduce a daily £2 “clean air charge” for drivers in London and/or to expand the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to cover the whole of Greater London as he looks to plug the £1.5 billion black hole in TfL’s finances.

TfL has warned of an 18 per cent reduction in bus services across the capital should a long-term funding solution not be found, with up to 100 routes set to be axed.

Tube services could also become more unreliable, with planned upgrades called off that could lead to “ageing assets that will fail more regularly”.

But Sadiq Khan is targeting greater use of public transport as he seeks a “significant shift” away from petrol and diesel car use. It is part of a plan to achieve net zero carbon emissions in London by 2030.

Recent research commissioned by City Hall found that car journeys in London would need to be reduced by 27 per cent in order to meet the net zero target.

Joe Talora - Local Democracy Reporter

Like Reading Articles Like This? Help Us Produce More

This site remains committed to providing local community news and public interest journalism.

Articles such as the one above are integral to what we do. We aim to feature as much as possible on local societies, charities based in the area, fundraising efforts by residents, community-based initiatives and even helping people find missing pets.

We've always done that and won't be changing, in fact we'd like to do more.

However, the readership that these stories generates is often below that needed to cover the cost of producing them. Our financial resources are limited and the local media environment is intensely competitive so there is a constraint on what we can do.

We are therefore asking our readers to consider offering financial support to these efforts. Any money given will help support community and public interest news and the expansion of our coverage in this area.

A suggested monthly payment is £8 but we would be grateful for any amount for instance if you think this site offers the equivalent value of a subscription to a daily printed newspaper you may wish to consider £20 per month. If neither of these amounts is suitable for you then contact info@neighbournet.com and we can set up an alternative. All payments are made through a secure web site.

One-off donations are also appreciated. Choose The Amount You Wish To Contribute.

If you do support us in this way we'd be interested to hear what kind of articles you would like to see more of on the site – send your suggestions to the editor.

For businesses we offer the chance to be a corporate sponsor of community content on the site. For £30 plus VAT per month you will be the designated sponsor of at least one article a month with your logo appearing if supplied. If there is a specific community group or initiative you'd like to support we can make sure your sponsorship is featured on related content for a one off payment of £50 plus VAT. All payments are made through a secure web site.

 


February 3, 2022