Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Transport: On your bike: capital survey says pedal power is quickest

Randeep Ramesh
Wednesday 28 May 1997 18:02 EDT
Comments

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

People wanting to get about London quickly should get a bike, a government survey out yesterday revealed.

Statistics from the Department of Transport showed the fastest journeys in and around the capital are those made by bicycle.

Worsening congestion has seen short trips of about five miles from inner London to the centre of the capital in 1996 took an average of 34 minutes by bicycle against 45 minutes by car, 45 minutes by rail and 64 minutes by bus.

Journeys of about 2.5 miles in central London were also best tackled with a bike. Those cycling took an average 18 minutes for such trips, while those in cars took 33 minutes, those on trains took 31 minutes and bus passengers took 38 minutes.

And things can only get worse, unless measures are introduced to restrain traffic. The survey showed that for all journeys except those made by bicycle, trips were slower on average in 1996 than they were in 1993. Car journey times rose by between 13% and 18% from 1993 to 1996.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in