Steer sponsors and contributes to a new report on how to make transport fairer

A new study by the think tank Centre for London concluded that a review of fare structures, including fare freeze, and changes to fare zones and concessions could make the capital’s transport system fairer.

Steer is a supporting sponsor of this work and the Steer team, supported by our Research and Innovation Programme, have provided analysis and GIS support to Centre for London, getting to the bottom of issues around affordability of travel and producing a series of maps and related analyses to show how both access to transport services and the affordability of travel varies by postcode-to-postcode across London. This has helped Centre for London identify and present pockets of London where transport equity issues are greatest.

Our team was led by Julie Bowerman and included Fiona Jenkins, Tony Duckenfield, Robbie Gilmore, Helen McKenzie and Diana Diaz Castro.

The report, Fair access: Towards a transport system for everyone, develops a new framework to examine transport fairness in relation to how affordable, connected and accessible the transport network is to different groups.

It finds that low connectivity and affordability of public transport in different parts of the capital impact the ability of Londoners on low incomes to travel for work, education, healthcare or personal reasons. While there are both rich and poor areas with good and bad connectivity in London, nearly half (46 per cent) of the most deprived Londoners face the challenge of poorer transport connections.

The report found that while the Mayor's TfL fares freeze has helped Londoners, it has not done so equally: while single fares have been frozen since 2016, the cost of Travelcards and oyster caps for regular commuters have risen every year – in 2020 the cost of a weekly Zones 1-6 Travelcard will have risen by nearly 12 per cent since 2016.

Read Centre for London’s report and recommendations: https://www.centreforlondon.org/publication/fair-access/

Research and innovation is taken very seriously at Steer, which is why we created the R&I club; an informal meeting that brings together staff of all divisions, and encourages them to think creatively and imaginatively about their work. The R&I club meet regularly across the UK, North America and Latin America, with the only rule to never reject ideas before have they been discussed and considered. Find out more on our Research & Innovation page.