High ticket prices deter one in three Londoners from traveling by public transport, but commuters here are still more likely to travel to work by bus or train than counterparts around the world, a global survey of travel trends reveals today.

Londoners buck a trend seen in capital cities around the world, where most commuters drive to work, the data show.
Hitachi Rail, the train and smart mobility company, commissioned pollsters at Savanta ComRes to gauge attitudes to public transport in cities around the world.

Residents in eight cities including London, Paris and Washington DC were asked about their commutes. Commuters in most cities drive to work but Londoners bucked the trend with only 38% reporting commuting by car and 27% saying they never drove in the city.

Almost half of all Londoners say that they use the capital’s iconic buses to commute, the highest percentage of bus use in any city surveyed, whilst 35% travel by train and 20% by Tube services.

There were signs of tension possibly being driven by the cost-of-living crisis however, with more than 1 in 3 (37%) Londoners citing the cost of public transport as a factor which discourages them from using it. Over half (54%) of Londoners surveyed even said they would be likely to support increased road charges in order to fund a better-connected public transport system.

The data came alongside a new report from Hitachi Rail which looks at how their smart mobility technology could revolutionise transport in cities around the world. The cutting-edge tech known as the Lumada Mobility Suite has already been deployed in the Italian cities of Genoa and Trentino – bringing features like real time information on crowding and hands-free smart ticketing connecting different systems including train, bus, Tube, e-bikes and car parks.

The majority of Londoners said that they would be more likely to use a better-connected public transport system.
Ludmil Neykov, Chief Digital Officer at Hitachi Rail, said:
“Mass adoption of public transport for journeys currently made by car is vital if the world’s global cities are to meet sustainability targets and improve air quality.

“Hitachi’s pioneering smart mobility technology holds the key to innovations which can help provide a cheaper and better-connected public transport system for Londoners. Hitachi is already leading the way in delivering this technology to cities around the world, and we hope to bring it to the UK in the near future.”