Based on TfL’s Transport Classification of Londoners, ¹³ we created nine typical London individuals and families (referred to as “personas”) to understand the costs that Londoners face at present for a specific journey:

• Leila lives in Newham, and she has just started a new job in Westminster. She commutes five days a week after dropping her two children at nursery and primary school.
• Paul lives by himself and works in Kensington and Chelsea. He walks to his workplace, but he travels every day to central London for leisure.
• Mike is retired and lives in Bromley. He travels every week to see his grandchildren who live in Southwark.
• Sophia lives in Redbridge, and she is looking for a job. She has two children aged 16 and 14 years old.
• Lena lives in Islington and works in Canary Wharf. She lives by herself.
• Peter and Zara live in Havering and visit Zara’s parents in Bromley every week. They have three children aged three, 10 and 12 years old.
• Nikhil lives in Clapham Junction, and he studies at Roehampton University. His parents gave him a car six years ago which isn’t ULEZ-compliant.
• Matt lives in Enfield and works in Islington. He has two children aged 11 and 14 years old.
• Luke lives in Lewisham and works in Southwark. He travels to look after his mother who lives in Stone Street (near Sevenoaks) every other week.

What is the cost of cycling in London?

Cycling in London is one of the cheapest modes of transport, but not all trips are cyclable. In this report, we used the TfL definition of a “cyclable trip” and consider all trips under five miles to be cyclable. ¹⁴ Three of our personas can travel by bike. One of them is more likely to already cycle than the others. The variations in the cost of cycling can be explained by the price differences of cycle hangars between boroughs and the number of bikes that need to be stored.

• Paul, who is a high earner, has space to store his bike at home, so the cost of cycling is low (£0.60 per trip).
• Sophia, who is on a low income, will need to pay £216 per year for a secure storage space for her bike and her children’s bikes. In comparison, a residential car permit will cost her only £22.50 per year. However, her trip to the shop by cycle will cost her £1 – this remains her cheapest option after walking due to the other cost associated with owning a car.
• In Matt’s borough, a space in a cycle hangar costs £72 per year – much cheaper than a residential car parking permit. However, as Matt acquired a bike recently and is still finishing paying off the purchase of the bike, his travel to work will cost him £1.70 ­– this remains the cheapest option after walking.

What is the total cost of driving for our personas?

Our analysis found that for all but two of the personas, driving was the most expensive transport mode for their journey.

• Whilst the total cost for Peter and Zara to drive to visit Zara’s parents is £4.40, it would cost them £9.95 to use public transport. They have paid off their car finance, and live in a detached house in outer London, so they have access to free off-street parking. Their car is also ULEZ-compliant, and on their journey in outer London, they don’t enter the Congestion Charging zone. The only charge they have to pay is the Dartford crossing, which costs them £2.50. They wouldn’t be able to walk or cycle to take this trip because of the length (21 miles). Thus, for this family, driving is the most cost-effective option.
• It’s also less expensive for Luke to travel outside London. He is more likely to drive to care for his mother who lives in a small village near Sevenoaks. It costs him around £8.80 to drive as he bought a car relatively recently. As a comparison, a train from London Bridge to Sevenoaks costs around £11.50. ¹⁵
• However, the story for most of our personas is different. For example, the policy interventions in place strongly disincentivise Mike from driving from Bromley to visit his grandchildren in Southwark. The total cost to drive for this journey would be £66.50 per trip. This is driven by high use cost as he would need to pay for both the ULEZ and the Congestion Charge. He would also need to pay for parking in one of Southwark’s Controlled Parking Zones, which would cost him around £6 per hour.

What is the cost of using public transport in London?

The use costs of public transport are simply the fares for each journey. In our analysis, we found that unsurprisingly public transport is the second most expensive mode of transport, except for Londoners who benefit from public transport concessions.

• Mike benefits from free travel with his Freedom Pass as he is older than 66 years old.
• Sophia is travelling with her two children, but they both benefit from free travel cards on buses. Sophia’s total cost for travelling to the shop would only be her bus fare (£1.75).
• Peter and Zara’s children benefit from similar reductions. However, it is more expensive for the family to travel by public transport than to drive in London because they are using a combination of tube and buses to go from Havering to Bromley.