The pause, if not the reset button, has been pressed on our world, and it is no exaggeration to say that coronavirus – at least in the medium term – has changed everything.
Transport, a topic that was hovering near the tops of agendas even before this ‘situation’ hit, has seen significant alterations. Buses and trains are running greatly reduced services, for example, leading to discussions around how people who rely on public transport will get to work while maintaining social distancing.
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Other developments include accelerated and expanded e-scooter trials; some local authorities have closed roads to cars in order to encourage more walking or cycling; and transport for London has increased the Congestion Charge, both in price and hours of operation.
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These tensions pull us in opposing directions; on the one hand, don’t take the bus or train – even the Prime minister asked us to use our cars instead. On the other hand, we’ve made it more expensive to drive into the Capital, and harder to get around some city streets in a car.
But if you ignore these contradictions and look at the bare statistics, it’s clear that the car remains king. government data shows 68 per cent of us drive to work, with just 17 per cent taking buses and trains. Of the 808 billion passenger kilometres covered last year, 83 per cent of these were done by cars, vans and taxis. need more proof? There are 35 million cars in the UK – more than one for every household.