Mind the gap: How to level up transport networks across south London
It is widely acknowledged that south London’s transport links are inferior to those north of the river.
By taking a cursory glance at the Tube map, it becomes blindingly obvious that there is a clear disparity between the two parts of our city, with several multi-coloured lines stretching well into the north in stark contrast to the sparsity of the south.
The extent of this transport inequality is extraordinary: there are more Tube stations outside of our city in Essex and Buckinghamshire than there are in the London boroughs of Kingston, Sutton, Croydon, Bexley and Bromley combined.
South Londoners are forced to deal with an inferior transport system every day, yet remarkably little work has been done on identifying the gap that exists and developing proposals to rebalance the network. Indeed, even the mayor of London Sadiq Khan has admitted that he has done next to no work in this area.
That’s why we commissioned YouGov to quantify the disparity that exists through surveying over 1,000 Londoners from across the city. The results are little short of astounding.
Most striking is the degree to which Tube stations are far more accessible in boroughs north of the river. Almost 50 per cent of South Londoners have a 30-minute walk or longer to their nearest Underground station – more than double the number of North Londoners (48 per cent compared to 18 per cent). Shockingly, 31 per cent of residents in the south are required to make a bus journey of half an hour or more to get to their local Tube station, compared to just five per cent of those in the north.
Even new infrastructure is perceived to be far superior in north London, with Londoners stating by a ratio of three to one that the night services are better there than in south London (27 per cent to seven per cent).
And so it is hardly a surprise that YouGov found that six times as many Londoners believe that boroughs north of the river have superior transport services overall (35 per cent), with just six per cent of respondents maintaining that the links are better in the south.
These findings form the backbone of my new report — “Bridging the Gap: Tackling transport inequality South of the River” — which also sets out the broad approach that should be taken in order to start closing this vast inequality gap.
So what should this approach be? First, it is incumbent on the next mayor of London to recognise the unbalanced nature of the capital’s transport system and view the development of the entirety of our city’s network through this prism.
Second, we desperately need City Hall to work with key stakeholders to identify where transport improvements are most needed and ultimately develop a South London Transport Strategy.
Third, considering the degree to which south London is disproportionately reliant on buses, Transport for London (TfL) needs to conduct a review of bus routes south of the river to identify and improve the least reliable routes which serve key Tube and train stations.
Clearly, the mayor should be prioritising transport infrastructure upgrades in south London, but on Sadiq Khan’s watch a whole host of projects — from the extension of the Bakerloo line to the Sutton tram — have been cancelled or delayed due to the dire state of the transport budget. It is therefore essential for the next mayor to take the difficult decisions required to reduce TfL’s vast financial deficit.
Past infrastructure upgrades in London have demonstrated how transport can have a transformational impact on enhancing social justice and spreading opportunity. After decades of neglect, it’s time for south London to have its time in the sun.
Main image credit: Getty