Could less mean more when it comes to improving accessibility?

The average minimum travel time to reach key services by public transport rose significantly in 2011, in comparison with the previous year, and consultant Derek Halden, whose company compiled the statistics on behalf of the DfT, says much more needs to be done to improve accessibility. But this does not necessarily mean building more and more transport infrastructure

Rik Thomas

31 August 2012

Average minimum travel time to reach the nearest key services by public transport/walking, England, 2007 to 2011

Derek Halden: Accessibility can be improved dramatically without even more money being spent on new transport infrastructure

Percentage of users with "reasonable" access to key services by public transport/walking, England, 2007 to 2011

The latest accessibility data from the DfT tells us that the average minimum travel time to the seven key services analysed (employment, primary school, secondary school, further education, GP, hospital, food store) was 14 minutes by public transport/walking, nine minutes by cycling and six minutes by car. These times were 33 seconds longer than in 2010 for public transport/waking and around 12 seconds longer than in 2010 for both cycling and by car.

As in previous years, the statistics tell...