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Travel times and income deprivation

Average travel time by public transport to jobs and services by neighbourhood income deprivation decile (2019)

This indicator was last updated in 2023. It is now archived and will no longer be updated. Explore London’s Poverty Profile to view our up to date indicators. If you have any questions, get in touch.

Based on average travel times by public transport, Londoners have much better access to jobs and services than people in the rest of England. For example, the average journey time by public transport to the nearest large employment centre from the 10% most deprived areas is 21 minutes in London compared to 25 minutes in the rest of England. 

For the same measure, people living in the most income-deprived areas of London have slightly better access than those in less income-deprived areas. The average journey time to public services (such as schools, GPs and hospitals) is more than 25% longer for the least deprived areas in London than the most deprived areas. 

Journey times are only part of how well Londoners can access jobs and services. Price is also an important factor with people on low incomes unable to make the most of the opportunities provided by the city’s public transport system because of the cost. This means that, while hypothetical travel times to the nearest job and services are shorter in London than in the rest of England, people’s actual commutes tend to be significantly longer.