Peterborough has been named Britain’s most car dependent city in a report by The Campaign for Better Transport. The Car Dependent Scorecard 2014 revealed a lack of use of public transport and heavy reliance on cars to get around when compared to 28 other cities in England.
London came top for public transport provision
Unsurprisingly, London remains the least car dependent city. According to the report: ‘With a devolved transport system and the historic advantage of a well-developed public transport infrastructure delivered in a densely populated area,it’s easy for residents and commuters to get about without a car. Using public transport in the capital is much more convenient than driving and parking in the city, and this has been supported through measures such as the Congestion Charge and investment in buses.’
See how your nearest city fared – see the report in full
Chris Johnson
We lived in Peterborough during the period of bus deregulation. Before de-reg, buses ran to our suburb every 15 minutes in the regular timetable. After de-reg we still had 4 buses an hour, but they were timetabled to run within a 9-minute band whilst they leap-frogged one another up the street to nab the next batch of long-waiting passengers. Passengers who missed the brief flurry of buses had to suffer a 51 minute wait until the next bus/flurry.
The old joke about waiting a long time for buses then 4 come along became timetabled reality, not an accident of congestion.
We’re no longer living in Posh, but I hope the franchises are better constructed now.