London Commuting Visualisations

I've been aware of the mySociety work for while, mainly through theyworkforyou.com which was used for some aspects of Protect The Human. I recently discovered their mapping project which visualises commuting times for different forms of transport. These visualisations are fascinating and could prove incredibly useful in managing the transport networks that we all use in our daily lives.

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This map shows travel times to the Department of Transport in Pimlico using public transport. It's the detail which I love, showing islands appearing around transport nodes and hubs such as train stations or main bus routes.


Wimbledon while reasonably far out is very well connected through Victoria Station, whereas for getting to Pimlico, SE London is hopeless. Of course were the map to be centred on London Bridge where most SE London transport deposits the daily hoardes, then the map would look very different.

There is a dynamic version with sliders half way down this page, centred again on Pimlico.

A similar map shows Edinburgh, comparing public transport versus car commuting times. The light coloured areas represent where public transport is quicker than driving. While city public transport bodies must have this kind of information (I hope to God they do) it's amazing to see this data visualised so clearly.


This last map came as a bit of a shock. As a cyclist who braves the capital regularly, I'm well aware of how quick two wheels can be, but I was surprised at the extent to which this as true. The clear areas on this map represent where cycling is faster than public transport if you work at the Department of Transport. For most of London cycling is clearly faster! The black area in Pimlico is confusing, any ideas?


Of course what we all want is to enter our own postcode and visualise how how our lives are affected by travel times and networks. Hopefully one day that system wil be developed. If you're interested you can commission mysociety to create a custom map for you.

For anyone interested in sustainable transport and car free areas, www.carfree.org.uk and www.carfree.com are good places to start.