Company travel assistance in the London area

This report describes a major study of company travel assistance to car and public transport users crossing a Central London cordon in 1989. Surveys were carried out at the roadside and on all public transport modes, as well as at businesses and workplaces. One half of all cars entering Central London during the survey period from 0700 to 1300 hours were company cars. Four out of five of all cars received some form of assistance. Over one half of commuters in both company and private cars had a parking space provided. Only two in five public transport transport passengers received any help with the costs of their journeys, and three quarters of those had a season ticket loan. Two thirds of passengers had a car, and one in five of those had a company car but chose to travel by public transport. A survey of parking spaces in Central London suggests that their number has been declining in recent years. Results from the roadside surveys indicated that the existing supply of spaces was fully used by drivers. Companies believed that the provision of company cars would continue to expand in the future. Changes in the taxation of company cars and other benefits were expected to have little effect on companies' policies and on how employees travelled to work. Both car and public transport users favoured the improvement of public transport over measures to improve the road system.