The Public Transport In London Sociology Essay

London is the capital of England and is one of the largest cities of the world as well of the United Kingdom. The city has a huge population of 8,174,100, making it the most populous municipality in the European Union. All these people have to move in order to lead their life and a huge number of the population take the private transport for travelling. Although there are many people who travel on their private vehicles, an appreciable number of people take the public transport. London being one of the most modern cities of the world also offers many options to its citizens for travelling. There are underground train services, London Buses, Tram link, the Docklands Light Railway, over ground, air transports and other options. A report suggests that annually in London, there are a staggering 2 billion of bus journeys, 1 billion of underground journeys and 800 million journeys on National Rail networks.

Body

All the people of London travel in the public transports throughout the day. People travel, go to their work, students go to schools by these public transports. A survey was made on the public transport in London by taking opinions from the people of London. The survey was done with people of different ages. The people were asked different questions and their answers were studied. The question asked comprised of two types. One category had one word answers and the other had elaborate options. However, all the questions were multiple choice questions. We gathered a clear idea about the public transport in London from the survey.

The first ten questions were one word answers. The survey takers just ticked on any one of the option between yes and no. We found different opinions from different people. People’s responses also differed with their ages and economic capacities. The first ten questions are given in the table below, along with their answers. The answers are given in percentage after making a calculation from the responses and opinions of the people.

Serial

Question

Answer in Percentage

01

Do you travel in Public transport?

60%

02

Do you have a private transport?

50%

03

Are you a regular traveller?

50%

04

Do you have any income?

70%

05

Do you go to work by public transport?

90%

06

Is Public Transports of London comfortable?

60%

07

Is it cheaper than private transports?

100%

08

Do you find the Public Transports crowd?

80%

09

Do other members of your family travel in public transports?

60%

10

Are you happy with the Public Transports of London?

70%

Table No. 01

The outcome of the survey helps to draw a picture of the Public transport of London. The study shows that more than half of the people of London avail public transport. Here we see the figure stands 60%. In addition to that it is seen that a good number of people do not have a private vehicle. Now, the next question asked to the survey takers was if they were regular travellers. 50% of them agreed that they were regular passengers. It meant that they were regular customers and that they depended of public transport.

People travel and make journeys for various purposes. The study shows that most of the people went to work in public transport. So, public transport is a very essential medium for going to the work place. It is at the same time a very prominent option for the employees. However, one thing cannot be denied at all. During rush hours and even at some other time of the day, there are huge crowd in these transports. This problem does not happen at all time but mostly during rush hours. The problem is not because there is less number of vehicles but that there are more people at the same time. The scenery is common while people start for office and then again when they return. For this reason 80% of the people said that public transports were filled with crowd.

The survey went to details about the topic and about the feeling of the people. The questions were done for the other family members of the people. The individuals were asked if other members of their families used public transports as a mean of travelling. A good number of 60% of the people informed that other members of their family also travelled on these transports. This means that the families that use public transport use the maximum use of it. The last question that was asked to the survey takers was their feeling about the transport systems. It was asked if they were happy with the public transport of London. A total of 70 percent of the people said they were happy with the situation. This conveys a very positive feeling about the Public Transport of London. It also depicts that the communication system of the city is very good, developed and advanced. At the same time it is also very public friendly.

The second phase of the survey was the open questions. After getting a picture of the public transport of London the purpose was to go deeper. A total of 5 open questions were asked to get a more elaborate picture. The questions were asked to know about the different types of public transports that the people used.

The first of the open question was about the age of the people. The people were asked to disclose their age so that it could be calculated that which age of people took he public transport more.

The chart below shows the age wise transporters.

Chart No. 01

The chart clearly shows that the most of the people taking public transports are from the age of 15-30. The next group of people who take this transport are the people of aging between 30 and 45 years. Almost no people aging below 15 take the public transport and there are a few people aging 45 to 60 years old take the transports. People aging above 60 do use public transport but they are very few. It means the children are not independent, they depend on their parents. So, they normally do not travel on public transports. The do not usually travel much. If they even do, they are accompanied by their parents. The old people do less travelling, so their percent is also low. The people, who are young aging between 15 to 45 years, are the ones who take the public transport most. It is because they go to work, attain classes, and do all other travelling by the public transports.

The next question that was asked to the people was their occupation. It was really needed to know which class or group of people used the public transport most. The chart below reflects the travelling of different people.

Chart No. 02

The chart clearly shows which category of the people takes the public transport most. It shows that the working people use the maximum utilization. Next are the students and then are the people looking for work. People go to their work places with the public transports. The students also take this for going to their educational institutions. People who are looking for work are also taking the help of the public transport. The later questions elaborate why these people use this means.

The third question that was asked to the people was that which public transports they found more comfortable.

London is a city of many dwellers and there are also many options of public transports. The city firstly like all others have public buses. The city has a long and connected underground rail line. It is one of the oldest in the world but much advanced. The railway changed and advanced to the highest extends with the introduction of all the modern technologies. Normal trains are also available added with trumps. The chart below shows the percentage of the different public transports taken by the people.

Chart No. 03

The chart clearly shows that most of the people of London take the underground. That means the underground rail transport holds the maximum passengers. It alone carries about 50 percent of the public. The next are the buses and then the trump. The airways is least taken by the people. Air is not so popular because it is expensive.

The next question was asked which public transport was lower in cost. The options were the same. The chart below shows the result.

Chart No. 04

The data shows that the underground train is the cheapest. That is one of the reasons why people take this transport. The percentage is 70 percent. The figure next to it is the bus which is about 25 percent.

The last question that was asked to the people was that which transport saved more time. The chart shows the situation below.

Chart No. 05

The answer to the question that which transport saves time is different from all the others. Although very few of the people took the air lines, most of them agreed that airn transport saved the time most. The percent was 70%. The reason again why it was not 100% is because of the distance. Shorter distance could easily be travelled by train and then by buses.

Conclusion

All the data and the discussions above show a clear picture of the transport system of London. It shows that most of the people of London do take the Public Transport. The study finds that the underground railway dominates among the public transports. London has a very well organized public transport and it is also very advanced in technology. The people living in London are also comfortable with their Public Transport.