Fare Free London has today launched a survey, to learn more about the impact of the cost of public transport on Londoners.
Millions of Londoners find it difficult, or impossible, to meet the cost of travel. High tube, train and bus fares can obstruct or deny their access to employment, to health care, and to educational or social activities. Being unable to travel can increase isolation and affect mental health.
Researchers have defined and shown the harmful effects of transport poverty. They have also shown how low-income households, whose own access to transport is most likely to be limited, are most likely to suffer from air pollution and other detrimental impacts of London’s car-centred transport system.
Our survey aims to add to this research, by highlighting in more detail the way that high public transport fares impact Londoners’ lives – how social injustice plays out every day in our city.
How the survey works
We want to hear the views of people most affected by high public transport fares, including people in low-income households, whose voices are often not heard clearly enough. (We do not need, and do not have the resources, to take a statistical sample of Londoners, which has anyway been done by TfL and by academic researchers.)
Our survey can be completed by:
- People running community groups or charities, who can invite people who use their services to fill it in;
- Any other supporters of Fare Free London, who can invite people in their communities; or
- Anyone else who wishes to access the survey.
You can fill in the survey either (1) by completing it in the Google Form, or (2) printing out the survey as a PDF, filling it in with a pen, scanning and returning it to us at info@farefreelondon.org. We have written a page of ‘interviewer notes‘ to help people who are asking the survey questions verbally of other people, so please make use of those.
We do not ask for respondents’ names or contact details, and any feedback made public will be presented anonymously.
And if you have more to say…
We are also looking for people for more in-depth interviews about how they travel. If you are available for these, or in general feel strongly about how much you are paying for public transport, please email us at info@farefreelondon.org.
Published: 23rd February 2025.
