Londoners are not in Top Gear

By Laurel Pauling

LONDON — Despite England being host to the world's most popular motoring show, London is not a car friendly city. 

The average price of gas in London is currently £1.30 per liter, according to BBC News. That is the equivalent of $8.40 per gallon, more than double the average cost in the United States, as reported by the Independent Statistics & Analysis U.S. Energy Information Administration. If gas prices alone were not enough to deter people from driving cars in the city, there is also the congestion charge.

Drivers must pay this £11.50 fare every time they drive into a specific zone during designated times. The congestion charge was put in place by former London Mayor Ken Livingstone in February of 2003, following the Road Traffic Reduction Act of 1997. Driving in London is still a challenge, with large buses and countless taxis filling the roads. As a result, most Londoners choose alternate transportation.

"I don't know that I can afford a car," said Molly Barrett, who has lived in London on and off since college. "And it doesn't look like it would save much time to drive," she added.

Barrett said that of everyone she knows in London, only two own cars. And when they do use them it is only to drive out of the city. For inner-city transportation they walk or ride the Tube, she said.

In 2012 alone the London Underground, commonly referred to as the Tube, carried 1.107 billion passengers, according to the Telegraph. Out of the 8 million residents of London, about 3 million owned cars in 2010. Car ownership in the city is also falling, according to London Councils.

Daniel Wires, a resident of London for almost three years, said his primary modes of transportation are walking and taking the bus. He does not own a car either, due to the extreme congestion and a general distaste for driving. People who live in the center of London generally do not own cars, he said.

Wires also dislikes the tube.

"I hate the Underground. It's dark, it's crowded, it's uncomfortable," he said.

Wires, who lived in a smaller city prior to moving to London, is not alone in favoring above ground transportation. Andrew Adonis, reporter for The Independent, said double the number of people take the bus in London than ride the tube every day. There are an average of 2.3 billion bus journeys taken per year, Adonis said. The London Councils also report that 90 percent of Londoners live within 400 meters of a bus stop.

When a car is necessary, a fleet of 23,000 elite cab drivers await.

The black cabs of London are unlike any other taxi service in the world. Drivers must memorize 25,000 streets and undergo six months of testing before becoming certified. Minicabs are another option, and these two types of taxis take Londoners wherever they need to go.

With this much public transportation and so few cars, Londoners walk often as well. Seeing business attire paired with sneakers is not uncommon during the morning and evening rush hours. Barrett said she used to walk an hour and 40 minutes to and from work each day.

"But I think I'm probably an outlier," she laughed.