COMPANY CARS: THEIR EFFECTS ON JOURNEY TO WORK IN CENTRAL LONDON

Information derived from surveys of car drivers on roads to Central London undertaken mainly by the Greater London Council is analyzed and discussed. Trends in commuting to Central London, and trends in car traffic entering Central London are discussed as well as the journey purpose of car drivers, and characteristics of car commuters to Central London, Overall trends in company assistance, business use of the commuter car, and journey costs paid to commuter cars are also discussed. The observation is made that if the car is used for business journeys during the week, the provision of pool cars will be more economical for the firm, particuarly if the tax advantages were much lower. It is noted that a relatively small number of people (business car users) cause large disbenefits to other road-users (bus-operators and pasengers, freight and delivery vehicles) in the form of delays. By not paying the full social costs of their decision on choice of mode there cointinues to be a distortion in the market for travel.