The Group has always considered transport a major factor in sustainable development. Consequently, each November we participate in a cordon survey of the local area and Canary Wharf, which measures all movements into or through the area. To complement this, every two years we commission a survey of the transport arrangements of people travelling to and from Canary Wharf. The latest survey took place in 2009 with the following results:
- Journeys to Canary Wharf by private car continued to decline in 2009; just 5.1% of workers travelled by car during the survey period in 2009, down from 6.2% in 2007.
- Thanks to various public initiatives, cycling has increased in popularity across London, and Canary Wharf is no exception. Nearly 4% of workers cycled to work in 2009, up from 2.9% in 2007.
- Use of public transport, including the Jubilee Line and DLR, continues to increase, especially from areas east of Canary Wharf, reflecting the area’s rapid regeneration and the increased number of Canary Wharf-based workers living in East London.
*The survey was undertaken by Steer Davies Gleave in June/July. 93,000 employees were working at Canary Wharf during the survey period.
Strategy
CWG’s transport strategy includes working with key organisations to improve public transport access to Canary Wharf and encourage forms of transport other than private cars, providing environmental, social and economic benefits.
Staff Travel
CWG encourages staff to use alternative methods when travelling to and from the estate. The Group operates the government backed ‘Cycle to Work’ scheme where staff can buy discounted cycles and pay over a period of time. In 2009, this scheme was extended to include the purchase of electric cycles.
To encourage staff to use public transport, interest free season ticket loans are available and travel to meetings by cab is discouraged with ‘pool’ oyster cards available for staff to use to travel for meetings.
Cycling
There are 2200 cycle parking spaces on the estate. Of these, 800 are private tenant spaces in buildings around the estate, 1000 are free public spaces, and there are 400 ‘payable’ secure spaces in Canada Square Car Park. The Group encourages its own staff to look at cycling as a means of transport to and from work, and participates in the Government’s Green Transport Plan through Evans Cycles Ride2Work Programme.
Electric Vehicles
Charging points for electric cars are situated in Canada Place and Jubilee Place Car Parks and discounted parking is available.
For enquiries relating to vehicle and cycle parking please contact the Car Park Office on 020 7418 2752.
Docklands Light Railway
An extra carriage has been added to the Bank-Lewisham branch, increasing DLR capacity to Canary Wharf by 50%.
London Underground
Upgrade work on the Jubilee Line continues. Once complete it will improve the capacity by 33% at peak times.
Riverboat services
In November 2009 Thames Clippers introduced Oystercard pre-pay on all of their boats, and improved services between London Bridge and Canary Wharf in peak times.
Crossrail
CWG supports the Crossrail project which will further improve the options for travelling to key business districts including Canary Wharf via public transport. Work commenced on the Canary Wharf Crossrail Station in 2009 with Canary Wharf Group contributing £150m to the cost of the station.
From 2017 Crossrail will improve capacity with new 10-car trains. Journey times will be cut to many destinations across London including Canary Wharf to Liverpool Street in seven minutes, Farringdon in 10 minutes and Heathrow in 44 minutes.
During the construction of the station transport of waste via barges instead of road freight will remove 20,000 lorry trips from East London and Essex roads between 2009-2011.