Public Transport Accessibility Levels

Transport for London's (TFL) Public Transport Accessibility Levels (PTALs) PTALS are a detailed and accurate measure of the accessibility of a point to the public transport network, taking into account walk access time and service availability. The method is essentially a way of measuring the density of the public transport network at any location within Greater London. Each ares is graded between 0 and 6b, where a score of 0 is very poor access to public transport, and 6b is excellent access to public transport. The current methodology was developed in 1992, by the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham. The model has been thoroughly reviewed and tested, and has been agreed by the London Borough-led PTAL development group as the most appropriate for use across London. The measure therefore reflects:

• Walking time from the point-of interest to the public transport access points; • The reliability of the service modes available; • The number of services available within the catchment; and • The level of service at the public transport access points - i.e. average waiting time.

It does not consider:

• The speed or utility of accessible services; • Crowding, including the ability to board services; or, • Ease of interchange.

The PTAL methodology was developed for London where a dense integrated public transport network means that nearly all destinations can be reached within a reasonable amount of time. Research using the ATOS (Access to Opportunities and Services) methodology shows that there is a strong correlation between PTALs and the time taken to reach key services – i.e. high PTAL areas generally have good access to services and low PTAL areas have poor access to services. Notes 6-digit references identify 100m grid squares. The 2012 CSV file previously available on the Datastore is now only available via the TfL feeds page. The 2014 files are available to download below. This includes the GIS contour files. Current PTAL values can be viewed at TfL’s web site: www.webptals.org.uk The GLA has calculated the percentage of population for each ward, LSOA, MSOA and borough within each PTAL. The files for 2014 are available below. The method used mapped the number of addresses (using Ordinance Survey AddressBase Plus, and 2011 Census London Output Areas boundaries). TFL also publish on their website a tool that shows travel time and PTAL maps from any point within London. Click anywhere on the map or input a postcode to change the selected location.