The official literature promoting the revitalized Docklands often sites the proximity to the city of London and the ease of traveling between the Docklands and London as a primary asset of the Docklands. Indeed, the Docklands is supposed to link London with Europe and the rest of the world. Somehow, the Docklands still feels worlds away from London both geographically and mentally.
The following forms of transportation will be discussed:
Click here for information about pedestrian traffic, which is significant in Docklands revitalization.
The most famous example of Docklands bungling is the Docklands Light Railway or the DLR. The DLR clearly shows a lack of planning. It demonstrates that infrastructure should be fully developed before a project such as the Docklands is underway. The DLR was originally conceived of as "a high technology fully automated railway,"(Hamer). Unfortunately, the line has been plagued with problems. The first problem is that even without technical problems, the DLR could not come close to handling the volume of passengers who need to ride it. Initially, the DLR was to "carry 1700 people an hour, in one direction. . . [At this rate,] it would have taken 10 hours for one line of the railway to carry enough workers to fill the offices,"(Ibid.). This problem would not be so severe if other forms of transportation were in place. However, there are problems with the underground and the road system. A particularly wasteful result of poor transportation planning was the demolishing and subsequent rebuilding of railway stations that was necessary when it became evident that the DLR was inadequate,(Ibid.).
The Jubilee Line is the yet-to-be opened Underground Line that will connect the Docklands to the rest of the London Underground system. It has met with problems of its own and the opening has been delayed, however it could be the line that saves the Docklands. In 1980 the Jubilee Line extension was estimated to cost 250 million pounds -- in 1992 that estimate was up to 1.7 billion pounds, (Ibid.). The fact that governmental transportation policy had to be affected by private development is closely connected to the ambiguous line between public and private spheres in Dockland Development. Click here for more information about the government's role in Dockland Development.
Automobile traffic is not the form of transportation depended upon most often in London, nor is it the most desirable. However, with public transportation being wholly inadequate, there is extremely heavy traffic around the area. Once, again needs were underestimated and remedies are short and late in coming. The Limehouse Link is the LDDC's answer to automobile traffic congestion. The cost of the Link was 340 million pounds, making it the most expensive road ever built in Britain. After all the roads are completed in the Docklands, the department of transportation and the LDDC will have spent about half of what the Channel Tunnel cost (Ibid.). The point has been made that the money should have been spent on bringing the public transportation to an acceptable level. Since the original plans for the Docklands were not made with heavy reliance on cars in mind, parking will be a large problem. This will not be the only effect of changing particular components of the overall plan little by little. The 1995 Canary Wharf Fact File put out by the Press Office at Canary Wharf contains figures relating to parking and the number of workers coming to the Docklands each day. At the time of the publication, there were about 13,000 workers at Canary Wharf (note: Canary Wharf is only one part of Docklands Development). There are now only 3,200 parking spaces and the final plan includes room for only 8,000 cars(Fact File). The planners of the Docklands envisioned a town that draws shoppers, tourists and people looking for recreation. The transportation system and parking facilities are inadequate for even the current office workers, let alone additional people.
The London City Airport is located on the eastern end of Docklands development. It is privately owned and designed to suit the needs of a very small and select group of people. This is another factor contributing to the class landscape of the area. The Airport is three miles from Canary Wharf. There is a shuttle service between it and Canary Wharf(Fact File). The airport is designed to serve the needs of Docklands business people who travel frequently to other European countries. Public transportation to the airport was not seen as important since business travelers are not expected to use public transport. The shuttle service is provided for them. The goal of the airport is to make sure each passenger can make it from the airplane door onto the shuttle in only 10 minutes (interview).