London road use mapped: see how it’s changed since 2001

ITO world all London traffic — This first image shows changes in the number of vehicles in London between 2001 and 2010. Across the centre of the city, all traffic has reduced in most areas - but has increased on the edges . **Click image to see graphic** Photograph: ITO World

How has road use changed in London? Thanks to ITO World, we can see how the city has been transformed in the last decade.

The transports specialists have mapped the Department for Transport's key road mapping data for London, and it shows an interesting picture. This is the data recorded by traffic counters at points on the city's roads - you can read a bit more about the data here. It basically records:

Annual Average Daily Flow (AADF) and traffic data for every junction-to-junction link on the 'A' road and motorway network in Great Britain

It shows pretty clearly how vehicle use in the city has gone down fundamentally in nine years since 2001 - except for huge increases in cycling and bus/coach use.

It also shows how for sectors such as light industry, the economic force of having to drive into the capital trumps how difficult it is or the shape of the congestion charge.

ITO World has given us these maps - click on the images below to see them full size. What do you think they tell us?