Editing London (section)

===Roads===
Although the majority of journeys in central London are made by public transport, car travel is common in the suburbs. The [[London Inner Ring Road|inner ring road]] (around the city centre), the [[A406 road|North]] and [[A205 road|South Circular]] roads (just within the suburbs), and the outer orbital motorway (the [[M25 motorway|M25]], just outside the built-up area in most places) encircle the city and are intersected by a number of busy radial routes—but very few motorways penetrate into [[inner London]]. The M25 is the second-longest ring-road motorway in Europe at {{convert|117|mi|adj=off}} long.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Highways Agency |date=25 June 2018 |url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/our-road-network/our-network/key-roads/m25/ |access-date=25 June 2018 |title=M25 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20180626030215/http://www.highways.gov.uk/our-road-network/our-network/key-roads/m25/ |archive-date= 26 June 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] and [[M1 motorway|M1]] connect London to [[Leeds]], and [[Newcastle upon Tyne|Newcastle]] and [[Edinburgh]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/roadlists/f99/1.shtml|title=SABRE - Road Lists - The First 99 - A1|website=Sabre-roads.org.uk|access-date=14 June 2023|archive-date=15 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115121242/https://www.sabre-roads.org.uk/roadlists/f99/1.shtml|url-status=dead}}</ref>

[[File:16-11-16-Glasgow street scene-RR2 7280 (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|The [[hackney carriage]] (black cab) is a common sight on London streets. Black has been its standard colour since the [[Austin FX3]] model in 1948.]]
The [[Austin Motor Company]] began making [[hackney carriage]]s (London taxis) in 1929, and models include [[Austin FX3]] from 1948, [[Austin FX4]] from 1958, with more recent models [[TXII]] and [[TX4]] manufactured by [[London Taxis International]]. The BBC states, "ubiquitous black cabs and red double-decker buses all have long and tangled stories that are deeply embedded in London's traditions".<ref name="London traditions"/>
Although traditionally black, some are painted in other colours or bear advertising.<ref>{{cite news |title=THE RULES: Why can London taxis choose to display advertising livery, but minicabs can't? |url=https://www.taxi-point.co.uk/post/the-rules-why-can-london-taxis-choose-to-display-advertising-livery-but-minicabs-can-t |access-date=18 May 2024 |agency=Taxi point}}</ref>

London is notorious for its traffic congestion; in 2009, the average speed of a car in the rush hour was recorded at {{convert|10.6|mi/h|km/h|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Mulholland |first1=Hélène |title=Boris Johnson mulls 'intelligent' congestion charge system for London |url= http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/mar/16/boris-johnson-congestion-charge |work=The Guardian |location= London |date=16 March 2009}}</ref> In 2003, a [[London congestion charge|congestion charge]] was introduced to reduce traffic volumes in the city centre. With a few exceptions, motorists are required to pay to drive within a defined zone encompassing much of central London.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://theconversation.com/london-congestion-charge-what-worked-what-didnt-what-next-92478 |title=London congestion charge: what worked, what didn't, what next |last=Badstuber |first=Nicole |website=The Conversation |date=2 March 2018 |access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> Motorists who are residents of the defined zone can buy a greatly reduced season pass.<ref>{{Cite web |url= https://www.roadtraffic-technology.com/projects/congestion/ |title=Central London Congestion Charging, England |website=Verdict Traffic |access-date=28 April 2020}}</ref> Over the course of several years, the average number of cars entering the centre of London on a weekday was reduced from 195,000 to 125,000.<ref>Table 3 in Santos, Georgina; Button, Kenneth; Noll, Roger G. "London Congestion Charging/Comments." Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs.15287084 (2008): 177,177–234.</ref>

[[Low Traffic Neighbourhood|Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN)]] were widely introduced in London, but in 2023 the Department for Transport stopped funding them, even though the benefits outweighed the costs by approximately 100 times in the first 20&nbsp;years and the difference is growing over time.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Peter |title=Health gains of low-traffic schemes up to 100 times greater than costs, study finds |url= https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/mar/08/health-gains-of-low-traffic-schemes-up-to-100-times-greater-than-costs-study-finds |access-date=10 March 2024 |work=The Guardian |location= London |date=8 March 2024}}</ref>