In London, 50% - or 2 million - of the population used public transport to get to work, compared with 31% - 1.3 million - travelling by car, motorcycle or taxi.

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People were obliged to use cars to get to work because there was no safe and affordable public-transport alternative.

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The slick new services often don't connect with each other and older public transport systems, leaving poor and working-class people struggling to get to work.

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Most importantly for Brent, it secures a major upgrade to the local transport infrastructure, with major work planned to the three local railway stations - including the Wembley Park Tube - and the adjoining road network to ease the notorious Wembley traffic congestion without causing major disruption to residents.

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The council said the work had taken four key factors into account - social, transport, environment and economic.

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He added that the benefits of using sustainable transport are wide-ranging, from "enjoying healthy exercise as you walk or cycle to work to reducing congestion in our towns and cities".

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Many work full-time but are on low incomes and often have childcare and transport costs.

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Transport for London (TfL) said it would allow them to co-ordinate works so two utilities work on the same spot at once, rather than dig it up twice.

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The transport secretary then praised the work done by his DfT staff, saying he had a team of "first-class civil servants doing a tough job".

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