Crossword Genius

Lack of transportation in South London? (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

scarcity

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'lack' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'of transportation in south london?' is the wordplay.
'of transportation' becomes 'car' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'in' is an insertion indicator.
'south' becomes 's' (abbreviation).
'london?' becomes 'city' (london is a kind of city).
's'+'city'='scity'
'car' placed into 'scity' is 'SCARCITY'.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for scarcity that I've seen before include "Shortness of supply" , "Lack - dearth" , "Thinness" , "Something uncommon" , "Want" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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