Caroline Pidgeon

The River Thames is a forgotten highway, a tube line effectively, across the centre of London and yet under-resourced in terms of transport.

In January, the London Assembly Transport Committee is looking into river transport services - so Caroline and other Committee members spent a chilly morning in early December out and about on the river with Thames Clippers from Putney to Erith, looking at the challenges and opportunities to really expand river transport services for Londoners.

The BBC reports on Boris Johnson's inability to confirm how much the Greenwich to Newham cable car will cost the taxpayer, when pressed by Caroline Pidgeon at June's Mayor's Question Time session.

Responding to Caroline's question, the Mayor was vague:

When pressed by Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon, who asked him to guarantee that all the money would be recouped from the private sector, Mr Johnson said that private funds "may well cover the total cost over time.

But he added: "Whether it will cover every penny of the set up costs I can't guarantee.

The cost "may very well be zero to the public sector, but I can't tell you what it will be yet", he told the assembly.

You can read the report - and video coverage - here on the BBC website.

Since that time, construction has begun on the cable car, but - as Mayorwatch reports - there is still no guarantee it will be ready for the 2012 Games.

As of September 2011, the costs of the cable car have now risen to £60m - and TfL is taking over part of the rail budget to pay for it. Read more here at Londonist, the News Shopper, Liberal Democrat Voice and on the BBC website.

Caroline Pidgeon is continuing to support action to tackle the high number of accidents and fatalities that face cyclists on London's roads. London faces an especially serious problem with accidents involving collisions between lorries and cyclists at junctions.

A recent question asked by Caroline to the Mayor revealed that in 2009 six cyclists were killed on London's roads in accidents involving a Heavy Goods Vehicle (HGV), and with a further two cyclists killed in accidents involving a refuse lorry and a cement mixer. In 2010 there were two cyclists killed in accidents involving vehicles and two further two fatal collisions including a skip lorry and a cement truck.

Caroline has already given her full support to the campaign by the London Cycling Campaign (LCC) for better training for lorry drivers and recently received the petition that had already gathered more than 10,000 signatures. Read more information about the campaign here.

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s reply to her question at today's Mayor Question Time, asking when the Thames cable car will be open to passengers, said:

"For the Mayor to state that the cable car will be completed when 'it’s good and ready' is totally unbelievable.

"It is simply staggering that the Mayor is throwing around £57 million of public money at the Thames Cable Car yet is totally incapable of giving any assurance as to when it will be open. The Mayor should get on top of this flagship project.”