London-wide + Newham stories

A Transport for London consultation on new river crossings in east London, which closes this week, is far too centred around motorists and completely overlooks the need for significant improvements in public transport in south east London, is the key message made by Caroline Pidgeon AM, in the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group’s consultation response.

Speaking to the Wharf newspaper as Transport For London announced discounts for Newham and Greenwich residents on the Thames cable car, Caroline Pidgeon said:

"Providing cheap travel on the cable car for Greenwich and Newham residents is obviously welcome news for people that live in these two boroughs, but this latest development will not be sufficient to turn around the dismal passenger figures for people using the cable car.

As figures revealed that use of the Thames cable car has fallen nearly 50% compared to December 2012, Caroline Pidgeon, called for the service to be free for those whose travelcards include Zone Two, and said:

"Last week barely 2,000 people were using the cable car every day," she said. "The number of people using it has plummeted over the last year.

Commenting on figures showing that usage of the Thames cable car has halved compared to a year ago, Caroline Pidgeon said:

"After 16 months of operating the latest passenger figures for the cable car speak for themselves. It is increasingly clear that the longer it is in existence the fewer people want to use it as it is currently run.

"The Mayor of London, who is chair of Transport for London, should now be honest with Londoners and decide what its future should be.

"If the cable car is to have any success in the long term it should either be run and operated as a privately run tourist attraction, or instead operated as an integral form of public transport, where people with a Travelcard or a relevant pass can use it for free."