Caroline Pidgeon

Pedestrians on Oxford street are reduced to shuffling along overcrowded pavements, while hundreds of buses an hour inch forward at an average of 4mph, according to a new report from the London Assembly Transport Committee.

The report, ‘Streets ahead: Relieving congestion on Oxford Street, Regent Street and Bond Street’, notes that despite its phenomenal popularity with shoppers, the area continues to be divided by a "slow-moving procession of buses and taxis". On average the area suffers an accident involving a bus every 3.4 days - and air quality in the area, already the worst in London, is on track to be the worst in the UK by 2015

At the heart of the problem is the conflict between the need to provide a pleasant shopping and leisure environment, and meeting the demand for transport links through the West End. And various schemes to reduce traffic congestion and improve the pedestrian experience in one of the world’s premier shopping destinations may not be enough, says the report, calling for more radical thinking.

Caroline Pidgeon AM has joined Liberal Democrat councillors in Brent in expressing deep disappointment at the news that Boris Johnson has refused to act to provide more buses in the Brentfield Road area.

A huge petition from local residents was submitted to the Mayor by Liberal Democrats at a formal Question Time session last month.

Brentfield Road runs between Brent Park Tesco and Harlesden Station and is also home to the prestigious Neasden Temple, but is currently served by only two buses, the 206 and the PR2.

Transport for London also admitted recently that the frequency of buses on the PR2 route had deteriorated significantly in recent months.

Nevertheless, Mayor Boris Johnson replied to the Liberal Democrat-organised petition with a letter concluding: “TfL consider that Brentfield Road is adequately served by these routes and there are no plans at present to provide further bus services here.”

Lib Dem assembly member Caroline Pidgeon, the Chair of the Assembly's Transport Committee, said:
"There is clearly a huge demand for a bus in the Brentfield Road area and it is very disappointing that the Mayor refuses to listen to local people."

The London SE1 website reports on Transport for London's announcement that it will finally provide replacement bus services to Waterloo during weekends when the Jubilee line is closed.

Caroline Pidgeon, who raised this issue with the Mayor several months ago, commented:

I welcome TfL's long-awaited replacement bus service which includes Waterloo. Despite the Mayor's previous claims that this was not possible it clearly can be done.

It is just a pity that such poor excuses were previously made by the Mayor. It is local people who have continued to suffer unnecessary inconvenience.

The full story is here.

The BBC covers the news that the Conservative party has rejected Boris Johnson's plan to build a new airport in the Thames Estuary.

The story quotes Caroline Pidgeon's comment that Boris's only success has been to "unite councils in Kent and Essex, environmental groups, and now, we hear, all three main political parties in Parliament, against this mad idea".

The full story is on the BBC website here.