Transport articles

RNIB backs campaign for accessible crossings

The Royal National Institute of Blind People (RNIB) is campaigning for all pedestrian crossings in London to be made accessible to people with visual handicaps. At present - as highlighted by Caroline Pidgeon's investigations - there are 347 crossings that still do not meet minimum standards of accessibility.

Caroline commented:
"It is shocking that in the year 2012 so many pedestrian crossings are unsafe for so many people."

"I have long called for the minimum safety standards to be met at every pedestrian crossing across the whole of London. The RNIB campaign has my total support."

You can read more here on the RNIB website.

26 February 2012 - 12:37am

Mayor still will not give timetable for dangerous junction review

The King's Cross Environment blog covers this week's Mayor's Question Time - where under questioning from Lib Dem London Assembly Leader Caroline Pidgeon, Boris Johnson would give no commitment to a timetable for reviewing the most dangerous junctions for cyclists.

Blogger William Perrin comments:

The Mayor (and also Chair of TfL) is questioned by Caroline Pidgeon AM about his sudden conversion to cycle safety, from 40 minutes in. Caroline Pidgeon AM gently mocks the Mayor’s giant flip flop on a review. But despite repeated questioning the Mayor gives no timetable for his review of dangerous junctions. At 43:30 she tried to pin the Mayor down to specific actions, timetables and commitments from his panicky review – but the Mayor just dodges sideways refusing to give any hints on a time table or guarantees that work will happen following the review.

Read the full article here.

And you can watch the webcast of Mayor's Question Time here on the London Assembly website - Caroline Pidgeon's questions start at around 43:30.

26 February 2012 - 12:34am

Routemaster admission exposes the Mayor's real record on buses

Commenting on the news that the introduction of Boris Johnson's replacement for the Routemaster bus has again been delayed, Caroline Pidgeon commented:

"We were promised that the new Routemaster bus would be up and running in 2011, but the harsh reality is that just one of these incredibly expensive buses will be on our roads before this summer. This latest admission exposes once and for all Boris Johnson's real record on bus services.

22 February 2012 - 7:32pm

Greenland Pier boat service campaign - update

Local Liberal Democrat Councillors Lisa Rajan, David Hubber, Paul Noblet, Simon Hughes MP and myself have been inundated with emails from concerned passengers in Surrey Docks about the future of Greenland Pier. This also affects people who use the service and live just over in Lewisham.

We held a meeting on Monday morning with Gill Davies, Southwark Council's Director of Environment and Leisure. Our main aim for the meeting was to get Southwark Council to stop the temporary closure of the pier on 28th February, and instead keep it open for the Thames Clippers boats to use. We know how vital and valued the commuter boat service is and how many people rely on it. We also wanted to ask for a temporary pontoon to be installed if the existing one really does need to be removed for repairs.

We divided the pier issue into two parts - the immediate future, following the official Notice to Quit served on Thames Clippers, and the longer term future of the pier.

As far as the immediate situation is concerned, the Notice to Thames Clippers was, we were told, a legal requirement to enable the pier to be inspected and repaired as necessary. Thames Clippers should be granted a temporary licence to enable them to continue to use the pier until such time as it may be removed temporarily for any works. We have stressed that there should be no discontinuance of the service on 28 February, nor until it is essential for the pier to be closed, and we were led to believe that this would be the case. We also asked that users should be given one month's notice before the pontoon is actually removed.

20 February 2012 - 7:42pm

Croydon trams - the Mayor overpromised and underdelivered

Commenting on the introduction of six new trams in Croydon - when Boris Johnson had promised ten - Caroline Pidgeon said:
“Instead of visiting Croydon and boasting about six new trams the Mayor should now come clean and explain why he has broken his pledge to deliver 10 new trams.

“Once again we see a huge difference between what Boris Johnson promises and what he actually delivers.”

You can read more here at the Mayorwatch website.

16 February 2012 - 9:21pm

TfL admit King's Cross junction does not meet safety standards

As a result of questions asked to the Mayor by Caroline Pidgeon, Transport for London have admitted that a large junction at King's Cross does not meet their own safety standards, and refused to answer on why they have done nothing to comply with those standards.

You can read full coverage on the King's Cross Environment blog.

And on the same blog, you can read about Caroline's continued scrutiny and Boris Johnson's complacency on cycle safety issues.

4 February 2012 - 11:24am

Bow roundabout plans are just a first step

Speaking to the road.cc cycling website about TfL's initial plans to improve safety at Bow roundabout - a notoriously dangerous junction for cyclists - Caroline Pidgeon commented:

These improvements are only a first step - they must be followed through with a much bigger plan of work to improve safety and access for pedestrians as well.

Read the full article here.

4 February 2012 - 10:36am

TfL needs more than just tough talk on bus fare evasion

As the Mayorwatch website reports, the Mayor's "New Bus for London" shows signs that it will suffer from no less fare evasion than bendy buses did, with three separate doors.

Caroline Pidgeon commented:

Given that fare evasion stands at £63 million, it is time the Mayor stopped just talking tough on fare evasion and actually adopted some tough measures. His new London bus with its three sets of doors, will effectively be the new ‘free bus’ in London unless its conductors actually check people’s fares.

Read the full article here.

4 February 2012 - 10:22am

Talking transport in Waltham Forest

Caroline joined local Liberal Democrats in Cann Hall at a public meeting to discuss public transport in the area. Many residents came along to raise concerns from the impact of the Olympics on local streets to issues with bus routes 257 and 58.

The team also heard about problems with the Central Line and TfL’s attitude towards working with community groups to improve bus routes and services.

Caroline will be taking up a number of issues from the meeting.

29 January 2012 - 5:36pm

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