Transport articles

Passengers losing too many hours down the Tube

Speaking to the London Assembly Transport Committee, the Managing Director of the London Underground has publicly acknowledged that problems on the Tube over the past year have resulted in an increase in lost customer hours on almost every line.

Chair of the Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon AM, said:

We recognise the challenges London Underground is facing as it works to deliver an extensive upgrade programme while carrying more and more passengers, but the past year has seen an unreliable service for passengers who are exceptionally frustrated by their daily commute.

While we heard today that if you go back several years things are generally improving, the recent performance of the Tube has undoubtedly deteriorated and is not good enough.

With major upgrade work about to start on the Northern line we hope lessons have been learned so that passengers who use it will not have to deal with the levels of disruption seen on the Jubilee and Victoria line upgrades.

14 June 2011 - 9:52pm

Conservative Assembly Members sabotage key Blackfriars cycle safety debate

Over the last few weeks thousands of cyclists have expressed concerns about the Mayor's and Transport for London's plans for Blackfriars Bridge.

The initial plans put forward by Transport for London were severely criticised for ignoring cyclists and after an extensive campaign which Caroline fully supported, the design plans were improved.

However the Mayor and Transport for London are still determined to end the temporary 20 mph speed limit on this dangerous bridge, and instead seem wish to introduce a new speed limit of 30 mph on this vital river crossing for cyclists.

London Assembly Members were set to have a formal debate about the safety of cyclists on the bridge at a recent Plenary meeting of the London Assembly. The outcome of the debate and vote taken by London Assembly Members would have played a key role in influencing both Transport for London and the Mayor of London.

However the Conservative Assembly Members, instead of debating the issue, collectively walked out of the chamber of City Hall before the motion could be debated. Their actions directly prevented any debate taking place.

14 June 2011 - 9:42pm

Greenwich Council lets down pedestrians and cyclists with yet more delays

The full reopening of Greenwich foot tunnel has been delayed once again, with users facing night time closures and no lifts throughout the Summer until September. At the same time work on the Woolwich foot tunnel, which has been completely closed since last year, is not set to be finished until August.

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, discovered this information buried away on Greenwich Council’s website. The explanation for the six-month delay to the Greenwich foot tunnel is put down on the website to “additional works and problems with materials used in the repairs.” At present, no information at all has been provided by Greenwich Council about why the works at Woolwich foot tunnel are so far behind schedule.

10 June 2011 - 9:44pm

2012 Games transport visit

Caroline went on the new high speed train from St Pancras to Stratford International Station to see how the transport infrastructure has been completed ahead of time for the 2012 Games.

Caroline joined other Assembly members, the mayor and other officials to experience the fast train journey which will shuttle thousands of spectators when the games come to London next year.

The trip then went on the new DLR extension from Stratford International to the main Stratford station. This is due to open in July according to TfL after further test.

7 June 2011 - 9:38pm

No grounds for complacency over transport crime

Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor welcoming the latest crime figures for London’s transport network, said:

“The Mayor should not be complacent with these latest figures. Across the whole of London’s transport network there has been no uniform fall in crime – indeed in some areas levels have increased, and in some cases by a significant degree.

3 June 2011 - 6:58pm

Mayor continues to mislead on bus crime figures

The Mayorwatch website reports on Boris Johnson's misleading claims in his election literature that bus crime has fallen by 30% across London during his term in office. In fact, the detailed statistics show that the local picture is patchy, with bus crime actually increasing in many areas.

Caroline told Mayorwatch:

Just three months ago the chairman of the UK Statistics Authority warned Boris Johnson that the way he was using the bus crime data could ‘be damaging to public trust in the statistics’.

Sadly the Mayor has totally ignored this warning and is up to his old tricks of using misleading figures. It is simply wrong to suggest that bus crime is falling across the whole of London, when in fact in more than one third of boroughs it is increasing – and in some boroughs significantly.

Even where there has been some fall in the figures there should be no grounds for complacency about the level of crime on London’s buses. Bus crime is a problem everywhere, and in far too many places it is a growing problem.

You can read the full article here.

You can also read local coverage in the Barking and Dagenham Post, in the East London Advertiser (Tower Hamlers), the Wimbledon Guardian and at the Wimbledon SW19 website.

2 June 2011 - 10:30pm

TfL must prove its motivation on yellow box junctions

The Evening Standard reports on accusations by motorists' groups that Transport for London is using fines for violating yellow box junction rules as a means of revenue raising rather than a genuine traffic control measure.

Caroline told the Standard:

TfL has clearly been ratcheting up its enforcement of yellow boxes. If it believes its actions improve the flow of traffic it needs to start providing evidence of this.

Until then the accusation that it is primarily using the yellow boxes as a cash cow will certainly resonate with motorists across London.

You can read the full article here.

Also, in a followup, the revelation that over £1m in fines were charged at a single box junction in Highgate last year has been covered in the Evening Standard and on the Highate People website.

2 June 2011 - 10:25pm

Making London's roads safer for cyclists

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.

30 May 2011 - 4:39pm

More underhand fare rises from the Mayor and TfL

The BBC reports on the 5% rises that Transport for London has imposed on off-peak Railcard fares without warning.

Caroline told the BBC:

Boris Johnson has real form in pushing through fare rises in an underhand way.

He has already been caught red handed over his attempt to sneak through fare rises as high as 74% by abolishing Zone 2-6 Travelcards this year.

I am not aware of previous mid-year fare increases and think it is extraordinary that this has been sneaked out.

The mayor should publish his fare proposals for all fares for the year ahead and fully consult Londoners on his plans.

26 May 2011 - 11:54pm

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