Writing for the London24 website, Caroline Pidgeon addresses what needs to be done to make cycling in London safe:
Firstly, we must recognise that the primary cause of cycle fatalities is lorries colliding with cyclists.
The Mayor has announced some limited proposals, including training advice for cyclists, but it is only a start.
After years of pressure from Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, Network Rail has finally agreed to repaint parts of the railway bridge at Wimbledon Chase station in order to cover up the offensive and antisocial graffiti on the bridge.
In a letter from Network Rail’s Chief Executive David Higgins to Caroline Pidgeon, the company has promised to repaint the four corners of the bridge to help improve its appearance.
Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
"After years of campaigning on the issue of the unsightly graffiti on Wimbledon Chase Bridge, I am delighted that Network Rail has finally seen sense and is going to make much needed improvements by cleaning up the bridge.
The London Assembly Transport Committee has published a report in response to TfL’s new proposals on transport accessibility, showing that step-free access and other accessibility measures fall far short of the growing need for them, with half of bus stops, two thirds of rail stations, and three quarters of tube stations, not fully accessible to people with limited mobility.
The report argues for a range of measures, including low-cost steps such as allowing manual ramps, upgrading pedestrian crossings, providing better training for bus drivers, and improving online and paper maps.
Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on Boris Johnson’s fare proposals for 2012, which he confirmed today will be set at RPI plus 2 per cent, said:
“This is the fourth year of fare misery that Londoners will face under Boris Johnson.
“He has already hit Londoners hard by hiking up bus fares from 90 pence to £1.30 for a single fare since he arrived at City Hall. Today’s further rise will really hit hard many people, especially those on low incomes.
“Boris Johnson has failed to tackle effective action to tackle fare evasion or cut waste which is widespread throughout TfL. If the Mayor got on top of these issues there would be no need for such severe fare rises, especially for low income Londoners.
A Big Switch to electric buses and taxis can cut London’s appalling air pollution, dramatically reduce premature deaths and ill health, and help meet climate change targets. The London Assembly Liberal Democrats have put forward an ambitious programme to convert high mileage buses, taxis and light goods vehicles to electric power by 2020. The plan was launched with Caroline Pidgeon AM and Mike Tuffrey AM with support from the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Rt Hon Chris Huhne MP.
Thames Water bosses have been severely criticised by Caroline Pidgeon following a water burst that paralysed rail travel across a large swathe of the South-East on 1st August.
An estimated 80,000 pasengers faced hours of chaos and delays after a Thames Water pipe triggered a landslide that blocked a key commuter route in and out of Victoria.
Caroline has now written to Thames Water asking them to introduce some form of compensation for the thousands of passengers that faced what many people have described as nightmare journeys.
The London Assembly Transport Committee is reviewing TfL’s plans to make London the first city in the world where contactless payment is available on the entire transport network – starting with buses from spring next year.
The Committee will assess the benefits and the risks of using contactless bank cards to pay for travel, both for passengers and for Transport for London. TfL expects contactless cards will be cheaper to operate than Oyster, but the Committee will investigate security concerns that have been raised.
Chair of the Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon AM, said:
“Transport for London has big plans for the future of ticketing in the capital, but any changes must be geared towards increasing convenience and value for passengers.
“Security is also an issue. The use of contactless bank cards will be seen as a step forward by some people, but others may be reluctant to flash their debit or credit card at a ticket gate.
“We will review the benefits and risks of TfL’s short and long-term ticketing plans to ensure they are right for London.”
The Evening Standard reports that Transport for London has spend £18 million over the last year in providing replacement buses during Tube, DLR and Overground closures due to engineering work.
Caroline Pidgeon told the Evening Standard:
Following on from extensive work by Caroline Pidgeon on Oyster overcharging, London Travelwatch have now looked at the issue and discovered that 8 million passengers are overcharged every month.
The Evening Standard covers the story here, and discussed the situation with Caroline:
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.