Scrutinising the Mayor articles

Lift the ban on guide dogs on Tube escalators

The Going Underground and Mayorwatch blogs both have coverage of Caroline Pidgeon pressing the Mayor to remove the ban on guide dogs on escalators on the Tube.

Caroline commented:

The ban on blind people being able to take a guide dog onto moving escalators is outdated and must be changed. There is now clear evidence that trained guide dogs can safely use moving escalators so ending the insulting service that many blind people currently face when they use the tube.

27 March 2011 - 2:11am

Boris Johnson is playing fast and loose again with statistics

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on Boris Johnson’s claim today that fare evasion rose to almost £75 million last year, said:

“The Mayor is right that we need to tackle fare evasion, but I don't have any faith in the figures he quotes. He just seems to use a random figure that helps his story.

“In 2009 the Mayor told us fare evasion was costing Londoners £70m a year. Last Year Boris told me that fare evasion was running at £55m a year. Today he tells us it costs £75m a year. One of the Mayor’s answers must be wrong!

19 March 2011 - 10:11pm

Caroline meets RNIB on Tube accessibility for visually impaired people

Caroline Pidgeon AM met with representatives of the RNIB and officers from London Underground to discuss issues with the accessibility of the Underground for visually impaired people.

A number of issues were discussed including the reductions in staff at ticket offices and their impact on assisting visually impaired passengers, as well as issues with help points and future developments.

19 March 2011 - 9:18pm

Mayor cannot ignore disturbing rise in bus crime

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on the Mayor’s announcement today about crime statistics on public transport and his claim to be providing extra policing on to the transport network said:

“The Mayor should take great care when boasting about crime statistics on London’s transport network, especially as the overall fall in crime seems to hide some very disturbing rises in bus crime in about a third of London boroughs.

26 February 2011 - 12:38am

Celebrate Oyster takeup on rail services - but tackle passenger ripoffs

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on figures published today by the Association of Train Operating Companies (ATOC) and TfL showing that more than two million journeys a week are now being made using Oyster Pay As You Go on London’s commuter rail services, said:

“While celebrating the increased take up of Oyster on rail travel both the Mayor and the train operating companies are ignoring the fact that too many train users are being ripped off by being overcharged when they use Oyster Pay As You Go.

8 February 2011 - 11:08pm

Savage cuts in Tube ticket office hours will impact passengers

On the first day of reduced ticket office opening hours affecting commuters across London, Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commented:

"In 2008 Boris Johnson promised in his election manifesto to keep ticket offices on the Tube network open. Now in 2011 he is closing the very offices he promised to save. The reduction in opening hours means that ticket offices are now effectively closed for many people. Is that really offering passengers a better service?"

8 February 2011 - 11:06pm

Embassy Congestion Charge arrears about to hit £50m

The total level of unpaid Congestion Charge by embassies based in London will soar through the £50 million figure this month predicts Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group.

At the start of the year £48.7 million was owed to Londoners by embassies. Transport for London (TfL) have now confirmed that as of yesterday the figure had reached £49.4 million and that later this month the total unpaid bill will exceed £50 million.

Caroline Pidgeon commented:

“The amount in unpaid Congestion Charges and Penalty Charge Notices owed by embassies is now so large that it could pay for more than 260 new buses on London’s streets, or fund the significant expansion of the cycle hire scheme, or alternatively reduce fare rises.

“It is disgraceful that £50 million is now being denied to Londoners by embassies that dodge paying the Congestion Charge. The small minority of embassies that think it is acceptable to evade paying the Congestion Charge are insulting each and every Londoner.

4 February 2011 - 10:38pm

Met cuts puts future of Safer Neighbourhood Teams at risk

The Metropolitan Police Service last week admitted that in the next two years there will be severe cuts across London in the number of police sergeants working in Safer Neighbourhood Teams.

Following questions from Caroline Pidgeon, a Liberal Democrat member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, budget figures supplied by Tim Godwin, the Acting Commissioner of the Met, revealed that over the course of the next year 100 Sergeants posts are set to be lost from Safer Neighbourhood Teams across the capital. Assistant Commissioner Godwin also admitted to Caroline Pidgeon that by April 2013 a total of 300 sergeants will have been lost from London’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams, cutting in half the number of sergeants across London currently allocated to the neighbourhood policing teams.

31 January 2011 - 9:59pm

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