The Mayor of London has rejected the proposal of a One Hour Bus Ticket despite recent unanimous support for the proposal from the London Assembly.
In response to a letter from Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly transport spokesperson and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, the Mayor has stated that he has “no plans to introduce such a scheme”.
Caroline visited the new ticket hall at the underground at King's Cross station just before it opened at the end of November 2009.
The new ticket hall will help passengers get around form rail and bus to tube far more easily, and has disabled access to most of the platforms.
Local residents and campaigners are demanding action to improve safety at the Tiger’s Head junction where Bromley Road meets Whitefoot Lane and Southend Lane.
Today they submitted a petition of over 200 signatures to London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, who is chair of the Transport Committee at City Hall. The petition calls for the Mayor of London, who is responsible for the junction, to take urgent measures to improve safety at the intersection.
The London Assembly today called on the Mayor to demand payment from embassies in the capital owing outstanding fees and fines for the congestion charge.
A motion agreed by the Assembly urged the Mayor to write to the Head of State for each country that is refusing to pay the congestion charge and invite Ambassadors to explain their reasons for the refusal. The motion calls for responses to be published on the Greater London Authority website.
Proposing the motion, Caroline Pidgeon AM said:
"The American and other embassies that dodge payment of the congestion charge are insulting their host city and denying a valuable source of income to Transport for London."
"The congestion charge is not a tax and the vast majority of embassies clearly recognise this. The minority that decide to not follow the rules of this country must now explain in writing how they can justify their actions."
Dave Hill, in his blog on the Guardian website, discusses the lack of focus on pedestrians in Transport for London's planning. He praises Caroline Pidgeon's efforts in pressing Boris Johnson and TfL to uncover the number of London pedestrian crossings which are not up to standard:
Here are some useful facts. There are 2,244 signalled junctions in Greater London that include pedestrian crossing facilities, and 2,477 "stand alone" pedestrian crossings that have lights. Eleven percent of all signalled crossings lack either bleeping noises or tactile aids, which make them less safe for blind or partially sighted people. At the last count around 400 did not comply with the Department for Transport's most recent design standards, which TfL adopts, though work on correcting this seems to have accelerated in recent months.
These stats have been unearthed thanks largely to the persistence of London Assembly Liberal Democrat Caroline Pidgeon, who also chairs the assembly's transport committee. She has remorselessly pursued the issue of road-crossing safety with TfL and Boris Johnson.
You can read Dave Hill's full article here.
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, has written this week to Mayor of London of London Boris Johnson, urging him to publicly speak out on a series of safety allegations made by the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union.
Caroline Pidgeon said:
“Safety issues are far too important for the RMT to be the only voice. It is too easy for the RMT leadership to make serious allegations about risks to safety for passengers when in some cases modern technology is simply leading to modern working procedures.
The London Assembly’s Transport Committee has published a new report, Too Close For Comfort, investigating the levels of overcrowding for London Underground passengers, and how the stress and frustrations of overcrowding and line closures affect people's behaviour and travel choices.
Caroline Pidgeon AM, Lib Dem Chair of the Transport Committee said:
Our report highlights shocking levels of overcrowding on the Tube and the impact this has on people. London Underground cannot be complacent about finding ways to make the situation more bearable.
Dave Hill's blog at the Guardian covers Caroline Pidgeon's findings, through questioning Boris Johnson, that 439 pedestrian crossings in Greater London do not comply with the Department of Transport's design standards.
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, commenting on the Mayor’s welcoming of a report suggesting traffic flow could be smoothed by switching off, or removing traffic lights, said:
“The Mayor is latching onto a report which totally excludes any consideration of pedestrians or the economic bill that could arise from more pedestrian accidents.
“Of course some improvements could be made to how traffic lights work but the very first priority for the Mayor must be to end the scandal that across London over 400 pedestrian crossings at junctions fail to provide sufficient time for pedestrians to cross the road. These crossings are breaching national safety guidance, yet the Mayor is totally complacent over putting them right. Today, once again the Mayor has neglected the needs of pedestrians.”
Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, commenting on the Mayor’s confused announcement of the final roll-out of Oyster Pay as You Go to all train companies in the London area, said:
“Boris Johnson has wasted 18 months on this issue. The scheme he will re-announce on Monday sadly will not be as convenient as it should be for Oyster PAYG users, and regrettably many people who start to use the trains will discover that the same journey costs far more than a parallel tube journey.
