Caroline's news

Commenting on the news that the "Very Important Pedestrians" day, where West End shopping streets are closed to traffic, has been cancelled, Caroline Pidgeon said:

"After a decade of growing success, it is bitterly disappointing that VIP Day is not taking place this year.

"Every year, tills have been ringing out as tens of thousands of extra customers have flooded into the West End to take advantage of streets free from noisy and polluting vehicles.

"Far from ending VIP Day, we should be building upon it."

Welcoming the news that the GLA will publish almost all of its previously secret contracts, Caroline Pidgeon cautioned:

“It has been a long fight but the Mayor’s response to the repeated calls by the London Assembly for far more information to be placed in the public domain over contracts signed at City Hall is incredibly welcome.

On the release of figures showing the millions of hours already lost this year to Tube passengers during service delays, Caroline Pidgeon said:

“The one thing that is definitely on schedule is that London will see 20 million lost customer hours on the Tube by the end of the year.

“While this figure might be an improvement on the appalling previous years’ figures it is still a staggering waste of time for hard pressed passengers.

Caroline Pidgeon AM, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, commenting on reports today that the City of London Corporation are considering plans to create a pedestrianised zone in the City, said:

“I welcome the enlightened thinking of the City of London, which builds upon their other recent decision to introduce a 20 mph speed limit throughout the Square Mile

Commenting on figures showing that usage of the Thames cable car has halved compared to a year ago, Caroline Pidgeon said:

"After 16 months of operating the latest passenger figures for the cable car speak for themselves. It is increasingly clear that the longer it is in existence the fewer people want to use it as it is currently run.

"The Mayor of London, who is chair of Transport for London, should now be honest with Londoners and decide what its future should be.

"If the cable car is to have any success in the long term it should either be run and operated as a privately run tourist attraction, or instead operated as an integral form of public transport, where people with a Travelcard or a relevant pass can use it for free."