Caroline's news

As news emerges that TfL has had to pay £25m to the company that owns Canary Wharf in compensation for the major delays to the Jubilee line upgrade, Caroline Pidgeon commented:

"Users of the Jubilee line have faced years of misery as the upgrade programme over-ran. To learn now that millions of pounds has been shelled out to Canary Wharf Group, while passengers have not been compensated, adds insult to injury.

"It is time the Mayor and TfL were honest with Londoners over the real cost of this long-standing fiasco. We are entitled to know the details of every penny that has been spent."

You can read full coverage in the Evening Standard, the Docklands & East London Advertiser and the Wharf website.

The Catford Central blog reports that TfL will start work this year on improvements to the Tiger's Head junction - and highlights Caroline's questions to the Mayor that prompted TfL to finally take action.

Read the full article here.

Caroline Pidgeon, Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group Leader, working alongside local MP Simon Hughes, is urging the Mayor to ensure that vital improvements are completed to the junction of Abbey Street and Tower Bridge Road within just a few months

After receiving a reply to a recent question (see below) Caroline Pidgeon has now written to the Mayor urging immediate action is taken and seeking assurances from Boris Johnson that the improvements will not be delayed by Transport for London (TfL) until after the Olympic Games.

Caroline Pidgeon said:
“TfL has a long record of dragging its feet when it comes to improving junctions for pedestrians and cyclists.

"It is vital that this does not take place with this junction. Some very basic safety improvements must be completed to this junction within just a few months – at the very latest. There can be no excuses for TfL delaying much needed safety improvements due to the Olympics.”

Caroline visited an "Exchanging Places" event outside Tate Modern, organised by the Metropolitan Police's Cycle Task Force to raise awareness of cycle safety. These events allow people to sit in the driver's seat of a HGV or bus to get a better understanding of what the driver can and can't see, especially in regards to cyclists on the nearside and directly in front of the vehicle.

You can read more information from the Met here.

This article originally appeared at Liberal Democrat Voice.

Last week Brian Paddick and I launched a fairer fares package ahead of this year’s London Mayoral and Assembly elections.

Boris Johnson has been Mayor of London since 2008. In just four years he has increased the cheapest bus fare from 90p to £1.35 – and he had planned to raise fares even further until the Coalition Government stepped in and helped limit the rise. As well as bus fares, the cost of travelling on the Tube, the Docklands Light Railway, the Croydon Tramlink and the London Overground have all soared under Mr Johnson’s mayoralty.

Of course there is the argument that investment in public transport has to be paid for by someone, and surely passengers have to pay their fair share? There is of course an element of truth in that. Yet accepting that there is still a need for investment to continue in the tube network, does that let Mayor Johnson off the hook? Of course not. There are realistic alternatives to his fare policies.