Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon, leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group has exposed key failings in the way the London bike hire scheme is performing.

The failings, which could be holding back the success of the scheme, include:

• A widespread failure in the allocation of the bikes across the docking stations, making it difficult for people to either hire a bike, or return a bike at the end of a ride. Figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats show that in November 2011 there was on average 27 docking stations in London that had no bikes available for hire for between 6 to 8 hours each day. At the same time there were 31 docking stations that had no spare spaces for people to dock their bikes for between 3 to 6 hours each day.
• Internal Transport for London reports also obtained by the Liberal Democrats on the London Assembly have highlighted other problems with the scheme, which include:
  

A much needed review of the contraflow bus lane on London Road near Elephant and Castle will soon be taking place following action taken by local MP Simon Hughes, local councillors and Caroline Pidgeon, the leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group.

Following numerous complaints by local residents about safety issues a meeting was held at City Hall where local councillors, Caroline Pidgeon and Simon Hughes set out a number of specific concerns to Transport for London engineers about how the contraflow bus lane operates.

Despite hiking up fares at the start of 2012 the Mayor has delayed his plans to get tough on fare evaders, reveals Caroline Pidgeon, the leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group.

In August 2011 Transport for London started a consultation proposing to increase the penalty fare on all TfL services to £80 with the proposed introduction date for the new rate being the 2nd January 2012. On the 29th November 2011 the Mayor of London then signed a Mayoral decision which again stated that the increased penalty fare would start from the 2nd January 2012.

Speaking as the government announced that one of Waterloo's former Eurostar platforms can be used from May 2013 for commuter services, Caroline Pidgeon said:

"It is clearly good news that at least one platform is now to be brought back into use to help relieve overcrowding.

"We now need to see a timetable for when the other platforms will be open."

Read the South London Press's coverage here.

London Liberal Democrat Mayoral candidate Brian Paddick today revealed how he would offer Londoners the chance to reclaim the streets from criminals and work with police to help reduce rising levels of crime.

Brian and his candidate for Deputy Mayor, London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon, spoke to residents in Vauxhall about a recent spate of muggings in the area and their concerns about safety in the community.