Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on today’s announcement that there will be a reduced programme of weekday evening closures for the Northern Line this summer, said:
"Where closures are absolutely necessary for tube upgrade work we should be seriously looking at short term blockades as opposed to very long periods of evening and weekend closures.
The London Bikers website has a story on the questions Caroline has asked the Mayor about parking charges for motorbikes, and TfL's trial allowing motorcyclists to use bus lanes.
Caroline Pidgeon:
"What do you personally think about Westminster Council’s parking charges for motorcycles?"Answer from the Mayor:
"My particular concern is about central London traffic congestion arising from recent demonstrations by motorcyclists congregating at Trafalgar Square. I would like to see the dispute resolved through common ground being found between WCC and motorcyclists around the operation of parking schemes in Westminster."
Local Shepherd's Bush blogger Chris Underwood covers Caroline Pidgeon's questions to the Mayor on the unsafe and defective work that Transport for London commissioned at Shepherd's Bush Market, which is sited on TfL-owned land.
19. “Shoddy” work in Shepherds Bush (1)
There have been recent media reports regarding the market traders in Shepherds Bush being furious about “shoddy” works carried out on TfL land which runs through Shepherds Bush market. What action has TfL taken in rectifying this?20. “Shoddy” work in Shepherds Bush (2)
Will you investigate why the market traders in Shepherds Bush seem so unhappy about the expensive works that have been carried out on the path that runs through the market, and also investigate why the costs were so high for this job in the first place?
You can read Chris's full article here.
The Evening Standard today quotes Caroline Pidgeon's criticism of the £6m that Transport for London under Boris Johnson has paid out in redundancy money to senior staff:
When TfL are facing such difficult financial challenges it is incredible that they are offering such generous redundancy payments to senior staff.
Making redundancies is never easy but such incredibly large pay-offs are neither justified or necessary.
The Romford Recorder covers Transport for London's abolition of a Havering-based forum for local users of its Dial-a-Ride service, which provides buses for the disabled and infirm.
Caroline Pidgeon, who has been following Dial-a-Ride issues closely, is quoted saying:
I seriously question how many people Dial-a-Ride have listened to and I suspect the real reason for the regional forums is because they are more convenient for Transport for London.