Caroline's news

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, commenting on the Mayor’s fare package for 2010 which is hiking up tube and bus fares and cutting bus and tube services in outer London, said:

"For the second year in a row the Mayor is punishing Londoners with an inflation busting increase in fares. Incredibly even a short bus journey involving just one change will set people back £2.40.

"People in outer London will be particularly aggrieved to be paying even more for a poorer service.

Caroline Pidgeon joined Tom Brake MP and Lewisham Lib Dem councillor Chris Maines to highlight the threat that the Government's cuts pose to the future of London's Freedom Pass.

This cut would be a hit of £1.8 million on the council tax payers of Lewisham, according to Liberal Democrat Cllr Chris Maines.

“The Government are moving resources away from London and they are planning a cut that would effectively mean that cross borough travel on buses in London would not be funded.

“This would be a double whammy for Lewisham residents who were promised by Tory Mayor Boris Johnston that he would allow the freedom pass to used before 9.30am on local trains. A promise not yet kept.

Caroline Pidgeon and Jelil Ladipo, Newington Lib Dem councillors, joined Canon Grahame Shaw from St Paul's Lorrimore local square, along with many local residents, to protest against overdevelopment of the Old Police Station Garden on Walworth Road.

“This is an overdevelopment of this site. Ideally we would like it to become a small community green space – much needed in this busy part of Walworth. The planning application is simply a bad design and far too big for this site, ignoring the historic design on many local buildings including the old police station. I hope the Council will reject it” commented Caroline.

The London press has given wide coverage to the failures of TfL's Dial-a-Ride service, revealed by Caroline Pidgeon's questioning of the Mayor.

Caroline commented then that:

“Three years ago Transport for London promised disabled Londoners a far better deal from Dial-a-Ride. They specifically promised that the number of refused trips would halve in just two years. Yet instead of falling the number of refused trips have actually gone up by more than 50%. It is simply appalling every day of the year more than 400 trips are now refused to Dial-a-Ride users."

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Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on RMT leadership’s threat of strike action following the two-year, above inflation pay offer to their members, said:

“When Londoners are facing such harsh economic times and many are even facing unemployment it is amazing that the RMT leadership can even consider unleashing the economic damage to London’s economy that strike action would bring.