Mayor's Transport Strategy falls far short of what Londoners need - Caroline Pidgeon (London Assembly Liberal Democrats)

London Assembly Liberal Democrats <info@glalibdems.org.uk>

Mayor's Transport Strategy falls far short of what Londoners need - Caroline Pidgeon

May 10, 2010 4:00 PM

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, commenting on the Mayor's Transport Strategy published today said:

"While there are some very worthwhile elements in the Mayor's Transport Strategy such as improving river transport and more integrated fares and ticketing, overall his strategy falls far short of what Londoners need. There also remain a number of serious contradictions in the Mayor's overall approach to transport.

"The transport strategy refers to making transport more accessible, hiding the fact that many step free access programmes at tube stations have already been cancelled or delayed by the Mayor. Equally while the references to raising the profile of walking are most welcome some of his proposals would actually make walking about our city more difficult.

"The Mayor's proposals on greening transport and tackling London's appalling air quality are also very vague. The Mayor must now state a specific timetable for his plans to clean up London's air.

"Finally, while the Mayor is of course right to defend London's corner in terms of continued investment in its transport infrastructure, the Mayor's own record on wasting money should not be overlooked."

ENDS

Examples of money wasted by the Mayor:

§ Step-Free Access at 6 stations cancelled mid-way through - £20m

Despite already spending £20m on these projects, the following stations had their step-free access scrapped: Amersham, Greenford, Ladbroke Grove, Newbury Park, Osterley and West Kensington.

Of 45 stations that former mayor Ken Livingstone promised would be step-free by 2013, work on 22 is to be deferred, while another two will only see partial improvements.

http://mqt.london.gov.uk/mqt/public/question.do?id=29238

§ Shepherd's Bush Step-free access scrapped - £39m

£39m out of a total £100m needed to complete the works has been spent on Shepherd's Bush station. TfL has ordered an "indefinite deferral" on the scheme. Please note that the project has been "future proofed" so that work could continue on the scheme should funding become available in the future.

http://mqt.london.gov.uk/mqt/public/question.do?id=29721

§ Unpaid Congestion Charge bills by Embassies - £40m plus

Boris has 'flip-flopped' on this issue, and has exasperated the issue by calling the congestion charge a tax, giving the embassies an excuse not to pay it. At the very start of the 2010 the total unpaid bill from embassies stood at £39 million, compared to an unpaid bill of £26 million at the same time last year.

See Caroline Pidgeon's report on the unpaid congestion charges here:

http://www.carolinepidgeon.org/files/docs/carolinepidgeoncongestionchargereport.pdf

§ Cycle Fridays Flop - £30,000

Just 436 people took part in the Mayor's Cycle Friday events costing the taxpayer nearly £70 per cyclist according to answers provided by Boris Johnson to Caroline Pidgeon. Some rides saw only two or three cyclists turn up - nice idea but totally botched in their implementation with publicity that was clearly ineffective.

With 436 people taking part and the Mayor's office suggesting that Cycle Fridays cost £30,000 in total the average cost per person taking part was £68.80