Boris has a way to go before Transport Strategy is ready

5.00.00pm GMT Wed 5th Nov 2008

Caroline Pidgeon AM, London Assembly Liberal Democrat lead on transport, commenting on Mayor Boris Johnson's 31-page document "Way To Go", published today, said:

"There is much to welcome in Way To Go, but it is alarming that key projects like the Cross River Tram and DLR extensions are dismissed as 'political' when they have a strong business case and would regenerate disadvantaged communities at a time of economic downturn.

"I find it very odd indeed that a Tory Mayor moans that there is no government funding to deliver these projects instead of looking for private sector funding or enterprising business groups who believe they can make a profitable business out of them.

"We absolutely support the Mayor's war on chaotic street works, his wish to rid our streets of the clutter of signs and railings, and his enthusiasm for bikes. We look forward to real action on the bike hire scheme which we proposed back in 2001.

"The document is an elegant and entertaining essay by Boris, but we still await his detailed Mayor's Strategy, as this is perilously thin on specific proposals. It shows Boris still has a way to go before he has anything approaching a worked-out set of proposals for a revised Transport Strategy."