Transport

Fares

Outrageous fare hikes by Boris Johnson have hit hard pressed residents in Barnet and Camden hard, especially at this time of economic downturn and rising inflation and taxes under the Conservatives. These fare rises could have been avoided. The amount raised is equivalent to the amount of income Boris Johnson lost through cutting the Western Extension Congestion Charge zone.  What is worse is that we are not getting the service we are paying for, on the Tube or on the buses.

The Freedom Pass is an essential benefit for older residents and must not be further eroded by means testing, as some of the outer Boroughs like Barnet will not meet their obligations to underwrite the scheme. The young person’s right to free bus travel is an important concession that encourages the use of public transport long term, and must also be maintained.

The Tube

Modernising the Tube is a massive task and the project has been allowed to descend into farce under the Conservatives. This is not the fault of the unions or the workers: I have spent the night and weekend shift with both routine maintenance and modernisation crews and I have only admiration for their skill and hard work under the very trying conditions of heat, noise and dust in the tunnels.

The demise of TubeLines and the failure  of the PPP ( against which I rebelled, on the only occasion  MPs had a parliamentary vote), bringing the project within  direct control of London Underground under Boris Johnson was an opportunity that the Conservatives have wasted , as the Jubilee line suffers from incessant problems and the Northern Line upgrade slips behind. In the last 3 years, Barnet and Camden’s GLA member has not written to TfL once about the Northern Line upgrade.

Boris Johnson’s station staff cuts, threaten the travelling public’s safety: another broken promise. And the threat to split the Northern Line, which the Conservatives opposed at election time, now seems to be back on the agenda when they are in office, with the consequent inconvenience to Northern Line passengers and added pressure at Camden Town that would result.

Buses

We all depend on the bus network, especially so in outer London, so I was pleased to have won the campaign for a new bus route in Colindeep Lane. But we need other routes too, especially improvement in night bus coverage, to meet the gaps which the rest of the transport network leave behind.

We cannot expect much of this under the Conservatives, as the bus subsidy under Boris Johnson is falling by 40%, despite increasing useage. Instead of wasting millions on his replacement for the Routemaster vanity project, that money would be far better spent on maintaining and improving the basic bus services in Barnet and Camden. Again, the current Conservative Assembly member has filed to correspond with TfL at all in the last 3 years on bus strategy for the area

Thameslink

The Labour Government committed £5.5 billion to the modernisation and upgrading of Thameslink. A lot of the local works, for example platform extensions like at Mill Hill, are already complete. But integral to the plan was the promised new rolling stock. Passengers want to see the reliability and regularity of the service improve: and in the end this depends on seeing this slipping project all the way through. It is disgraceful that the Conservative led coalition Government contract for the rolling stock is being given to a German company and so they will not be built in Derby, threatening the survival of Britain’s last train manufacturer.

Car travel

GLA member Brian Coleman’s claim to be the friend of the motorist has been shown to be as hollow as his other pronouncements. Now in charge of Barnet Council’s transport policy, he has claimed proudly that under him “Barnet has never knowingly undercharged”. His actions have led to demonstrations and public outrage as he has increased by up to 150% residents’ parking permits and other parking fees. Draconian enforcement of parking rules are being used as Coleman’s cash cow. Whilst motorists should pay a fair share, increasing charges to this extent, with no improvement in service as a result is not acceptable to anyone except him and Barnet’s Conservative administration.

Occasionally it is necessary to take a car into central London, and more needs to be done to build on the previous Government’s initiatives to control road works, through lane rental for example.

With modern mobile technology, it should also be easier to get real time information about the availability of legal parking places throughout central London.

Cycling

On the other hand, Barnet with Brian Coleman has never even claimed to be a friend of the cyclist. They even turned down money from Ken Livingstone’s administration for safer cycling route projects and ended Barnet’s cycling proficiency scheme.

We cannot expect people to use the healthier option of cycling, if the roads aren’t safe to do so. In the last 3 years the Conservative assembly member has not written to TfL even once about anything to do with cycling whatsoever.

I would like to see an extension of the cycle hire scheme in central London to other boroughs, including outer London Barnet and the less central parts of Camden; there is no reason why this cannot be done starting with town centres. We need more safe places to leave bikes, too, especially at public buildings.

Pedestrians

Everyone is a pedestrian at some time! There is a good case for reviewing the speed limits for local residential roads, moving to a 20 MPH limit, though this need backing by traffic calming  and enforcement. We would not see that with the present GLA incumbent, who is bent on ripping up road humps, not slowing traffic. We also need to ensure pedestrian crossings have sufficient time on the pedestrian phase to allow people, especially elderly and disabled, to cross safely.

HS2

Primarily of interest to Camden residents in this GLA area, I do not support the proposals for the HS2 link. I believe that if we have available  to spend the £33billion it is estimated to cost, there are higher priorities, both in terms of transport projects and more generally,  than taking 30 minutes or so off train journey to Birmingham, especially as the line will  not even take a passenger right to the centre of the city. It will cause enormous destruction and disruption in Camden. I have formally written s part of the consultation expressing my opposition to the scheme.

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