Earlier in this thread I was picked up for intimating that parking policies were punishing car owners.
I'll defend that point now. Firstly, if the council is making car ownership both more difficult and more expensive, whislt doing nothing to improve public transport or provide viable alternative means of transport then that is punishment pure and simple.
Secondly, the situation is far worse than just alternatives not being provided, alternatives are actively being scrapped, 9% of buses and 18% of tubes. If you make it more difficult to use personal transport whilst public transport is also being cut, then how can it be anything other than a punishment?
Those cuts are more to do with this Governments decision to go after TfL and particularly Londoners for voting the wrong way, I get the politics, not the economic damage bringing London down does
Oh dear.
Tfl is without a shadow of doubt one of the most (if not the worst) unreformed, wasteful public sector bodies in the country.
For example, how many organisations do you still know have a final salary pension scheme payable at 60 like tfl has?
Until Khan is prepared to tackle the waste in Tfl the government is right to play hardball.
Earlier in this thread I was picked up for intimating that parking policies were punishing car owners.
I'll defend that point now. Firstly, if the council is making car ownership both more difficult and more expensive, whislt doing nothing to improve public transport or provide viable alternative means of transport then that is punishment pure and simple.
Secondly, the situation is far worse than just alternatives not being provided, alternatives are actively being scrapped, 9% of buses and 18% of tubes. If you make it more difficult to use personal transport whilst public transport is also being cut, then how can it be anything other than a punishment?
Those cuts are more to do with this Governments decision to go after TfL and particularly Londoners for voting the wrong way, I get the politics, not the economic damage bringing London down does
Oh dear.
Tfl is without a shadow of doubt one of the most (if not the worst) unreformed, wasteful public sector bodies in the country.
For example, how many organisations do you still know have a final salary pension scheme payable at 60 like tfl has?
Until Khan is prepared to tackle the waste in Tfl the government is right to play hardball.
TfL is also one of two metropolitan transport organisation in Europe that receive no central funding, Manchester being the other, and that’s where TfL pain is coming from, as for pensions, the police do for example, it’s still common in unionised orgs where rights haven’t been taken away.
Earlier in this thread I was picked up for intimating that parking policies were punishing car owners.
I'll defend that point now. Firstly, if the council is making car ownership both more difficult and more expensive, whislt doing nothing to improve public transport or provide viable alternative means of transport then that is punishment pure and simple.
Secondly, the situation is far worse than just alternatives not being provided, alternatives are actively being scrapped, 9% of buses and 18% of tubes. If you make it more difficult to use personal transport whilst public transport is also being cut, then how can it be anything other than a punishment?
Those cuts are more to do with this Governments decision to go after TfL and particularly Londoners for voting the wrong way, I get the politics, not the economic damage bringing London down does
Oh dear.
Tfl is without a shadow of doubt one of the most (if not the worst) unreformed, wasteful public sector bodies in the country.
For example, how many organisations do you still know have a final salary pension scheme payable at 60 like tfl has?
Until Khan is prepared to tackle the waste in Tfl the government is right to play hardball.
TfL is also one of two metropolitan transport organisation in Europe that receive no central funding, Manchester being the other, and that’s where TfL pain is coming from, as for pensions, the police do for example, it’s still common in unionised orgs where rights haven’t been taken away.
Sorry but that is just not right.
The police's final salary pension ended in 2015. They are now on a career average pension, as is every other public sector organisation with the exception of TfL.
I speak from years of experience in saying that TfL is rife with waste. Don't believe me? Another simple example, TfL staff get free travel which is fair enough. But so does a nominated partner. Why?
Once Khan is prepared to tackle the waste, the outdated practices and the tendency of tube drivers (average salary £57,000) to strike at the drop of a hat, then I'm sure a funding agreement will be reached with TfL. Until then, don't expect taxpayers to pick up the tab for TfL.
Earlier in this thread I was picked up for intimating that parking policies were punishing car owners.
I'll defend that point now. Firstly, if the council is making car ownership both more difficult and more expensive, whislt doing nothing to improve public transport or provide viable alternative means of transport then that is punishment pure and simple.
Secondly, the situation is far worse than just alternatives not being provided, alternatives are actively being scrapped, 9% of buses and 18% of tubes. If you make it more difficult to use personal transport whilst public transport is also being cut, then how can it be anything other than a punishment?
Those cuts are more to do with this Governments decision to go after TfL and particularly Londoners for voting the wrong way, I get the politics, not the economic damage bringing London down does
Oh dear.
Tfl is without a shadow of doubt one of the most (if not the worst) unreformed, wasteful public sector bodies in the country.
For example, how many organisations do you still know have a final salary pension scheme payable at 60 like tfl has?
Until Khan is prepared to tackle the waste in Tfl the government is right to play hardball.
TfL is also one of two metropolitan transport organisation in Europe that receive no central funding, Manchester being the other, and that’s where TfL pain is coming from, as for pensions, the police do for example, it’s still common in unionised orgs where rights haven’t been taken away.
Not true re Police pensions. Changed a few years ago.
Happily stand corrected on the pensions, As for the rest, the idea that you can run TfL purely on the fare box is for the birds, waste or no waste
This may shock you but I totally agree TfL needs to be grant funded - I do not know any city in the world that operates a fast, efficient and cheap light rapid transport system without some form of support.
But where we disagree is thinking that the government (ie taxpayer) should just carry on pouring money hand over fist into Tfl whilst that organisation refuses to reform itself. If TfL won't do that - and Khan shows no signs of wanting to do it or to take on the tube drivers' union - then it will have to be pushed into doing so. And the only way the government can do that is by playing hardball over the grant.
Happily stand corrected on the pensions, As for the rest, the idea that you can run TfL purely on the fare box is for the birds, waste or no waste
This may shock you but I totally agree TfL needs to be grant funded - I do not know any city in the world that operates a fast, efficient and cheap light rapid transport system without some form of support.
But where we disagree is thinking that the government (ie taxpayer) should just carry on pouring money hand over fist into Tfl whilst that organisation refuses to reform itself. If TfL won't do that - and Khan shows no signs of wanting to do it or to take on the tube drivers' union - then it will have to be pushed into doing so. And the only way the government can do that is by playing hardball over the grant.
So Boris is getting tough, why didn't he do anything when he was mayor for 8 years?
Happily stand corrected on the pensions, As for the rest, the idea that you can run TfL purely on the fare box is for the birds, waste or no waste
This may shock you but I totally agree TfL needs to be grant funded - I do not know any city in the world that operates a fast, efficient and cheap light rapid transport system without some form of support.
But where we disagree is thinking that the government (ie taxpayer) should just carry on pouring money hand over fist into Tfl whilst that organisation refuses to reform itself. If TfL won't do that - and Khan shows no signs of wanting to do it or to take on the tube drivers' union - then it will have to be pushed into doing so. And the only way the government can do that is by playing hardball over the grant.
So Boris is getting tough, why didn't he do anything when he was mayor for 8 years?
Well quiet, Johnson calmed he could get a no strike clause, and he failed, he didn’t reform TfL, he blew TfL money on the garden bridge, Cable Car, the pointless routemaster and the estuary airport, got the Crossrail procurement wrong and didn’t pay attention when Osbourne mugged him for the grant.
He can’t admit he’s wrong, easier to pick a fight with Khan. I’m sure if Bailey had won the election, the grant would have been reinstated with no reform
Happily stand corrected on the pensions, As for the rest, the idea that you can run TfL purely on the fare box is for the birds, waste or no waste
This may shock you but I totally agree TfL needs to be grant funded - I do not know any city in the world that operates a fast, efficient and cheap light rapid transport system without some form of support.
But where we disagree is thinking that the government (ie taxpayer) should just carry on pouring money hand over fist into Tfl whilst that organisation refuses to reform itself. If TfL won't do that - and Khan shows no signs of wanting to do it or to take on the tube drivers' union - then it will have to be pushed into doing so. And the only way the government can do that is by playing hardball over the grant.
I also agree but Khan needs to use the revenue TfL does generate and the billions he has been given centrally on providing transport services. Bringing traffic to a standstill in central London and it's main roads in and out with a ridiculously under-used Cycleway scheme was a colossal waste of money and simply playing politics. As for the Silvertown Tunnel.....
Happily stand corrected on the pensions, As for the rest, the idea that you can run TfL purely on the fare box is for the birds, waste or no waste
This may shock you but I totally agree TfL needs to be grant funded - I do not know any city in the world that operates a fast, efficient and cheap light rapid transport system without some form of support.
But where we disagree is thinking that the government (ie taxpayer) should just carry on pouring money hand over fist into Tfl whilst that organisation refuses to reform itself. If TfL won't do that - and Khan shows no signs of wanting to do it or to take on the tube drivers' union - then it will have to be pushed into doing so. And the only way the government can do that is by playing hardball over the grant.
I also agree but Khan needs to use the revenue TfL does generate and the billions he has been given centrally on providing transport services. Bringing traffic to a standstill in central London and it's main roads in and out with a ridiculously under-used Cycleway scheme was a colossal waste of money and simply playing politics. As for the Silvertown Tunnel.....
Not a fan of Khan and his backing of the Silvertown Tunnel defies belief.
After only a month or so of the ULEZ, Tfl are prediciting a short fall of £600m on what they expected to recieve in charges/fines over the next few years. Which probally means air quality will improve, but we will have to wait until that can be determined.
The CPZ is being brought in as those roads are being used as car parks for Charlton Station and North Greenwich, not to spite people who think getting the train a few times on a Saturday
This isn't about Charlton Station - that's part of the justification. Parking is not really a problem on non-football Saturdays but including them until 6.30pm will give the Council a revenue bonus and catch home games. Not ok to park on a Saturday, unless you use a pay-to-park space - then it's fine. It is about hitting motorists and opening new lines of revenue. If not, why do owners of second cars have to pay double? Why do people with working vehicles (vans etc) have to pay £428 - they are still only occupying a vehicle space? This is the Council's car-hating elite at work and in conjunction with TfL's disastrous Cycleways. The Silvertown Tunnel is a crazy decision and goes against all of the Mayor and the Council's policies and ethics on climate change and local pollution. However, it gives them the justification to toll both the Silvertown and the Blackwall Tunnels. They will tell us that these tolls will only be in place until they have recovered the cost of the tunnel build but we all know what happens once they are in place - look at Dartford (tunnel and bridge) where the cost was repaid in 2003. They rake in close to £100m a year now. That could have paid for the new Silvertown Tunnel years ago.
Motorists in south-east London will soon live with the worst traffic congestion and pollution in the country (if we don't already) and also be taxed the most for the cheek of having a car - Congestion Charge, Ultra Low Emission Zone charges, Tunnel Tolls and Resident Parking charges and restrictions. All whilst our arterial roads have been restricted to single-file, often idling, queueing traffic to accommodate a tiny number of patronising cyclists (I have two road bikes).
Before anyone gets confused, I understand why we need to address climate change and support great public transport. Make it work really well and make it cheap, then I will consider my car usage seriously. In the meantime it's just another cynical and continuing attack on motorists.
I don’t see how the cycleways are disastrous? It’s opened up a lot of the local area to me where otherwise I’d have felt unsafe cycling.
I used to drive to the valley but since the cycleway along trafalgar road opened I’m now cycling. Same goes for some of my journeys to West Greenwich and Blackheath.
I get that it’s challenging to use public transport for those coming from Kent/Bexley but for those living closer to the valley around Greenwich, driving is completely unnecessary.
This is why....
Yeah that’s a perfect example of what’s great about the cycle lanes. I wouldn’t fancy cycling along there without the segregation but now I have a speedy, safe way to get to Charlton.
Pay £150 a year on "bike tax" and you're welcome to it. Until then, all road users should have equal rights. Crazy to have miles of empty lanes whilst cars are crammed into just 1 lane.
Is this when we have to explain to a really thick person that there is no such thing as road tax
Another cyclist trope.
It’s also true, there’s a tax on emissions that internal combustion engines produce, and it goes in to general taxation, and not ring fenced for use on the transport infrastructure.
or is that a trope as well. Just for the record I drive a car, and at the moment I pay for the emissions that come from it.
It's still a Road Tax however much you dislike the name.
Tax payers built the roads that cyclists and drivers use and are paying for the building of cycle paths and lanes. Both inefficient methods at moving people into towns and cities.
The transport infrastructure is not joined up properly, expensive and inefficient and it needs sorting quickly
Ebbsfleet style large car parks that are free, and fast direct trains into cities and between cities. 60 miles, 60 minutes for £6 or similar should be the aim. Buses that run from towns and villages that arrive 10 minutes before trains depart, that are required to wait for a train if delayed.
Where Tubes can’t run we should have trams. Tiny electric cars, bikes and scooters available to rent to fill in the gaps alongside busses and taxis.
In my opinion the only way to start breaking down the need for the car is to make the alternative attractive. They are trying to make it attractive by making the life of a motorist a misery, but the fact is that the alternative is not in place yet. Or even in planning.
Comments
Tfl is without a shadow of doubt one of the most (if not the worst) unreformed, wasteful public sector bodies in the country.
For example, how many organisations do you still know have a final salary pension scheme payable at 60 like tfl has?
Until Khan is prepared to tackle the waste in Tfl the government is right to play hardball.
The police's final salary pension ended in 2015. They are now on a career average pension, as is every other public sector organisation with the exception of TfL.
I speak from years of experience in saying that TfL is rife with waste. Don't believe me? Another simple example, TfL staff get free travel which is fair enough. But so does a nominated partner. Why?
Once Khan is prepared to tackle the waste, the outdated practices and the tendency of tube drivers (average salary £57,000) to strike at the drop of a hat, then I'm sure a funding agreement will be reached with TfL. Until then, don't expect taxpayers to pick up the tab for TfL.
But where we disagree is thinking that the government (ie taxpayer) should just carry on pouring money hand over fist into Tfl whilst that organisation refuses to reform itself. If TfL won't do that - and Khan shows no signs of wanting to do it or to take on the tube drivers' union - then it will have to be pushed into doing so. And the only way the government can do that is by playing hardball over the grant.