An Interlude
I'm off with the kids to see my mum for a few days.
Back by the end of the week. (My mum doesn't live in Brighton, by the way).
I'm off with the kids to see my mum for a few days.
Back by the end of the week. (My mum doesn't live in Brighton, by the way).
Annie Mole inquires.
Perhaps I'll stay home.
Andy Jaeger:
"I'm eternally astonished at the variety of routes that are possible between two points in London. I travel from Balham to Victoria on the train, then get the tube to Oxford Circus. I needn't though. I could get the Northern Line and change at Stockwell. I could get a bus from Victoria instead of the tube. I could even, though I'm not sure why I would, get a bus to Elephant & Castle and walk from there."
Frpm Auto Backstage:
"London's iconic black cabs will soon look a little different after it was announced that a new eco-friendly model will be hitting the capital's roads this summer."
Now read on.
Their legend crosses the water.
I didn't see Thursday's Daily Mirror which carried an assessment of Mayor Johnson's first month in power. But I'm assured that it contained the following statement from his office regarding the provision of half price bus and tram fares for Londoners on income support. You'll recall that this was part of the Chavez oil deal.
"We will continue to offer the half-priced travel concession to those on income support for the duration of which the deal was planned and will improve the transport system in the capital."
This doesn't go as far as the statement I was given when I asked if a new scheme to help claimants might be introduced to replace the old one. Its concluding sentence said that the mayor:
"[H]as asked officials from Transport for London to consider whether there may be alternative ways of providing this support."
Is TfL still looking into an alternative concession scheme? Must find out on Monday morning.
I didn't quite catch who asked Mayor Johnson about progress with his promised new model Routemaster at yesterday's press conference but I'm glad he did, not least because the reply answered question 8 on my little list. I think it worth quoting in full:
"Let me tell you that the work is going on the whole time on the bendy bus and the Routemaster. There are plenty of people who are coming up with some very, very good solutions for this. You will see an announcement in due course. There are two elements to this, of course: phasing out the artic - the bendy bus - over time and then we're going to be launching a competition to design a new generation Routemaster bus. We are not, repeat, not bringing back the old Routemaster. You can't bring back the old Routemasters because quite a few of them are, frankly, being used to grow potted plants [in] in California or wherever; they are not roadworthy any more. And we will be bringing forward a new generation model which will retain that feature of an open access at the back of the bus."
That's all quite hazy, but you can't expect much else at this stage in the game. On a key point, though, The Blond was definite: that there will be "open access" at the back of his new bus. Let's remind ourselves of significance of that pledge by recalling what the Standard says it heard from his new transport director, Kulveer Ranger:
"Mr Ranger said: 'It's almost a fact to say Londoners are not happy with bendy buses. We want to develop a bus that is safe, reliable and has that extra bit of style and panache. The Routemaster was, and indeed still is, an icon and we need something that has the same iconic status.' But in a departure from Mr Johnson's policies, Mr Ranger said the new design would not necessarily be 'hop on, hop off' with a conductor, as on the old Routemasters. He said: 'Whether or not we have a conductor depends on the design of the bus. We want people to be creative. Our brief is very flexible.'"
But definitely not flexible enough, it seems, for "open access" and the "hop on, hop off" principle to be abandoned. The saga continues.
These Yanks, they're just jealous cos we've got culture, see...
Tom of Blairwatch has just commented here as follows:
"He got the boot. Voting went pretty much on party lines, three Tories against, Lib Dems and Labour in favour and Jenny Jones abstaining for the Greens. The Tories are up in arms about the Deputy Chair [of TravelWatch] taking over, since she's a Labour councillor from Haringey."
More on this soon, I hope.
UPDATE: So here's why Tom was so on the case!
UPDATE 2: The Troll reports.
UPDATE 3: The Assembly makes it official.
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