All Blog Posts Tagged 'TfL' (6)

For decades, London Transport had a decent landline number for travel information: 0207 222 1234. Now TfL has imposed an indecent 0843 number which is excluded from "inclusive" phone packages. It charges 40p per minute, taking a cut of every minute you’re on the line. It maximises revenue by using a maze of options, saving the one you want until last. Then you are held in a queue and…

The Standard reports a party thrown by BJ for outgoing TfL roads boss, David Brown (salary: £316,655 pa). An unnamed TfL spokesperson claimed Brown was "a first-class manager who has saved London £100s of millions". Funny, 1000 new sets of traffic lights, each costing £150,000 + running costs, sprang up under Brown’s watch. He refused to appear on my Newsnight report, and always…

Today's Metro has a big public ad by TfL and the Mayor of London announcing something we already knew: that bus lanes are finally open to motorbikes. Who are the morons who banned them in the first place - sunning themselves on a public pension? Justice would be better served if they were publicly pilloried, along with their fellow devisers of traffic policy which has been causing untold injustice and harm for…

Is coercion the only language that traffic authorities can speak? TfL is planning trials of 20mph zones, with average speed camera enforcement. Of course low speeds are crucial when pedestrians are around, but what's the justification for 24-hour restrictions? Rather than holistic solutions embracing culture change and roadway redesign, the first resort of traffic policymakers is control and enforcement. In failing to harness…

No-one in power seems to see the irony of ever more complex traffic control technology devised to solve road safety problems that originate in the flawed rules of the road. "An exercise in self-defeat," is how Kenneth Todd characterises traffic control. Today saw the launch of a trial in pedestrian countdown, "so pedestrians can see how long they have left to cross the road," says David Brown of TfL. Brown is the guy who…