please empty your brain below
Not even alpine gondolas on core routes will carry full capacity - in summer demand is too low and in winter skiers plus their backpacks and skis/snowboards take up too much room to allow a standing gondola to reach it's theoretical maximum at rush hour. That an expensive gondola, out of the way in East London isn't attracting even a fraction of that. Colour me not surprised either.

Another Andrew | 18.10.12 - 1:47 a.m. | #

I'd be far more interested to see monthly fare revenue numbers than cherry picked (by either side) stats...

AC | 18.10.12 - 3:58 a.m. | #

There's no escaping the fact it's a fabulous experience.

We made it down on Monday, had a gondola to ourselves Northbound ( but not south as the attendant pushed the only other family in sight in with us rather than into the empty gondolas streaming along behind us....)

The views are exceptional.

NLW | 18.10.12 - 6:50 a.m. | #

Ah, thanks DG!

EskimoPie | 18.10.12 - 7:22 a.m. | #

There are two real justifications for it: as a part of the Olympic transport infrastructure (if you remember many people thought London would come to a standstill) and as a tourist attraction. Now it is there. I've been on it once and can't see any good reason to use it again any time soon. How much did it cost? How was it justified as value for money?

Andrew | 18.10.12 - 7:32 a.m. | #

So to translate into short, snappy, simplified, tabloidese:

do we run with the (optimistic, suggesting good intent)

ANOTHER BORIS BLUNDER

or do we be frank about the dishonest case that was made for (and for publicly funding) the thing by saying

MORE BORIS BULLSHIT

Probably the latter, all things considered.

Put that in your cycle superhighway and smoke it, Bozza

Dominic | 18.10.12 - 7:47 a.m. | #

Well i almost went on it yesterday! ... almost. Found myself at the O2/North Greenwich, and though "Ooh, i'll get the dangle way to the north side of the river, and hop on the DLR that way".

At which point it started raining, i thought of the walk to the DLR on the other side, and the wind had really picked up, and suddenly the though of being blown about high up in the wind and rain really didn't seem that appealing, so just jumped back on the Jubilee line instead.

Winter is not going to draw in the passengers ...

geofftech | Homepage | 18.10.12 - 8:19 a.m. | #

The Mayor provided ticket sales numbers in response to a Mayor's question from C Pidgeon. They run up to early September. Some simple maths should translate into revenue numbers.

[link here]

PC | 18.10.12 - 8:29 a.m. | #

I was down in North Greenwich for a pint the other week, and wasn't going to bother with the dangleway, but I was passing it on my way to the tube, so thought I may as well give it a go.

Except it closes at 8. Oh well.

martin | 18.10.12 - 8:42 a.m. | #

Let's also not forget that the amount of money received from Emirates is dependent upon a certain level of use:

“there are terms in the contract whereby TfL may suffer deductions from the sponsorship payment.” Which includes "where there was a period of poor performance once operational."

HoosierSands | Homepage | 18.10.12 - 9:34 a.m. | #

It's so bloomin' basic and obvious that the Dangleway is never going to do well until its integrated into the Travelcard system. Only then is it going to see any pick-up, and how much it's going to get for that is another matter...

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 18.10.12 - 9:44 a.m. | #

I've ridden on it once. It was pretty cool. And relatively cheap for a London tourist attraction (although a very expensive way to cross the river)

I was looking forward to using it to take me and my bicycle to the rather wonderful Pilot Inn - but it stops running early in the evening. So, I'm a local, and *I* can't see me ever using it...

Steve | 18.10.12 - 10:07 a.m. | #

They need to transform it into a "SAW"-style extreme ride. That'll get bums on seats.

Richard M | 18.10.12 - 10:21 a.m. | #

And don't forget it's not that reliable a service. I though I'd test it out for the first time on Tuesday this week. Knowing that the service gets suspended (!) in strong winds, I checked first at Westminster Tube and was assured it was operating. On arrival at North Greenwich, I found out it hadn't been operating all day because of the wind. Perhaps no great surprise, but maybe the Dangleway should be on the Service Update boards after all.

PJC | Homepage | 18.10.12 - 10:23 a.m. | #

Aside from the removal of bendy buses, the Dangleway is more or less Boris' only contribution to London transport (or indeed London). And people see him as a PM?

will | 18.10.12 - 1:25 p.m. | #

there are some great observations mentioned here. I also agree that the amount of passengers are decreasing.. but hold still the numbers will go up again. We are headed for the busiest times since Christmas is fast approaching.

Ibukun | Homepage | 18.10.12 - 2:45 p.m. | #

It is a bit unclear whether you agree with the article's findings or not.

Greg | 18.10.12 - 3:55 p.m. | #

"And yet this is rubbish data"

You of course mean that THESE data ARE rubbish... data is plural, datum singular : )

| 18.10.12 - 8:39 p.m. | #

@ will - I do not usually defend the Mayor but he did make the Bus Countdown system enhancement happen as it was a manifesto commitment. That is a real benefit for using the buses.

He also pushed to get the SLL Overground service done even if it was not his original idea. That service launches in about 7 weeks. I'm not so convinced by the cycle hire scheme or cycle superhighways but they have been delivered in parts of the City.

PC | 18.10.12 - 10:02 p.m. | #

I was watching the BBC London news one morning a couple of weeks ago. The cable car was closed because of high winds and they actually said it was suspended. They must have realised what they said because in the next bulletin they just said it was closed.

Barry | 19.10.12 - 7:33 a.m. | #

What is the average occupancy of London buses, as a matter of interest?

dg writes: Ooh, I know that one. Seventeen.

Andrew | 19.10.12 - 10:04 a.m. | #

The current Mayor didn't make the bus countdown system happen. That was delivered through a major project to communication systems signed off in 2005, 3 years before Boris Johnson was elected Mayor. What Boris Johnson has done there is interfere with it. The plan had been to review where the existing signs had been installed and redistribute them, as well as adding 500 more signs. Some lightly-used stops which did have the signs would have lost them, so that more heavily-used stops would gain them. Boris Johnson vetoed the redistribution at quite a late stage so there are cases where stops used by fewer than 100 people a day have kept a sign, merely because there was already one there, while stops used by up to 1,500 people a day, which were due to receive the signs, have not now gained them after all.

I'm not convinced he really pushed for the SLL either, although at least he didn't cancel it (as he did with several other projects). Nevertheless stations on the SLL extension will in some cases be losing their existing services to London Bridge and/or Victoria because of the Mayor's failure to reach agreement with DfT to retain or replace them.

| 19.10.12 - 11:43 p.m. | #

And Boris didn't come up with the cycle hire scheme either - he inherited that - but he was responsible for selling the sponsoring of it - and that has been described elsewhere as 'on the cheap'. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-14326295

So I'll ask again, aside from removing bendy buses and adding the Dangleway, what has Boris done?

Will | 20.10.12 - 8:02 a.m. | #

He banned drinking on public transport. Which I'm not sure anyone thought was a particularly big problem to begin with.

martin | 20.10.12 - 8:15 a.m. | #

This article seems a bit sloppy DG. The points made are:

- that usage is much lower than theoretical maximum; and

- that usage is lower than when one of the biggest tourist attractions in the world was next door

Pithy comments about it not being good value for are made withou evidence of what projections were, or what breakeven volumes required are.

A shame that this article is sloppy as often you do really good analysis.

Messiah | 20.10.12 - 12:41 p.m. | #

Drinking not a problem on public transport?
Where had you been? In some times and some places it was a massive problem.

Kevin | 27.10.12 - 11:20 p.m. | #

Drinking on public transport still can be a massive problem. Boris's ban was like many of his policies - all fluff and no substance. The simple fact is that the ban is barely policed. OK so some station staff do try to enforce it but once you're past the ticket gates, who is going to stop you drinking on the tube? No one.

Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 28.10.12 - 9:21 a.m. | #











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