please empty your brain below
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Tsk, apparently Sian Berry doesn't know where Gatwick is. Here's a hint: it's not in London.
Mike Scott | 26.01.16 - 7:20 a.m. | #
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(1) I'm all for getting dirty diesels off the street, so bring on the electric vehicles. But for the life of me I can't see how allowing electric cars into bus lanes will help the majority of Londoners get to their destination swiftly.
(2) The 'one hour' bus ticket is a great headline but extremely difficult to deliver without great complication. London doesn't have bus tickets any more. One big reason to get rid of tickets was to speed up the bus boarding process. Struggling to see how this idea can be delivered without the danger of slowing down boarding.
IslandDweller | 26.01.16 - 7:21 a.m. | #
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@Islanddweller its a good idea and I dont see it as hard. Surely its just a case that you swipe Oyster once when you get on each bus and if you have already paid in the last hour then no charge?
Jon Combe | 26.01.16 - 7:34 a.m. | #
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Zac's plan for replacing petrol car congestion with electric car congestion is completely mad!
Dan | 26.01.16 - 7:39 a.m. | #
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@IslandDweller
In San Francisco we used their Oyster type card, when we tapped in, if it had already been used the screen showed how long until the interchange time runs out.
It's probably easier to implement on Oyster than on paper tickets.
Jon | 26.01.16 - 7:39 a.m. | #
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This morning I'm going to take a taxi because the multiple bus alternative would be more expensive!
Bring on the one hour bus ticket. (Surely just a software upgrade).
Dan | 26.01.16 - 7:43 a.m. | #
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Well, OK I no longer live in London, and as a general rule my sympathies are not with the Labour Party, to say the least, and I am not an admirer personally of Sadiq Khan, but from that list of policies is seems pretty clear that no-one else comes close, in policy terms, at least. Zac looks completely out of his depth, Sian simply looks insane (love her media spin here on destroying one of the major centres of the economy and employment in one of the poorest parts of the UK, south Newham, as one of her ludicrous party's flagship policies) , and, hmm, who's the other one anyway?
Dominic H | 26.01.16 - 7:47 a.m. | #
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Sian Berry's all-London flat fare. That would be great if you can go anywhere for the fare you currently pay to go one zone. But I suspect you will end up paying the current six-zone fare to go one stop.
timbo | 26.01.16 - 8:12 a.m. | #
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It is worth reading all of the columns, as elected mayors always steal their losing rivals' best ideas...
Dan | 26.01.16 - 8:21 a.m. | #
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Oyster software upgrade - the rule of thumb is that whenever a human says that its a just a simple software upgrade, it usually isn't.
Seeing as its very difficult to see the display on the ticket machines, how is a passenger supposed to know when the hour starts.
Is the one hour then stored on the Oyster card - and is the card actually capable of doing this - as there was no plan to do it when Oyster was originally introduced, or is the hour recorded centrally, if its recorded centrally then there needs to be real time communication between the ticket machine and everything else, as currently the information from the ticket machine is stored on a module that is downloaded at the end of the shift.
| 26.01.16 - 8:27 a.m. | #
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Is it just my browser that gives Zac half the column width of the others? ;)
Al | 26.01.16 - 8:44 a.m. | #
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For goodness sake, everyone is just lapping up the hype with Oxford Street. It's nowhere near as polluted as Marylebone Road, which is at least four lanes and packed with cars and HGVs. Besides, you can't cut back on those bus routes and apart from taxis, there's no other vehicles allowed down there.
Hey, Mayoral candidates!! Ban taxis on Oxford Street. Nobody actually needs to be dropped off there and taxi drivers should be well versed in alternative routes.
As for the one hour bus ticket, they would have to retain the fare cap. Your journeys would be longer than an hour with bad traffic, if you're travelling long distances by bus or if your interchange time is particularly lengthy (looking at Romford, Epsom, Orpington and a few other places like that here) and under the new system you'd be charged a lot more. It's a flawed idea.
the orange one | 26.01.16 - 8:56 a.m. | #
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Basic thing to remember.
Oxford Street is under the control of the City of Westminster who also control most of the surrounding surrounding streets to which any traffic would be diverted.
Unless a mayoral candidate has plans to somehow get around this problem, any plans to do anything traffic-wise to Oxford Street can be ignored if it doesn't have the support of this local borough.
Pedantic of Purley | 26.01.16 - 9:10 a.m. | #
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This list should be made available to all voters, not just DG's loyal band of followers. Then they could vote on the basis of least-worst policies, rather than routine or spin.
DG on billboards, perhaps ?
petras409 | 26.01.16 - 9:15 a.m. | #
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Always love how they're going to "PROTECT THE FREEDOM PASS" when it's absolutely nothing to do with the Mayor.
And the one hour bus ticket is long overdue. When I visited Vancouver I used their 90 minute ticket - works on their light rail system, buses and ferries. It's so easy, so convenient. It should not be beyond the realms of comprehension that such a scheme be offered in London using Contactless and Oyster.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 26.01.16 - 9:16 a.m. | #
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I work 10m off Oxford Street. Taxis aren't really a problem, it's 80% commercial vehicles and buses.
No matter how hard I try, that web site just makes me think "Back, Zac, and crack". *shudder*
I'd like to see Sadiq be brave enough to deep six the garden bridge idea entirely. He's not a bad guy (for a politician), but could use little more spine on some issues. Even so, I agree he's the most credible candidate.
Chz | 26.01.16 - 9:20 a.m. | #
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#Andrew Bowden
They probably mean the Oyster Over 60s pass introduced by Boris which is an extra concesion for Londoners.
It is only a 2 horse race between Sad and Zac the others are irrelevent.
The 2 of them more or less waffle the same stuff that neither of them will fully achieve anyway.
I've been following politics for 50 odd years and my experience tells me that they promise a lot to get elected and then do what they want which is not necessarily what they promised.
You may as well just vote the way your politics lies, Labour or Tory,
Agent Z | 26.01.16 - 9:28 a.m. | #
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"I accept that it's costly, but in the context of the TfL budget, in the context of the vast amounts of TfL waste, I think this is a project we can justify."
Does anyone else interpret this as "Its a lot of money out of the transport budget for something that has little value as a transport initiative, but hey, we waste tons of money already, so what's another £30m?"
John Mac | 26.01.16 - 9:39 a.m. | #
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I was looking around on the top deck of the bus this morning, trying to work out which passengers were going to switch to an electric car. Close to zero.
coffin dodger | 26.01.16 - 9:56 a.m. | #
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@The Orange One
" Besides, you can't cut back on those bus routes" [on Oxford Street]
Yes you can - most of the buses on Ox St are almost empty anyway as it is quicker to walk. One route shuttling from Marble Arch to Centre Point would be adequate, with connections there for other routes cut back to those points. (You can pair them up to avoid too many buses needing to stand there)
But that would require that connections are free.
"As for the one hour bus ticket, .......Your journeys would be longer than an hour with bad traffic, and under the new system you'd be charged a lot more"
The one hour ticket would allow you to touch in a second or even a third time within an hour of the first touch. You only get charged when you touch in - the system has no information on how long you stay on the bus.
It is not perfect - if your 90 minute commute includes a change 15 minutes from home you would only be charged once on the way to work, but twice on the way home - but it is an improvement on being charged twice in both directions.
timbo | 26.01.16 - 10:01 a.m. | #
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Al, it's not just you. Zac's column looks tiny to me too. Ho hum. At least it hasn't disappeared entirely à Le Gorgeous George.
Lorenzo | 26.01.16 - 10:09 a.m. | #
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Further thought on the 60 minute bus ticket on the technical side - this already exists for Tramlink. When you change trams you're supposed to touch in again, but as long as you do so within 60 minutes of first touching in, the second touch in is zero cost.
Indeed it's actually possible to get a free return journey this way if you're doing a short trip. I once got on the tram, went to John Lewis in Purley Way, dropped off a faulty laptop for repair and arrived back at the tram stop within 60 minutes of leaving so wasn't charged for my return trip.
The logic already exists in Oyster so extending to buses shouldn't be the biggest problem in the world to solve - Tramlink's essentially a special bus anyway.
Andrew Bowden | Homepage | 26.01.16 - 10:23 a.m. | #
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@ Andrew Bowden - and there are free tranfers to and from buses to Tramlink in New Addington at the cost of one fare so the basic logic is there for buses too. The logic of single journey multi modal through ticketing was in the original smartcard spec anyway. Whether it still survives in the same way I can't say but I know what we wrote originally.
PC | 26.01.16 - 11:42 a.m. | #
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@timbo
Bus fares already hit the cap after three journeys. I'm not against the one hour bus ticket, but the existing fare cap would have to be maintained to provide some protection against bad traffic - this isn't a problem on Tramlink where traffic has minimal effect. I would not put it past any government to remove the fare cap while this happened.
The problem is that not every bus connection is instantaneous. Sure, you're charged for when you touch in, but if your 40 minute first journey is followed with a 25 minute wait for bus number 2 (not a problem on Tramlink where the touch in occurs at the tram stop) you're going to be charged double. Increase the number of interchanges and the likelihood of this problem goes up.
Which brings me to the Oxford Street problem. Through routes along Oxford Street (6, 10, 13, 23, 73, 139, 159, 390 all come to mind) have precious little in the way of alternative diversion routes. Piccadilly and Marylebone Road are more polluted than Oxford Street - simply shifting the problem. You could turn that many buses at Marble Arch by digging into Hyde Park, I guess, but it would be difficult to turn that many buses at Tottenham Court Road or Oxford Circus without demolishing something. The only answer is to decrease frequency on these routes, and then you simply fall afoul of the one hour bus ticket problem I brought up earlier.
It's a start though. It's a start.
the orange one | 26.01.16 - 12:02 p.m. | #
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Would be good to see what the fringe candidates (Galloway and the UKIP candidate) have to say. I like Sadiq's housing policies but bit disappointed to see he'd give go ahead to the Garden Bridge.
Bill | 26.01.16 - 12:11 p.m. | #
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I only have interest to read the Green candidate's manifesto, and frankly I think this green lass is seeing things through green glasses. Some of her plans, such as FFfL (Flat Fare for London) and tearing down London City Airport are definitely too radical to be realized.
I am afraid business probably don't like a city where bringing things in by plane is extremely troublesome. I sometimes suspect, do they ultimately expect guys like me to land in (e.g.) Paris de Gaulle and take the Eurostar to London?
Patrickov | 26.01.16 - 4:41 p.m. | #
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I've been wondering all day what the vacuous statement by Sian Berry 'Join me to give London back to Londoners' (right hand column, last entry) means?
I'm afraid I share the sentiment expressed in the fourth paragraph by Agent Z at 09:28 this morning.
Happy Harry | 26.01.16 - 7:40 p.m. | #
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Has it now become established, by the example of Ken and Boris, that all mayoral candidates are always referred to by their first name?
Andrew M | 26.01.16 - 7:40 p.m. | #
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I'm pretty sure the quote about scrapping bus lanes from Zac Goldsmith was just a mistake he made speaking in a live radio interview on LBC. I'm pretty sure what he meant was that he would allow electric cars in bus lanes for a few years, and then he would scrap the bus lane rights *for electric cars*.
Barney | 26.01.16 - 7:47 p.m. | #
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Wow, Sadiq's even more lefty that I thought. I'll go with Zac because he's the only one who opposes tube strikes.
Hedgehog | 26.01.16 - 8:06 p.m. | #
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@the Orange one
"Through routes along Oxford Street (6, 10, 13, 23, 73, 139, 159, 390 all come to mind) have precious little in the way of alternative diversion routes."
So don't. precious few people travel a route that long from one end to the other anyway.
have the 73 go the Aldwych and the 6 go to Victoria, and that's two routes removed from Oxford Street.
Likewise the 139 to Notting hill gate and the 390 to Waterloo, etc
timbo | 26.01.16 - 8:17 p.m. | #
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Don't be fooled by Sadiq's fare freeze programme. He says his estimate of the cost at £450 million will be paid out of efficiency savings!
It's either going to be cuts to spending in the investment programme or higher council tax.
Rational Plan | 26.01.16 - 8:48 p.m. | #
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Sadiq Khan could increase noise and polution by expanding London's airports.
[newspaper article]
No thanks.
Tony | 26.01.16 - 10:20 p.m. | #
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Rational Plan - I was surprised that no-one else had mentioned proposed fare freeze. To me it seems like crowd-pleasing political rhetoric of the worst kind with potentially ruinous consequences for TFL; it's a shame as otherwise there seems a lot to like about Sadiq.
whiff | 27.01.16 - 2:40 a.m. | #
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Dan -you said "This morning I'm going to take a taxi because the multiple bus alternative would be more expensive!".
Do you live in London, and do you really get a taxi for less than £4.50 which is the bus cap?
Messiah | 27.01.16 - 12:49 p.m. | #
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Hedgehog: And Boris opposes Tube strikes. Which is why we've had more of them under his tenure than ever before. That's not to say that we need to give the RMT a full leash to do whatever it wants, but I think some people (and the candidates with their promises) *vastly* overestimate what it's within the Mayor's power to do.
Chz | 27.01.16 - 4:00 p.m. | #
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Pedestrianisation stinks for the sick, elderly and disabled. We haven't all got motorised scooters or wheelchairs and lots of us like to go shopping, but find it pretty exhausting even with handy buses/taxis to collapse onto. So it takes half an hour to get down Oxford St on a bus: still infinitely better than not having them.
teapot | 27.01.16 - 8:08 p.m. | #
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