Caroline Pidgeon

In a guest column in the East London Advertiser this week, Caroline Pidgeon gives her views on transport issues across London:

We need to ensure that more people have access to good transport, if London is to become a fairer place...

Of course better transport is not the only step that needs to be taken. We also need to address the issue of fares... We shouldn't accept that fares have to be structured the way they are.

Other cities around the world such as New York and Paris have an honest debate about how fares are set. But we face just a yearly declaration from our Mayor.

If the voice of people on low incomes is to be heard, London fares need to be fair.

You can read the full article here (click on the front page of the Advertiser, and it will take you to Caroline's article).

Caroline and a team from City Hall went on a long walk on Tuesday 3rd August with Sustrans officers Carl and Matt. The fact finding walk is part of Caroline’s investigation into making walking easier and safer in London. The report will look at what the Mayor is doing to make walking safer in London and suggest things he can do in the short, medium and longer term to encourage more Londoners to walk around our great capital city.

Sustrans is a UK charity set-up to identify practical ways for people to travel in a more sustainable and healthy way. The visit was an opportunity to look at two programmes delivered by Sustrans GOAL (Greenways for the Olympics and London) - a broad programme of work including the development of an extensive network of London Greenways, the National Cycle Network and a network of walking and cycling routes around the Olympic park, and Connect2, a UK-wide programme to develop 79 cycling and walking routes by 2013.

On Thursday 10 June Caroline joined other Assembly Members on a visit to meet residents who live near City Airport to hear their concerns about noise and pollution. The members then went and visited City Airport to talk to their Chief Executive and team about their plans and ways they work with the community.

"It was interesting to see around City Airport and to talk to local people about the impact it has on their lives. It is clear that all noise from airplanes using different airports needs to be mapped together in one place so that we can really understand the noise impact of London's airports on different parts of the capital," commented Caroline Pidgeon.

The Mayor has been urged to deliver on his pledge to Londoners to extend the tube’s opening hours on Friday and Saturday nights, starting with the Jubilee Line, at today’s Mayor’s Question Time (Wednesday 17th March).

Caroline Pidgeon, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, reminded the Mayor of his specific election pledge to extend the opening hours of the whole tube network for one hour later on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Speaking after her question to the Mayor she said:
“The Mayor was elected promising to extend the opening hours of the whole tube network. It is now time he honoured his pledge, starting with the Jubilee Line, where the upgrade works be completed this year.

“Everyone who uses this line has already faced months of inconvenience and many traders that rely on weekend and evening business have been hit for six. If there is one line that deserves to benefit from longer hours it must be the Jubilee Line.