TFL to extend Congestion Charge Zone...?!
Discussion
I live in the planned expanded area, so this would affect me. Sold my reliable diesel car in preparation for ulez and now this....
Even though there are good transport links locally, it's far too slow to get around. 45 mins to get to my parents, 10 mins by car. And now with covid my car is the safest place outside of my house.
Don't drive very often but a car is a must for shopping and when taking the kids out.
Online shopping has been a pretty miserable experience. Wait 3 days and then find out something you wanted isn't available. Much easier to take the car and get it all in one go.
Tired kids, pram, bags, all much easier with a car. Genuinely don't know how people do it without a car when kids are in the picture. My neighbour tried it, gave up and bought a car again
Even though there are good transport links locally, it's far too slow to get around. 45 mins to get to my parents, 10 mins by car. And now with covid my car is the safest place outside of my house.
Don't drive very often but a car is a must for shopping and when taking the kids out.
Online shopping has been a pretty miserable experience. Wait 3 days and then find out something you wanted isn't available. Much easier to take the car and get it all in one go.
Tired kids, pram, bags, all much easier with a car. Genuinely don't know how people do it without a car when kids are in the picture. My neighbour tried it, gave up and bought a car again
There's now a petition against the expansion http://chng.it/8fDwQyC9tZ
Met up with a couple of friends last Friday and they were completely bemused that a conservative government would try and attempt this, it's a complete own goal as if it does come in then people won't vote for them in the next election.
Met up with a couple of friends last Friday and they were completely bemused that a conservative government would try and attempt this, it's a complete own goal as if it does come in then people won't vote for them in the next election.
I took the kids to the British Museum at Holborn (central London) yesterday - London was practically empty - the shops were practically empty, hairdressers/barbershops were empty. We thought to have lunch at Pizza Express - closed! The huge Sainsburys store had more staff than customers. This is not good. I've never seen London this empty in my life (except for Christmas day)
Costa was empty. Pret a Manger was empty. We had lunch at Nando's - what a faff; you have to scan a QR code to join the queue, then order food at the table using their app and then they bring the food to your table. It took us ages to order. Not again.
The British Museum was a real faff and I'm unlikely to venture back there again.
The tube was empty, even during rush hour.
TFL has to find the money somehow or they'll go bankrupt.
Costa was empty. Pret a Manger was empty. We had lunch at Nando's - what a faff; you have to scan a QR code to join the queue, then order food at the table using their app and then they bring the food to your table. It took us ages to order. Not again.
The British Museum was a real faff and I'm unlikely to venture back there again.
The tube was empty, even during rush hour.
TFL has to find the money somehow or they'll go bankrupt.
Edited by maz8062 on Wednesday 21st October 12:06
Surely the Tories know they will be punished in the polls next time round. Starmer needs to assemble a reasonable alternative government in waiting and he will be ushered in, like Brown was abandoned post financial crisis. There is too much anger already for it not to be reflected as 'get rid of them'
maz8062 said:
I took the kids to the British Museum at Holborn (central London) yesterday - London was practically empty - the shops were practically empty, hairdressers/barbershops were empty. We thought to have lunch at Pizza Express - closed! The huge Sainsburys store had more staff than customers. This is not good. I've never seen London this empty in my life (except for Christmas day)
The British Museum was a real faff and I'm unlikely to venture back there again.
The tube was empty, even during rush hour.
TFL has to find the money somehow or they'll go bankrupt.
I'm coming in 2 days a week at the moment (voluntary, I just miss it)The British Museum was a real faff and I'm unlikely to venture back there again.
The tube was empty, even during rush hour.
TFL has to find the money somehow or they'll go bankrupt.
Are the train companies funded by TFL? My 7:54 into Cannon St had 6 people in my carriage today (previously you'd get a choice of someones armpit to squeeze into) South Eastern must be hemorrhaging money unless its covered by TFL
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Nope, all the TOCs (yours included) were effectively taken over by the DfT overnight and replaced with management contracts that guarantees a profit margin (albeit small at something like 1.5%) whilst the taxpayer receives all the fare income which is the square root of f
k all at the moment and covers all the operating costs.Meanwhile TfL has to go begging...
valiant said:
Nope, all the TOCs (yours included) were effectively taken over by the DfT overnight and replaced with management contracts that guarantees a profit margin (albeit small at something like 1.5%) whilst the taxpayer receives all the fare income which is the square root of fk all at the moment and covers all the operating costs.
Meanwhile TfL has to go begging...
Interesting thanksk all at the moment and covers all the operating costs.Meanwhile TfL has to go begging...
CourtAgain said:
Also with London's buses "being held to regulate the service"... if you are late for work, you may experience this situation where your bus driver it told by his garage to park up at a stop for ages (GPS tracking apparently), very frustrating when another bus on the same route goes past and overtakes you.
It's worse than this, the local contractor for our buses (forget the name) in SE London gets fined if a service is X minutes late, however if the service is cancelled then no fineMy wife will often be on a bus on the way to work when it pulls in at a stop and is cancelled as its running too late, they then have to wait for the next service, she often just walks into work now as its 15 mins longer than the bus
tgr said:
Surely the Tories know they will be punished in the polls next time round. Starmer needs to assemble a reasonable alternative government in waiting and he will be ushered in, like Brown was abandoned post financial crisis. There is too much anger already for it not to be reflected as 'get rid of them'
TL:DR - maybe the Tories get punished in the polls in London, maybe not. Either way, they won’t care. a) There’s a good chance London voters would blame Labour for the expansion - it happened on (Sadiq’s) watch as Mayor, and Labour is seen as much more anti-car than the Tories. Whether or not the expansion is Labour’s fault, people would *think* it was Labour’s fault
b) Even if they did blame and punish the Tories, it’s not like that actually hurts them. Almost all the seats in London are super-safe Labour anyway; only SW were there some marginals, but they’re very pro-remain so the Tories aren’t seeing them as targets.
brickwall said:
tgr said:
Surely the Tories know they will be punished in the polls next time round. Starmer needs to assemble a reasonable alternative government in waiting and he will be ushered in, like Brown was abandoned post financial crisis. There is too much anger already for it not to be reflected as 'get rid of them'
TL:DR - maybe the Tories get punished in the polls in London, maybe not. Either way, they won’t care. a) There’s a good chance London voters would blame Labour for the expansion - it happened on (Sadiq’s) watch as Mayor, and Labour is seen as much more anti-car than the Tories. Whether or not the expansion is Labour’s fault, people would *think* it was Labour’s fault
b) Even if they did blame and punish the Tories, it’s not like that actually hurts them. Almost all the seats in London are super-safe Labour anyway; only SW were there some marginals, but they’re very pro-remain so the Tories aren’t seeing them as targets.
giggity said:
Khan will be blamed for it if he does accept it.
If he rejects it and just presses the red button on TfL that would be much better.
I’m getting to the point where I think Khan should call Shapps bluff and simply say ‘Go on then, you run it!’If he rejects it and just presses the red button on TfL that would be much better.
DfT have trouble running a bath let alone something as complex as all of TfL. It would shutdown through sheer incompetence and neglect and then the government would have no one to blame but themselves.
If that is part of the only option on the table (and it doesn’t necessarily appear that it is - the leaks are from one side), Khan will have to decide if he wants to go for reelection as the Mayor who allowed TfL to collapse, or the Mayor who imposed an impossible level of restriction on anyone who ever uses a car.
NomduJour said:
If that is part of the only option on the table (and it doesn’t necessarily appear that it is - the leaks are from one side), Khan will have to decide if he wants to go for reelection as the Mayor who allowed TfL to collapse, or the Mayor who imposed an impossible level of restriction on anyone who ever uses a car.
Khan is a shoe in for re-election with something like a 22 point lead. The Tories are placing intolerable conditions on TfL and Londoners just to give their guy a bounce. Tory candidate is a complete non-entity with little presence. Had they fielded a higher profile candidate then I could see the logic but to do this knowing they have no chance is pure spite.
Khan will win and he will make sure Londoners know who forced these conditions onto them. Tory MPs in London are the ones that may lose out.
valiant said:
21 Tory seats in London and not all super safe either. Some also border or are very near the new expanded CC border and chances are will effect these people the most.
Of which I think 3 would be inside the proposed boundary. Labour meanwhile would have ~15 seriously affected...NomduJour said:
It’s not as if the reasons behind the congestion aren’t obvious - sounds like political games. It’s a guaranteed vote killer, anyway.
Yes, we know the reasons for the congestion. Narrowing roads to add cycle lanes, converting roundabouts and one-way systems to stupid two way junctions with hundreds of traffic lights, closing back roads to force everyone into the bottlenecks they have created.The whole thing is a huge piss take. They cause the problem then want to charge us for it. It's like a cop punching you in the face then nicking you for assaulting a police officer on the basis that you head-butted his fist.
Turfy said:
In plans suggested to TFL, the government suggests they extend the current Congestion Charge Zone to the North & South Circular!! (To match the 2021 Low Emission Zone).
£15/day/24/7/365 to drive into...
All so that TFL can have access to a £1bn government bailout...
Would they dare???
https://news.sky.com/story/government-offers-trans...
You wanna try running trucks into London. LEZ, ULEZ, congestion charge, direct vision standard, FORS, LLCS the list goes on. Awful place. £15/day/24/7/365 to drive into...
All so that TFL can have access to a £1bn government bailout...
Would they dare???
https://news.sky.com/story/government-offers-trans...
Edited by Turfy on Friday 16th October 08:12
Khan: “As Mayor, I simply cannot accept these Government proposals for TfL, which would hit Londoners with a triple whammy of higher costs at a time when so many people are already facing hardship.”
Fair enough. How does your £12.50 a day ULEZ with the same boundaries fit with that, then?
Fair enough. How does your £12.50 a day ULEZ with the same boundaries fit with that, then?
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