|
|
Post by snoggle on Sept 8, 2017 15:22:58 GMT
ServerKing can crack open the bottle of Champers he's kept on ice waiting for this announcement.   It will be interesting to see who replaces him. Also interesting that he wanted to go in 2015 but stayed on. The comments under the tweet are as choice as you might imagine - the taxi trade clearly think he's corrupt and a crook. 
|
|
|
|
Post by Gellico on Sept 8, 2017 15:53:12 GMT
ServerKing can crack open the bottle of Champers he's kept on ice waiting for this announcement. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. Also interesting that he wanted to go in 2015 but stayed on. The comments under the tweet are as choice as you might imagine - the taxi trade clearly think he's corrupt and a crook. My dad will be happy today and imagine taxi drivers will be much happier now. If you look into many things regarding Uber things do get a bit blurred given how easy they managed to get a license and dominate the city. |
|
|
|
Post by ServerKing on Sept 8, 2017 15:55:26 GMT
ServerKing can crack open the bottle of Champers he's kept on ice waiting for this announcement. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. Also interesting that he wanted to go in 2015 but stayed on. The comments under the tweet are as choice as you might imagine - the taxi trade clearly think he's corrupt and a crook. When's the court case? Why's he going? He did a lot for 'tradition', but perhaps a fresh pair of eyes can stop the rot and rescue our dying city... 1. stop the Cycle Lane madness 2. do something, anything to improve our bus network and win back punters - branding, perhaps LED blinds and WiFi like everyone else 3. Cull the proliferation of minicabs choking our streets in the West End 4. Stronger action against poorly presented buses (All WN DB300s must display correct route number in rear blind ) |
|
|
|
Post by Gellico on Sept 8, 2017 16:09:55 GMT
ServerKing can crack open the bottle of Champers he's kept on ice waiting for this announcement. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. Also interesting that he wanted to go in 2015 but stayed on. The comments under the tweet are as choice as you might imagine - the taxi trade clearly think he's corrupt and a crook. When's the court case? Why's he going? He did a lot for 'tradition', but perhaps a fresh pair of eyes can stop the rot and rescue our dying city... 1. stop the Cycle Lane madness 2. do something, anything to improve our bus network and win back punters - branding, perhaps LED blinds and WiFi like everyone else 3. Cull the proliferation of minicabs choking our streets in the West End 4. Stronger action against poorly presented buses (All WN DB300s must display correct route number in rear blind ) Agree with all your points there. Currently in Bexleyheath the loop duel carriageway is being turned to one lane just wide enough for a Trident to go down carefully and an entire cycle lane that goes from no where to no where. There isn't exactly much cycle useage in Bexley apart from kids ans I don't think the mantra "build it and they'll come" is worth it anymore. |
|
|
|
Post by snoggle on Sept 8, 2017 16:10:10 GMT
When's the court case? Why's he going? He did a lot for 'tradition', but perhaps a fresh pair of eyes can stop the rot and rescue our dying city... 1. stop the Cycle Lane madness 2. do something, anything to improve our bus network and win back punters - branding, perhaps LED blinds and WiFi like everyone else 3. Cull the proliferation of minicabs choking our streets in the West End 4. Stronger action against poorly presented buses (All WN DB300s must display correct route number in rear blind ) I am afraid I don't "get" the paranoia of the taxi trade. Sure they are under threat but it is from technology and changing expectations. If the taxi trade does not adapt it will die - it is as simple as that. Screaming for their decades old monopoly to be protected in the face of customers wanting something different is the very worst sort of "head in the sand" attitude. The same challenge is headed for the bus network and it will be interesting to see how or even if TfL can respond to that. The government will not legislate nor allocate legislative time to change the law to ban or limit Uber or similar ops so TfL and the Mayor are stuck. They cannot flout the law and if government won't act then that's that. Ironic given I suspect many cab drivers vote Tory or UKIP - you'd imagine Mrs May might want to keep them on side. It doesn't matter who is in charge at TfL. If the politicians say "more cycle lanes" then TfL have to build them. You don't drive change from within TfL - you drive it via the politicians. It also doesn't matter who is in charge at TfL as to how blinds are displayed. That is down to contractual enforcement and whether anyone is observing vehicle presentation and then fining the operators for non compliance. I think TfL may struggle to replace Mr Daniels. That's not because he's impossible to replace - clearly he isn't. However I wonder how many people will want the job. I can't see any of the "bright young things" in the bus industry wanting to move from a deregulated environment to a restrictive political one. A lot of the obvious successors have also left TfL in the last 12-24 months - many senior people and Directors from my time have all gone. |
|
|
|
Post by vjaska on Sept 8, 2017 16:24:13 GMT
ServerKing can crack open the bottle of Champers he's kept on ice waiting for this announcement. It will be interesting to see who replaces him. Also interesting that he wanted to go in 2015 but stayed on. The comments under the tweet are as choice as you might imagine - the taxi trade clearly think he's corrupt and a crook. My dad will be happy today and imagine taxi drivers will be much happier now. If you look into many things regarding Uber things do get a bit blurred given how easy they managed to get a license and dominate the city. Your not going to like what I'm going to say but I have no sympathy for taxi drivers at all. I've used them in the past and honestly, I would never go back to them - who wants to use a taxi service that fleeces you out of your money by purposely driving into traffic in order to rack up the fare. As snoggle said, the taxi trade need to adapt and move with technology in order to survive but honestly, I'm really not fussed if the taxi trade does go and I apologise if any of the above causes offence. I also hate this constant bashing of minicabs - yes, there are some dodgy ones but there is always dodgy people in every society. Using a minicab has been a far better experience overall - a nice set fare and they take the best route to their destination. I've also used Uber minicabs a few times and that was a positive experience as well. I do agree though that the number of minicabs needs to be reduced but certainly nowhere near an eradication level. |
|
|
|
Post by ServerKing on Sept 8, 2017 16:30:14 GMT
When's the court case? Why's he going? He did a lot for 'tradition', but perhaps a fresh pair of eyes can stop the rot and rescue our dying city... 1. stop the Cycle Lane madness 2. do something, anything to improve our bus network and win back punters - branding, perhaps LED blinds and WiFi like everyone else 3. Cull the proliferation of minicabs choking our streets in the West End 4. Stronger action against poorly presented buses (All WN DB300s must display correct route number in rear blind ) I am afraid I don't "get" the paranoia of the taxi trade. Sure they are under threat but it is from technology and changing expectations. If the taxi trade does not adapt it will die - it is as simple as that. Screaming for their decades old monopoly to be protected in the face of customers wanting something different is the very worst sort of "head in the sand" attitude. The same challenge is headed for the bus network and it will be interesting to see how or even if TfL can respond to that. The government will not legislate nor allocate legislative time to change the law to ban or limit Uber or similar ops so TfL and the Mayor are stuck. They cannot flout the law and if government won't act then that's that. Ironic given I suspect many cab drivers vote Tory or UKIP - you'd imagine Mrs May might want to keep them on side. It doesn't matter who is in charge at TfL. If the politicians say "more cycle lanes" then TfL have to build them. You don't drive change from within TfL - you drive it via the politicians. It also doesn't matter who is in charge at TfL as to how blinds are displayed. That is down to contractual enforcement and whether anyone is observing vehicle presentation and then fining the operators for non compliance. I think TfL may struggle to replace Mr Daniels. That's not because he's impossible to replace - clearly he isn't. However I won't how many people will want the job. I can't see any of the "bright young things" in the bus industry wanting to move from a deregulated environment to a restrictive political one. A lot of the obvious successors have also left TfL in the last 12-24 months - many senior people and Directors from my time have all gone. TfL is a place where you get frustrated by all the red tape... I'm sure Leon had some good ideas too (all joking aside) and probably looked in envy as he saw the free reign other PTEs gave the Big Five when it came to projects to encourage more onto buses (premium bus travel, branding etc), but it seems whoever picks up the reins just carries on what the last guy did, Sadiq did nothing to stop all the cycle lanes, and talk of going back to bendies scares me, though hopefully that's canteen talk. I wonder what will become of Imber and such bus events like that where Leon's played a big part. As a Surface Transport MD, there was a lot on his watch he could have done, so I'm not totally letting him off the hook  As for the Taxi thing, I was a PHV driver (Private Hire Vehicle) for a year after I left TfL in 2006, but now there are too many on the roads, many with poor driving skills. The tech like Uber is great, if only some of their drivers where great as well... I drive in the West End and see it all, so yeah, that and pedicabs are killing our streets... The 'restrictive political environment' you mention is a tough one, which does hinder London's progress. Perhaps the "all-over-red-or-face-punishment-of-death" rule could be relaxed to what we had in 2000 which was cool... I'd love to see Metroline's blue skirt (the navy, not the final sky blue one some of the buses carried) or Stagecoach swirls again, those things stood out to passengers as well. No 'Bright Young Thing' would overturn the stranglehold on bus presentation which is overall, 'meh' in many people's eyes, so much so, people are leaving buses in their droves... I would love to see who takes over, but I fear it will be more of the same boring cr@p |
|
|
|
Post by Gellico on Sept 8, 2017 16:39:04 GMT
My dad will be happy today and imagine taxi drivers will be much happier now. If you look into many things regarding Uber things do get a bit blurred given how easy they managed to get a license and dominate the city. Your not going to like what I'm going to say but I have no sympathy for taxi drivers at all. I've used them in the past and honestly, I would never go back to them - who wants to use a taxi service that fleeces you out of your money by purposely driving into traffic in order to rack up the fare. As snoggle said, the taxi trade need to adapt and move with technology in order to survive but honestly, I'm really not fussed if the taxi trade does go and I apologise if any of the above causes offence. I also hate this constant bashing of minicabs - yes, there are some dodgy ones but there is always dodgy people in every society. Using a minicab has been a far better experience overall - a nice set fare and they take the best route to their destination. I've also used Uber minicabs a few times and that was a positive experience as well. I do agree though that the number of minicabs needs to be reduced but certainly nowhere near an eradication level. My dad thinks fares are too high. The taxi trade would love to move forward however everything is governed by TFL so they can't in fear of losing thier licenses. Uber in particular have managed to get away with so much that black cabs would never get away with. Most can drivers just want a fair playing field which TFL aren't allowing. Also bit off topic but whenever I am out and I see a cab (mini or black) I take a picture. I have about 2 dozen pictures all of which are mini cabs, they need to have driving tests as they drive incredibly recklessly. It isn't a black and white case in the slightest and there are many different viewpoints to which everyone is entitled to theirs. |
|
|
|
Post by sid on Sept 8, 2017 17:03:17 GMT
When's the court case? Why's he going? He did a lot for 'tradition', but perhaps a fresh pair of eyes can stop the rot and rescue our dying city... 1. stop the Cycle Lane madness 2. do something, anything to improve our bus network and win back punters - branding, perhaps LED blinds and WiFi like everyone else 3. Cull the proliferation of minicabs choking our streets in the West End 4. Stronger action against poorly presented buses (All WN DB300s must display correct route number in rear blind ) Agree with all your points there. Currently in Bexleyheath the loop duel carriageway is being turned to one lane just wide enough for a Trident to go down carefully and an entire cycle lane that goes from no where to no where. There isn't exactly much cycle useage in Bexley apart from kids ans I don't think the mantra "build it and they'll come" is worth it anymore. Exactly that, make cycling safer and more people will take it up. I can't understand why that stretch of road was ever built as a dual carriageways in the first place, just encourages boy racers to tear up and down there at motorway speeds. |
|
|
|
Post by snoggle on Sept 8, 2017 17:09:59 GMT
]TfL is a place where you get frustrated by all the red tape... I'm sure Leon had some good ideas too (all joking aside) and probably looked in envy as he saw the free reign other PTEs gave the Big Five when it came to projects to encourage more onto buses (premium bus travel, branding etc), but it seems whoever picks up the reins just carries on what the last guy did, Sadiq did nothing to stop all the cycle lanes, and talk of going back to bendies scares me, though hopefully that's canteen talk. I wonder what will become of Imber and such bus events like that where Leon's played a big part. As a Surface Transport MD, there was a lot on his watch he could have done, so I'm not totally letting him off the hook As for the Taxi thing, I was a PHV driver (Private Hire Vehicle) for a year after I left TfL in 2006, but now there are too many on the roads, many with poor driving skills. The tech like Uber is great, if only some of their drivers where great as well... I drive in the West End and see it all, so yeah, that and pedicabs are killing our streets... The 'restrictive political environment' you mention is a tough one, which does hinder London's progress. Perhaps the "all-over-red-or-face-punishment-of-death" rule could be relaxed to what we had in 2000 which was cool... I'd love to see Metroline's blue skirt (the navy, not the final sky blue one some of the buses carried) or Stagecoach swirls again, those things stood out to passengers as well. No 'Bright Young Thing' would overturn the stranglehold on bus presentation which is overall, 'meh' in many people's eyes, so much so, people are leaving buses in their droves... I would love to see who takes over, but I fear it will be more of the same boring cr@p Goodness a lot there to deal with. 1. PTEs have little or no control over bus operations. The bus companies can do what they like. PTEs are left to pick up the pieces. I suspect the PTEs want Leon's powers to control buses. 2. It was the Transport Cttee that mentioned bendies. As I've said that's a complete distraction from the important issues that their recent report largely missed. 3. Things don't change much because despite a change of political "colour" the essential direction of policy hasn't changed much. Ken did the most radical stuff. Boris tinkered and fiddled and left the hard work to people like Eddie Lister. 4. Imber has little to do with Leon. It's a Peter Hendy thing. Obviously Peter and Leon go back a long way but Peter Hendy has more than enough contacts to keep Imber going if he wants to. I even got "told off" by Peter Hendy on Twitter for making a jokey remark about Leon "having a bus network to run" under a Twitter photo of him being a conductor at the most recent Imber event a fortnight ago. 5. I don't see the political structure changing this side of 2020. The current government is hamstrung and although it wanted to change the electoral process for the Assembly I suspect that bit of gerrymandering has fallen away due to no effective government majority. 6. I don't see livery colours, designs or blind technology having any real impact on bus use in London. It is now all down to journey time and reliability problems and TfL can't fix all of those as some issues are outwith its direct control. The political policy and Mayor's Transport Strategy will always constrain whoever replaces Leon. Whoever gets the job will have to recognise that and be able to cope with those constraints. I can't see many people who are at the cutting edge of private companies running buses and trains being very interested. The only person I can think of who might fancy a go was Clare Kavanagh who worked in Surface Transport and left to join Stagecoach. I think she lost out in a reorganisation but was clearly a very bright person and I can see having a woman MD being something City Hall would favour - assuming she wanted to come back. |
|
|
|
Post by sid on Sept 8, 2017 17:10:23 GMT
My dad will be happy today and imagine taxi drivers will be much happier now. If you look into many things regarding Uber things do get a bit blurred given how easy they managed to get a license and dominate the city. Your not going to like what I'm going to say but I have no sympathy for taxi drivers at all. I've used them in the past and honestly, I would never go back to them - who wants to use a taxi service that fleeces you out of your money by purposely driving into traffic in order to rack up the fare. As snoggle said, the taxi trade need to adapt and move with technology in order to survive but honestly, I'm really not fussed if the taxi trade does go and I apologise if any of the above causes offence. I also hate this constant bashing of minicabs - yes, there are some dodgy ones but there is always dodgy people in every society. Using a minicab has been a far better experience overall - a nice set fare and they take the best route to their destination. I've also used Uber minicabs a few times and that was a positive experience as well. I do agree though that the number of minicabs needs to be reduced but certainly nowhere near an eradication level. You'll get no argument from me about that, I've no sympathy for taxi drivers either and I've never quite seen them as the knights in shining armour that they try and portray themselves as. In the last few weeks I've seen a taxi driver effing and blinding at another motorist in Regent Street and he only shut up when he saw a police officer heading his way and another driving along The Strand with a phone in his hand, professional like hell. Certainly not all minicab drivers are saints but personally I'd much rather use their services. |
|
|
|
Post by Eastlondoner62 on Sept 8, 2017 17:15:37 GMT
Agree with all your points there. Currently in Bexleyheath the loop duel carriageway is being turned to one lane just wide enough for a Trident to go down carefully and an entire cycle lane that goes from no where to no where. There isn't exactly much cycle useage in Bexley apart from kids ans I don't think the mantra "build it and they'll come" is worth it anymore. Exactly that, make cycling safer and more people will take it up. I can't understand why that stretch of road was ever built as a dual carriageways in the first place, just encourages boy racers to tear up and down there at motorway speeds. The issue with TfL is that all these cycling schemes are being implemented so badly, all these highways need construction but the amount of disruption caused will just make a lot of motorists angry at the fact of cycling, meaning less people take it up. CS2 has taken up the old bus lane along Stratford High Street, putting people off buses there as now buses have to sit in traffic, not to mention CS2 is in a complete state littered with potholes now and not many people seem to be using it. Although implementing it in a way which works is a hard job in a city like London, the narrow streets and twisty roads are very unfriendly to cyclists compared so the straight roads you find in most other cities and obviously people are going to be hit. It is a bit of an endless cycle due to the cuts, butcher the bus network and people will resort to other methods of getting to work such as cycling, and then people ask for improvements. |
|
|
|
Post by Gellico on Sept 8, 2017 19:39:30 GMT
Agree with all your points there. Currently in Bexleyheath the loop duel carriageway is being turned to one lane just wide enough for a Trident to go down carefully and an entire cycle lane that goes from no where to no where. There isn't exactly much cycle useage in Bexley apart from kids ans I don't think the mantra "build it and they'll come" is worth it anymore. Exactly that, make cycling safer and more people will take it up. I can't understand why that stretch of road was ever built as a dual carriageways in the first place, just encourages boy racers to tear up and down there at motorway speeds. You seem to of caught tje wrong end of the stick. That stretch of road takes all the traffic away from the centre of Bexleyheath and has Bexleyheath ever had traffic issues - no. This implementation is a waste of time and money. |
|
|
|
Post by sid on Sept 8, 2017 20:48:58 GMT
Exactly that, make cycling safer and more people will take it up. I can't understand why that stretch of road was ever built as a dual carriageways in the first place, just encourages boy racers to tear up and down there at motorway speeds. You seem to of caught tje wrong end of the stick. That stretch of road takes all the traffic away from the centre of Bexleyheath and has Bexleyheath ever had traffic issues - no. This implementation is a waste of time and money. I'm afraid I have to disagree, obviously we've not seen the finished product yet but I suspect it will be an improvement and will still take traffic away from the centre of Bexleyheath. |
|
|
|
Post by busman on Sept 8, 2017 22:23:47 GMT
Totally agree with your comments about Taxi drivers vjaska. I have zero sympathy for them. They also take many liberties on the road and think they own it. Anyway, I digress. Mr Daniels' post is a poisoned chalice. Road transport has been ruined by unnecessary 20mph restrictions everywhere and the perfect storm of a fare freeze and hopper fare can only mean cuts to bus services. I would like someone to lift these silly 20mph restrictions on main roads, bring back blinds with via points and let bus liveries be whatever colour the operator wants it to be. More chances of pigs flying though. |
|
As for the Taxi thing, I was a PHV driver (Private Hire Vehicle) for a year after I left TfL in 2006, but now there are too many on the roads, many with poor driving skills. The tech like Uber is great, if only some of their drivers where great as well... I drive in the West End and see it all, so yeah, that and pedicabs are killing our streets...
