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Post by paulsw2 on Oct 18, 2019 0:45:57 GMT
I have noticed that so many posts on this forum are politically biased ie so many for Brexit so many against so many bashing the current mayor (who had the subsidy taken away before his term) etc it is getting silly.
I don't care if I get shot down in flames but too much political point scoring stops this fourm from having good debate
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Post by vjaska on Oct 18, 2019 3:27:43 GMT
I have noticed that so many posts on this forum are politically biased ie so many for Brexit so many against so many bashing the current mayor (who had the subsidy taken away before his term) etc it is getting silly. I don't care if I get shot down in flames but too much political point scoring stops this fourm from having good debate The subsidy was taken away before he got in but that still didn't stop Khan from creating policies that have piggybacked off the subsidy being removed such as freezing fares thus less revenue coming in - lower fares helps me out greatly given my low income but so does an actual working network that isn't being cut. For me, both mayors and the government are to blame so just to show I'm not politically biased in any way shape or form to any person  I did vote for Brexit and stand by my decision though do not agree with no deal at all - that is as far as my political motivations go. I have no affiliation to any party though usually would vote Labour if it wasn't for the current incumbent in charge of them |
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Post by ServerKing on Oct 18, 2019 4:42:49 GMT
I have noticed that so many posts on this forum are politically biased ie so many for Brexit so many against so many bashing the current mayor (who had the subsidy taken away before his term) etc it is getting silly. I don't care if I get shot down in flames but too much political point scoring stops this fourm from having good debate The subsidy was taken away before he got in but that still didn't stop Khan from creating policies that have piggybacked off the subsidy being removed such as freezing fares thus less revenue coming in - lower fares helps me out greatly given my low income but so does an actual working network that isn't being cut. For me, both mayors and the government are to blame so just to show I'm not politically biased in any way shape or form to any person I did vote for Brexit and stand by my decision though do not agree with no deal at all - that is as far as my political motivations go. I have no affiliation to any party though usually would vote Labour if it wasn't for the current incumbent in charge of them I think people are trying to make sense of the chaos - and for many, humour or expressing views is just part and parcel of it. Our Mayor is still a politician, albeit a useless one. He himself has gone from 'endorsement' od Extinction Rebellion to condemnation... Knife Crime is still out of control, passenger numbers continue to plunge like Katie Price's IQ, cuts are made while pointless routes like the X140 are brought in. Even discussing Frog Face versus Nokia buses can cause a stir... so seeing something more inert like Brexit gives some a break... there's only so much talking you can do about London's reluctance to embrace technology and drop these crap McKenna blinds, or how low rent the buses are in terms of creature comforts  |
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Post by busaholic on Oct 18, 2019 10:55:44 GMT
I have noticed that so many posts on this forum are politically biased ie so many for Brexit so many against so many bashing the current mayor (who had the subsidy taken away before his term) etc it is getting silly. I don't care if I get shot down in flames but too much political point scoring stops this fourm from having good debate Although I understand your frustration, it's a (fortunate or unfortunate, according to your point of view) fact that London's provision of public transport has gone from being almost out of the hands of politicians, local or national, to the position we have now, where politics are represented in virtually all decisions of any consequence, and even some relatively trivial ones. The London Transport I went to work for at 55 Broadway late in 1969 was, in effect, nationalised but was about to be put under GLC control. The first few years of GLC 'ownership' were so discreet and non-interventionist you wouldn't have been aware of any difference if you worked at much less than board level.This all changed when Sir Desmond Plummer was replaced by Horace Cutler as head of the ruling Conservative group on the GLC, and the publicity-hungry Cutler, the complete opposite to his predecessor, was determined to make a name for himself. The same sort of thing was happening nationally, with Margaret Thatcher replacing the more liberal Ted Heath. Buses were Cutler's chosen weapon, which was probably well-chosen, as opo buses unsuitable for the job were replacing crew RTs and RMs, with decreased frequencies in many cases and long=standing direct links being cut (sound familiar?). Cutler found a willing ally in tubeless Bromley Council and, to his credit in my opinion, recognised what LT themselves acknowledged in the main but thought powerless to implement, that graduated fares of great complexity on opo buses couldn't work without causing snarl-ups and loss of passengers. That was the beginning of fare zones and cutting the variety of fares to a more manageable level. Fast forward to Labour winning the GLC election and the even more ambitious Ken Livingstone mounting a coup to depose his own leader within 24 hours. Labour had been elected on a Fares Fair poiicy, and this was when Bromley Council blew a fuse and started legal action, culminating in the notorious Lord Denning finding almost entirely in their favour. Politics and London Transport were now inextricably linked, even the abolition of the GLC only providing a hiatus, and once the Mayoral system was introduced along with the Assembly it was almost guaranteed that, given the Mayor's lack of real power in so many ways, any individual elected to the role would be intent on getting their oar in, regardless of knowledge of the subject in question. Sorry to have gone on, and had to truncate the sequence of events but I hope I've conveyed why I think the genie is out of the bottle. When you combine political power/interference with a deliberate policy of running down the layers of operational management built up over decades in London Transport (generic name) you'll get the decisions you're getting now, though how much might be different with a proper level of government funding is a moot point. |
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Post by capitalomnibus on Oct 18, 2019 12:04:16 GMT
I have noticed that so many posts on this forum are politically biased ie so many for Brexit so many against so many bashing the current mayor (who had the subsidy taken away before his term) etc it is getting silly. I don't care if I get shot down in flames but too much political point scoring stops this fourm from having good debate Although I understand your frustration, it's a (fortunate or unfortunate, according to your point of view) fact that London's provision of public transport has gone from being almost out of the hands of politicians, local or national, to the position we have now, where politics are represented in virtually all decisions of any consequence, and even some relatively trivial ones. The London Transport I went to work for at 55 Broadway late in 1969 was, in effect, nationalised but was about to be put under GLC control. The first few years of GLC 'ownership' were so discreet and non-interventionist you wouldn't have been aware of any difference if you worked at much less than board level.This all changed when Sir Desmond Plummer was replaced by Horace Cutler as head of the ruling Conservative group on the GLC, and the publicity-hungry Cutler, the complete opposite to his predecessor, was determined to make a name for himself. The same sort of thing was happening nationally, with Margaret Thatcher replacing the more liberal Ted Heath. Buses were Cutler's chosen weapon, which was probably well-chosen, as opo buses unsuitable for the job were replacing crew RTs and RMs, with decreased frequencies in many cases and long=standing direct links being cut (sound familiar?). Cutler found a willing ally in tubeless Bromley Council and, to his credit in my opinion, recognised what LT themselves acknowledged in the main but thought powerless to implement, that graduated fares of great complexity on opo buses couldn't work without causing snarl-ups and loss of passengers. That was the beginning of fare zones and cutting the variety of fares to a more manageable level. Fast forward to Labour winning the GLC election and the even more ambitious Ken Livingstone mounting a coup to depose his own leader within 24 hours. Labour had been elected on a Fares Fair poiicy, and this was when Bromley Council blew a fuse and started legal action, culminating in the notorious Lord Denning finding almost entirely in their favour. Politics and London Transport were now inextricably linked, even the abolition of the GLC only providing a hiatus, and once the Mayoral system was introduced along with the Assembly it was almost guaranteed that, given the Mayor's lack of real power in so many ways, any individual elected to the role would be intent on getting their oar in, regardless of knowledge of the subject in question. Sorry to have gone on, and had to truncate the sequence of events but I hope I've conveyed why I think the genie is out of the bottle. When you combine political power/interference with a deliberate policy of running down the layers of operational management built up over decades in London Transport (generic name) you'll get the decisions you're getting now, though how much might be different with a proper level of government funding is a moot point. love it, interesting story. Yes a lot of threads have gone political on this forum unfortunately. However this is down to various politicians direct involvement with TfL and decisions they make affecting bus services. It would be difficult to just turn a blind eye to things the mayor has done that has resulted in routes like the 48 being withdrawn.
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