17 November (Part 1) - Back to TfL
A fair chunk of what Rachel Harkes from TfL had to say
about buses has already been reported, the SL3 issue in particular, but her
report was more wide ranging than that.
She was still crippled to some extent by the cyber attack on TfL and the
consequent data shortages and “temporary suspension of some of our processes”.
The Zoom audio is of very poor quality but I heard Rachel say that some sort of card concession
application remains on hold and refunds on pay-as-you-go contact tickets are
unavailable. Staff log-ins are difficult if not impossible and “lots of retail
systems have to be restored and not accessible yet”. Bus performance data is not
available but applications for the 60 plus and 18 plus passes have just come back on line.
General news items included toilet provision at tube stations and the fact that eventually no one
should be more than 20 minutes from a TfL toilet and lorry safety.
That subject has been
alluded to here before because TfL has long been looking for their own
unique way of reducing HGV accidents. The statement last Tuesday was…
“Improving lorry safety; we’re releasing information on what we have called the Direct Vision Standard and
it’s a standard for HGVs that come into London and drive across London and it
basically measures how much HGV drivers can see through their cab window and it
sets minimum standards to promote safe driving in the capital and we are making
that a safety requirement. The Direct Vision Standard for
HGV providers will make sure that lorries meet those standards in the future and
hopefully that will reduce any road risk to cycling and walking.”
The family transport expert has been campaigning on this issue
for ten years or more and I understand that come next Wednesday the fruits of
his endeavours will become public knowledge when the new Euro Ncap standards for
HGVs are announced. I am expecting the TfL proposals to be totally outclassed.
Moving on to green energy, TfL wants to install “solar farms at tube stations
and move towards 100% renewable electricity across all our operations by 2030”.
The meeting then
moved on to the SL3 and how many extra stops can be introduced before all
pretence that it is an Express route disappear.
After that there was a brief discussion on the difficulties of keeping buses
well maintained and the problems of retaining qualified technicians for ever
more complex vehicles and how bus journey times are being adversely affected by
road works and diversions.
Councillor June Slaughter asked why driver shortages had been mentioned in the
meeting Agenda “when salaries seem to be quite reasonable” but the TfL lady said
that was not her report and she could only think it was an historic problem
because she was not aware of shortages now.
Councillor Diment wanted to see more electric buses because Bexley had not seen
any since the 132 and B13 two years ago.
Councillor Smith said that we were still waiting for the result of the Blackwall
Tunnel consultation and in particular the tolling. He was told that the result
should be out within the next month. He went on to complain about the
performance of the two an hour service along North Cray Road. “It has no other
public transport and it is very poorly served. it becomes totally reliant on private vehicles.”
Cameron also asked about the fatal bus crash in
Watling Street but at that very moment the TfL lady’s PC crashed and she was
unable to look up the present state of the investigation.
And there necessarily endeth TfL's quarterly report to Bexley Council. It had
just about come to an end anyway. The proposal to consult on an Express bus
route from Abbey Wood Station to Woolwich via Thamesmead was not discussed.