Inconvenient Facts

Transport for London (TfL) suppressed taxpayer-funded research that showed low traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) do not reduce car use, it has been reported. TfL, which is under Mayor of London Sadiq Khan's control, chose not to publish a University of Westminster study after it found the controversial traffic relocation schemes helped to increase cycling but failed to encourage people to drive less or walk more, according to the Times.

Who's surprised? Not me!

Emails between Transport for London and the university show that officials were concerned about the report’s results coming out, the newspaper reported. The correspondence discussed how they might present the findings in the most positive light before a decision was made not to publish, the Times said.

An official is said to have reminded others in one email that “all of this stuff is FoI-able” (available under freedom of information laws) before reassuring them that no one outside TfL yet knew about the study.

And now everyone knows about it and also know that TfL are liars by omission and nothing they claim can be trusted! 

World Class Transport System?

TfL's woes continue:

New trains that were due to be introduced on the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) from the end of the year have been delayed indefinitely.

Great! Can this wretched company get nothing right?  

Transport for London said that signalling problems that meant the existing fleet of DLR trains had been going “too fast” made it impossible to keep to timetable for the phased introduction of the new fleet of trains, which boast air conditioning and walk-through carriages.

The country that once built railroads in Africa and India can't run one properly in its own capital.... 

No new date has been set for the arrival of the new trains, which Mayor Sadiq Khan saw when he visited the DLR’s Beckton depot in February 2023. The Standard revealed in June that the £880m new fleet of trains, which is being built in Spain, had run over budget by £61m and was facing delays.

'No date',,? Sounds familiar. 

And Why Has It Gone Virtually Unnoticed By The MSM?

As cyber-attacks go, it could have been worse. In Nightsleeper, the new BBC thriller airing just after Transport for London revealed its systems had been breached, passengers are locked aboard as a train seized by hackers hurtles dangerously towards the capital. In real life, the troubles for TfL customers are far less dramatic. The actual physical transport services, the buses, trains and tubes – many of which are effectively remote-controlled – have been unaffected by its cyber-attack. But as TfL continues to tackle what it calls an ongoing incident – despite the recent arrest of a suspected perpetrator – the minor headaches are growing persistent.

I know, I suffer from one of them at the moment - one that's not mentioned here. Luckily, I found a helpful counter staff at my local who helped me top up my Oyster card at the machine on Thursday.

The impact on most consumers in the short term is they have less information; both in being able to check online journey histories or contactless payments, or view some live transport updates, now that TfL has cut feeds.

And it's rendered it impossible to top up your Oyster card online (which goes unmentioned as an issue here). But at least the 'Guardian' is writing about it...  

A spokesperson said there was currently no date set for when this information would be accessible again, “but we can assure customers that once it is available they will be able to see their full journey history and correct any incomplete journeys or maximum fares.”

Because they don't know? Are they admitting that? It's only going to become a bigger and bigger issue the longer it goes on:

A potentially bigger issue is developing for those who now cannot apply for discount Oyster photocards, including children’s Zip cards and the 60+ pass. Although TfL has advised bus drivers to allow children to travel free without current ID, there is no solution for older children travelling alone to swipe in to the tube network for the discounted fares. With a 95p flat tube fare for 10-15-year-olds, travelling at full adult rate could, for a child regularly travelling to school, add up to hundreds of pounds extra by Christmas.

So why isn't this a bigger story? Is it because not enough journalists travel by public transport? 

No one at TfL has yet put a date on the return of all systems.

It's an utter disgrace.