London Assembly 24 June 2004
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Item 3 London Assembly 24 June 2004 Forty-Second Mayor’s Report to the Assembly Author: The Mayor This is my forty-second report to the Assembly, fulfilling my duty under Section 45 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It covers the period from 15 April – 11 June 2004. Transport Transport Operational Command Unit On 21 April I was delighted to open the new south-east area base of London’s unique transport policing initiative, the Transport Operational Command Unit (TOCU) under the command of the Metropolitan Police. TOCU remains the UK’s only dedicated unit that specialises in tackling crime and congestion on London’s bus network, as well as enforcing the law with regard to taxis and minicabs. The unit’s new base near Brixton will support 154 police officers and Traffic Police Community Support Officers (TPCSOs) to tackle crime and congestion in south-east London and covers the London Boroughs of Lambeth, Southwark, Lewisham, Greenwich, Bexley, Bromley and Croydon. Six months ago I announced an extra £25million funding for TOCU to recruit more officers and build on its successes. The unit now has more than 860 officers tackling crime on the bus network and cracking down on illegal minicab touts. It also has dedicated congestion teams in traffic hotspot areas keeping the buses and other traffic flowing freely. Londoners need to feel safe travelling around the city, especially at night. It is clear that TOCU is achieving results and making bus and cab travel a safer and more reliable experience. In addition, the final stage of licensing the minicab industry has now begun to make minicab travel in London safer. It is vital that we rid the capital of illegal minicab touts and expand work to improve the safety of late night travel, which has included increasing night buses and black cabs and providing a police presence and CCTV on night buses. Hundreds of arrests have been made already since TOCU was established in July 2002 and it has gone from strength to strength. The unit made 4,188 arrests between April 2003 and March 2004 - of these, 3,529 were for offences on buses and bus routes and 659 for offences related to taxis and minicabs. The arrests covered a wide range of offences, including assault, theft, drugs, disorderly behaviour, criminal damage and driving offences. In the same period, officers issued 104,284 tickets for parking and bus lane offences. The number of TOCU officers has grown to 860 and area-based teams have been introduced to provide extra support across the bus network. The cab enforcement team has now been trebled to 21 officers and is successfully cracking down on illegal minicabs and minicab touts. Dedicated congestion teams, made up of police officers and traffic police community support officers, have been set up to tackle congestion at hotspot areas and keep traffic flowing. 1 Item 3 Bus Use Figures London’s buses continue to reach new levels of passenger growth and reliability. Latest figures show that more passengers are taking the bus than at any time since the 1960s, with the total daily passenger number breaking six million for the first time on 23 April this year. In addition to this, passenger satisfaction is also showing an increase compared with 2002 data. I am delighted to report that London’s bus service is now the most reliable since performance figures were first collated in 1977. Oyster Pre-Pay Oyster pre-pay is now in operation on London’s buses and trams making Pre-Pay available across the whole network. The travelling public can now take advantage of the lower fares that pre-pay on Oyster brings. Passengers can now charge their Oyster card with up to £90 of Pre- Pay and instead of paying £1 cash fare, Pre- Pay users will pay 70p for each single adult journey on buses and trams. Two million cards are currently in use. SR2004 Transport Summit The future funding of the Capital’s transport system was debated at a summit held on 28 April, where the Transport Commissioner Bob Kiley led the discussion, which was attended by key figures representing London’s business, local government, and voluntary and community interest groups The summit was focussed around the challenges of providing a transport system that can cater for the extra 800,000 people expected to be living in the capital in the next decade. Congestion Charge Annual Report The first annual report on the congestion charge was published in late April and confirmed that central London has become a significantly better place to get around. Traffic congestion is now down by 30% within the charging zone, and the improved bus service is successfully accommodating the additional passenger demand. Accident levels are also showing a decline since the charge was introduced. People entering central London, whether they are residents, visitors, workers, shopping, sightseeing, or travelling through, are benefiting from the reduction in harmful traffic emissions due to the congestion charge reducing traffic and congestion. London Road Safety 2003 Report In May TfL published the latest 2003 Road Safety report for London. Its findings reveal that casualty levels within London have seen a marked decline in both numbers of fatalities and injuries and in numbers of accidents over the preceding year. The introduction of the congestion charge in February 2003 has seen lower levels of traffic using central London and early road casualty data for 2004 reflects this. Next year’s report is expected to show an even more marked reduction in casualty numbers with lower traffic levels using the central zone as a result of the charge. Tube Pay Talks London Underground continues to negotiate with the trade union over pay and conditions. Dhaka Transport Engineers Visit 2 Item 3 On 15 April TfL and GLA officers met with engineers from Dhaka City Corporation in Bangladesh to discuss issues of strategic transport planning. London and Dhaka signed a Friendship Agreement in September 2003 and this was the latest in a number of meetings between representatives of the two cities. As a result of our Friendship Agreement with Dhaka we are in a position to share best practice in areas such as transport policy. Tackling London’s traffic congestion and improving the provision of public transport have been among the biggest challenges I have faced as Mayor and I have no doubt that Dhaka can learn from our experience. I hope that there are many more opportunities for constructive discussion and the positive exchange of ideas. Moving Traffic Contraventions charges I have approved a penalty charge level of £100, discounted to £50 if paid within 14 days, for moving traffic contraventions on the Transport for London road network in accordance with section 74(5) of the Road Traffic Act 1991 as applied by section 4(12) of the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003. The introduction of the new penalty charges for moving traffic contraventions commenced on 1 June 2004 and I made an application to the Secretary of State to allow a period of less than one month between notification to him of the approval of the penalty charges and their entry into force. The London Boroughs and TfL published the approved penalty charge levels in the Evening Standard and London Gazette. London Lorry Control Scheme Charges I have approved the levels of penalty charges for contraventions of the London Lorry Control Scheme charges on the TfL Road Network in accordance with section 74(5) of the Road Traffic Act 1991 as applied by section 4(12) of the London Local Authorities and Transport for London Act 2003 as follows: £100 for drivers and £500 for operators. This brings TfL roads into line with Borough roads for which these penalties have been in force since 1 April. I approved the commencement date of 1 June 2004 for the introduction of the new enforcement procedures for the London Lorry Control Scheme on the TfL road network and agreed that the ALG acting on behalf of TfL would publish the approved penalty charge levels in the Evening Standard and London Gazette. TfL Rail Plan Our plans are a common sense approach to a complicated system and would see real benefits for passengers within two years. I continue to discuss these plans with the Government. Policing and Community Safety Metropolitan Police Crime Figures On 28 April, I welcomed the year-end crime figures from the Metropolitan Police Service, which showed a 7.1% fall in burglary, a 7.1% fall in auto-crime and a 4.2% reduction in street crime offences. 3 Item 3 I passed on my congratulations to the Commissioner and the entire Metropolitan Police Service for these impressive results. They are particularly noteworthy given the extra pressures the Met have faced in recent times in protecting the capital against terrorism. We now have more police in the capital than ever before and Londoners are starting to see the results. In a survey released shortly before these latest crime figures 45% of Londoners said that they have seen more police in the city over the last year. I believe that the key to tackling crime and the fear of crime is a visible police presence on local streets. In the next few years, I would like to increase police numbers to 35,000 officers - enough to deploy a local police team in every neighbourhood in London. London Development Agency LDA Corporate Plan 2004/05 I have approved the LDA Corporate Plan 2004/05, which sets out the targets and priorities for the Agency in the forthcoming year.