Report No: 5 Subject: Questions to Bob Kiley and Tim O’Toole Report of: Director of Secretariat Date: 11 June 2003 Questions to Bob Kiley 121 / 2003 - Cheap Fare Promotion Andrew Pelling I could not find the cheap fares summer promotion in connection with the Totally London campaign on the TfL website. I would like to ask what degree of co-ordination there was in giving good notice of this cheap fare promotion and indeed what information was provided in a timely fashion to bus companies about the cheap fare promotion. 122 / 2003 - Trams Andrew Pelling On 15 May this year, the Caterham-bound 407 bus broke down at the West Croydon end of Tamworth Road. Trams were unable to get past as a result. Could you advise as to how many times tram operations have had to be suspended owing to vehicles being unable to be moved from the tram lines. 123 / 2003 - Tramlink Andrew Pelling Early last Autumn I posed a question to the Mayor about "the public scandal of those who live close to the Tramlink being provided with no compensation whatsoever for disturbance or loss of value to their properties."He very kindly responded that TfL had completed its legal review of the situation and was now satisfied that the Land Compensation Act did apply.The Mayor advised that TfL was in the process of agreeing on a strategy for handling the 1,500 claims received and that those that were substantiated would be settled as quickly as possible. But eight months on little has changed. I understand that no claims have yet been settled. By what date do you hope we can see that: a) 25 % of the claims are settled b) The majority of claims are settled ? . 1 124 / 2003 - Tramline at Addiscombe Road Andrew Pelling Special methods were employed to minimise the vibration effects of the introduction of the tram outside Croydon’s historic Almshouses at the junction of George Street and North End. With the very significant vibration that is being encountered by residents and the public house in Addiscombe Road, do you feel that it would be appropriate for some public money to be spent to re-lay part of the tram line system in Addiscombe Road where the track runs on road with the same degree of special foundations that have limited the amount of vibration from the tram at the Almshouses site? 125 / 2003 - Speed cameras on Kenley stretch of A22 Andrew Pelling During a meeting between the Mayor, TfL, concerned residents and myself on 6 November 2002 to discuss implementation of the proposed A22 Godstone Road red route, a representative of TfL confirmed verbally that TfL would install two speed cameras on the Kenley stretch of the A22: one to be situated near Kenley police station and the other on the borders between Whyteleafe and Kenley. The Mayor also verbally confirmed this decision at the same meeting. The reason for such an installation is that traffic tends to travel along this stretch of the A22 at speeds in excess of 50mph although the road has a speed limit of 30mph. To date, no speed cameras have been installed at these locations. Could you confirm when you expect such installation to take place? 126 / 2003 - Bus Shelter in Lower Addiscombe Road Andrew Pelling I proposed the following question to the Mayor in March this year and received his affirmative response. “Q: 749 / 2003 - Bus shelter in Lower Addiscombe Road The bus stop outside the Alma pub in Lower Addiscombe Road has been moved. However, the bus shelter has not. Could you encourage TfL to let the bus shelter be reunited with the bus stop? A new shelter will be provided at the stop outside the Alma (and the old one removed) by the end of March.” However, as of 20 May, a shelter has not been provided at the bus stop outside the Alma. Could you confirm when this situation will be rectified? . 127 / 2003 - Bus link- New Addington to Croydon Andrew Pelling What cognisance has been taken of the petition presented to the Assembly from 710 signatories seeking the retention of a direct bus link from the northern and eastern sides of New Addington to Croydon? 128 / 2003 - Croydon Trams Andrew Pelling Could extra notices be put up in Croydon trams encouraging passengers not to soil passenger seats by using them as footrests? 2 129 / 2003 - Tramlink Extensions Andrew Pelling What would you see as being the regenerative effects of building an extension to Tramlink to serve the routes from Sutton to Wimbledon and Sutton to Morden? 130 / 2003 - Restoration of bus shelter in Sutton Andrew Pelling Could a bus shelter at the top of Throwley Way opposite Sutton police station be restored? 131 / 2003 - Direct bus link from Addington to Croydon Andrew Pelling The desire to retain a direct bus link from the northern and eastern sides of New Addington to Croydon is a strong one amongst residents. What can be done to meet this desire if the 130 bus is diverted to run to Norwood Junction ? 132 / 2003 - London buses customer services Andrew Pelling Unfortunately I have experienced quite long delays getting through on London Buses' customer services telephone number. What is the average waiting time for getting through to a live individual member of the customer services team when calling this number? What reasonable measures could be taken to reduce the waiting time ? 133 / 2003 - Tramlink replacement signage Andrew Pelling Would money spent on new signs of a different green shade at Tramlink stations have been better spent on items like tram cleansing, more readable timetables or tram junction improvements? What was the cost of the work on replacing the signs? How many signs were replaced? Where have the old signs gone? 137 / 2003 - Long Term bus fare strategy Andrew Pelling I noted that the minutes of the TfL board meeting of 20th March reported that 'concern was expressed regarding long term bus fare strategy. It was noted that London Buses would be preparing a paper dealing with this.' When will that paper come forward ? 138 / 2003 - Penalty Charge notice in Croydon 3 Andrew Pelling Why has the Joint Arrangement with the London Borough of Croydon for the operation of a Penalty Charge Notice processing and recovery system been extended to 31 March 2004 ? Will the London Borough of Croydon be permitted to bid in the tendering of the processing service for the period from April 2004 ? 146 / 2003 - Transport for London and the Tube Graham Tope What discussions have you had with the Secretary of State for Transport to determine the date on which London Underground will be handed over to Transport for London? What is your own estimate of this date? 147 / 2003 - PPP and contracts Lynne Featherstone Who will be in actual charge of negotiating the contracts with the PPP contractors so that within the constraints imposed on LT, attempts are made to get the best possible improvements in service from the contractors? 148 / 2003 - Transport Infrastructure projects Mike Tuffrey What studies has Transport for London undertaken into ways to capture a share of the development gain made by property owners and others arising from new transport infrastructure projects? What legislative or other changes are required before we could use these as a viable funding mechanism at a regional level? 152 / 2003 - Performance Bonus John Biggs What were the performance targets by which your bonus for last year was to be assessed? When were these agreed? Were they challenging? And did you achieve them? 153 / 2003 - Safer Overground Stations Valerie Shawcross What priority will you give to raising stations to the Secure Stations standard? 154 / 2003 - Overground Rail Services Diana Johnson 4 What proportion of passengers in London use the overground rail system and what proportion of TfL’s budget has been earmarked for improving overground rail services in London? 155 / 2003 - Access Jennette Arnold What plans do you have to improve the accessibility of the public transport network? 156 / 2003 - Buses Meg Hillier How will TfL Buses monitor and improve bus service quality across the whole of Greater London? 157 / 2003 - Bus Contract Costs John Biggs What advice have you given the TfL Board and its Chairman on the sustainability of bus contract costs? 158 / 2003 - London Tram Scheme Valerie Shawcross Following a recent meeting between Council Leaders from the Cross River Partnership member Authorities and TfL officers, rumours are running around my constituency that the London Tram scheme is to be shelved by TfL. Will you scotch these rumours and give a realistic timetable for progress on this major project. 159 / 2003 - TfL Nicky Gavron Early in 2002 TfL issued an interchange plan, complete with details of funding and information about how action plans are to be formulated. I have several important interchanges in my constituency of Enfield & Haringey, including Seven Sisters and Tottenham Hale, I would like to know action has been taken as a result of the plan. 160 / 2003 - Cyclists Meg Hillier Police motorcycles themselves can sometimes be spotted waiting in pushbike-only Advance Stop Line boxes. With the change in status for this offence that came into force earlier this year, do you agree that TfL, the police and the boroughs should be doing more to raise awareness of the rules and keep cars, buses and powered two-wheelers out of ASL boxes? 161 / 2003 - Congestion Charge 5 Meg Hillier Even those who have registered their details as regular payers of the congestion charge must wade through several pages on the TfL website to pay the charge on any given day.