Londoners- check this out before you vote tomorrow

[mdean]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw7n1dYeuHY

[Enuff]

I'm sure there's footage of a joking Ken somewhere... Because here's the the non-joking Boris. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHrngTplrNU

All hype!

[papa smurf]

im not a laaaanduner but i like that borris chap ,and it allways gives me a laugh when i am reminded you actually have to pay to drive your own car thru town [mugs].

[Damien]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

im not a laaaanduner but i like that borris chap ,and it allways gives me a laugh when i am reminded you actually have to pay to drive your own car thru town [mugs].

Inner-City London is not designed to cope with the level of traffic it was subjected too. As much as the congestion charge is inconvenient for some, it makes the city less congested, quicker for taxis and buses to get around, and has better air quality.

Ken Livingston is not popular and certainly annoys almost everyone. However, unlike Boris, I think he has a record of accomplishment that few politicians can claim.

[Xaccers]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

im not a laaaanduner but i like that borris chap ,and it allways gives me a laugh when i am reminded you actually have to pay to drive your own car thru town [mugs].

Watched some of the Mayor question time a couple of nights ago, and I have to say Boris (to me anyway) came across in the best light, followed by the other bloke, and then smarmy Ken.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by Damien

Inner-City London is not designed to cope with the level of traffic it was subjected too. As much as the congestion charge is inconvenient for some, it makes the city less congested

Huh make the city less congested, you do realise that the jams are just as bad now as they were 5 years ago and the public transport budget has been cut by 10% as well, the congestion charge has proved to be such a success, it's actually putting other cities of adopting similar tolls.

However, unlike Boris, I think he has a record of accomplishment that few politicians can claim.

A vote for Boris is a vote for the cult of celebrity, a man that makes his name pretending to be thicker than he actually is certainly won't be getting my vote, after all if he is a dumb as he makes out, he isn't very good advert for Eton is he?

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by Xaccers

Watched some of the Mayor question time a couple of nights ago, and I have to say Boris (to me anyway) came across in the best light, followed by the other bloke, and then smarmy Ken.

must agree with the smarmy analogy, he reminds me of a market trader, and is there any proof of cleaner air and reduced traffic congestion or have the locals just swallowed a placebo ?

[Stuart C]

Has Ken's campaign failed so badly that he feels the need to advertise on forums?

Ken will NOT be getting my vote.

---------- Post added at 18:17 ---------- Previous post was at 18:05 ----------

Originally Posted by Damien

Inner-City London is not designed to cope with the level of traffic it was subjected too. As much as the congestion charge is inconvenient for some, it makes the city less congested, quicker for taxis and buses to get around, and has better air quality.

The air quality is better? Possibly, but I think that is down to improvements in Engine and Exhaust design as much as any contribution by Ken.

Has Congestion Charging worked? It's difficult to say. TFL's own figures say yes, but they are maintaing the streets on behalf of Ken, so it's in their interest to say it's working. The truth is it's not clear because TFL spent an awful lot of money and time both installing new traffic lights and adjusting existing ones, which could very easily have distorted the traffic figures before the Congestion Charge came in.

Quicker for Buses and Taxis to get around? Not really. All it has achieved is to change the composition of traffic jams. Most of the ones I see appear to be at least 90% composed of buses now.

I'll give credit where credit is due, however. Someone needs to do something about London's traffic. Ken is the only politician I have seen who was actually willing to *do* something rather than just say it something needs to be done..

[Damien]

Quicker for Buses and Taxis to get around? Not really. All it has achieved is to change the composition of traffic jams. Most of the ones I see appear to be at least 90% composed of buses now.

Oyster and buying tickets before you get onto a bus has also improved the speed of getting around on the buses as well..

[BBKing]

Originally Posted by Vivienne Westwood

Boris as mayor would be like discovering you had piles and there was no cure for it.

Originally Posted by TheDaddy

Huh make the city less congested, you do realise that the jams are just as bad now as they were 5 years ago and the public transport budget has been cut by 10% as well, the congestion charge has proved to be such a success, it's actually putting other cities of adopting similar tolls.

a) 8% lower, from the Fifth Annual Review of the congestion charge I've been ploughing through.
b) £240m more on buses a year, let alone all the rail and DLR investment. Where on earth does that come from? The Tories are criticising Livingstone for wasting huge sums of money on it (because they don't like the poor moving around), so it can't be them.
c) No it isn't, go to Stockholm, Milan and Singapore. There aren't a lot of cities big enough with the technology and public transport capacity necessary to introduce it, of course, so the number of possible export sites isn't high.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by BBKing

a) 8% lower, from the Fifth Annual Review of the congestion charge I've been ploughing through.
b) £240m more on buses a year, let alone all the rail and DLR investment. Where on earth does that come from? The Tories are criticising Livingstone for wasting huge sums of money on it (because they don't like the poor moving around), so it can't be them.

The Times and Independent

c) No it isn't, go to Stockholm, Milan and Singapore. There aren't a lot of cities big enough with the technology and public transport capacity necessary to introduce it, of course, so the number of possible export sites isn't high.

Liverpool, Manchester and Birmingham were all keen

[BBKing]

The Times and Independent

Links? The Times is hardly unbiased and the Independent's transport coverage I know from experience is abject. So's their science coverage. Still, at least it wasn't the Standard.

What also isn't usually mentioned is that congestion increases with a booming economy, which has been the case (along with substantial inward migration) since the charge was introduced, so the measure is not against where it was before the charge (where it's still down) but against *where it would have been if the charge and the associated public transport improvements hadn't happened*.

Aslo, the number of road deaths sharply reduced after the charge was introduced:

It is estimated that congestion charging directly leads to between 40 and 70 fewer personal injury road traffic accidents in the charging zone per year.

Deaths and injuries are sharply down across London as a whole, actually, due to traffic calming, traffic reduction, modal shift, strong road safety campaigns in schools etc.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by BBKing

Links? The Times is hardly unbiased and the Independent's transport coverage I know from experience is abject. So's their science coverage. Still, at least it wasn't the Standard.

No links, I have been known to actually buy a newspaper on rare occasions

[BBKing]

So it's your half-remembered articles from months ago against my actually reading the detailed review of the congestion charge published by TfL last year, then? OK. Sorry to be blunt here, but there's too much tripe from newspapers flying around this election campaign and there's a good chance it's going to result in the election of an appallingly badly qualified candidate. You can see why I'm annoyed.

[TheDaddy]

Originally Posted by BBKing

So it's your half-remembered articles from months ago against my actually reading the detailed review of the congestion charge published by TfL last year, then? OK. Sorry to be blunt here, but there's too much tripe from newspapers flying around this election campaign and there's a good chance it's going to result in the election of an appallingly badly qualified candidate. You can see why I'm annoyed.

Do you think that detailed review is an unbiased account then? I think your right though, Boris will probably win