Mayor ‘Evasive’ Over Transport Projects

By · May 19, 2011 at 15:00 pm · 6 Comments · Latest News · Report an error ·

Photo by daejn

Completion of the Jubilee line upgrade and the Thames cable car remain shrouded in mystery after Boris Johnson declined to commit himself to dates during the Mayor’s Question Time.

The Jubilee line has been dogged by delays, failures and weekend closures after work ran more than a year behind schedule. Increased services originally planned for July are looking more likely to arrive in September though at least Boris promises us an end to weekend closures after the end of June. Fears remain that the line will still be affected during the Olympics – with a paucity of transport options in the east, it’s not a pleasant prospect to contemplate for visitors and commuters alike.

The cable car is more tricky; a failure to find private investment has meant that TfL could end up footing the bill which has apparently doubled to £57m from the original estimate. Details surrounding the cable car have always seemed to be a tad vague and the completion date is no different with the mayor telling the London Assembly that it will be open ‘when it’s good and ready’. Given that the cable car was intended to link two of the Olympic venues – Greenwich Peninsula and Royal Victoria Dock – Boris’s statement that the project isn’t tied to the Olympics seems curious.

The mayor’s reluctance to commit to deadlines isn’t a massive surprise; he’s been repeatedly criticised over ‘broken promises’ and while his sudden rushes of enthusiasm were entertaining, people tend to want something tangible out of it. Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group concurs:

‘For the mayor to state that the cable car will be completed when ‘it’s good and ready’ is totally unbelievable. It is simply staggering that the mayor is throwing around £57 million of public money at the Thames Cable Car yet is totally incapable of giving any assurance as to when it will be open. The mayor should get on top of this flagship project.’

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  • Anonymous

    These infrastructure projects. Would love to see politicians move beyond the black and white world of ‘it will be/it won’t be’ built by a certain date and use a more realistic system of probability.
     
    e.g. (my numbers are made up)
    20% probability the cable car will be ready for the Olympics
    50% by the end of 2012
    95% by the end of 2013.

    That would better reflect the way the world works, with uncertainties over planning and delivery factored in. It might look a bit odd to the press at first, who would jump on the most negative number, but if an administration stated that, from now on, they’d work in probabilities rather than certainties, they might better manage expectations.

    • http://twitter.com/jonnelledge Jonn Elledge

       Nice idea, but doesn’t that mean there’d be no accountability, ever? “Well, we did say there was a 2% chance that we’d never finish the thing.”

      • Anonymous

        There’s exactly the same accountability. In the quip you give, the mayor would be factually correct, but deemed as useless. Whereas if he met the 20% chance date, he could be regarded as performing well…or lucky (so long as someone independent set the targets).

        If all projects were scored this way, you’d have a system for measuring a mayor’s effectiveness across a whole term and multiple projects that was more nuanced than ticking off manifesto pledges.

  • Anonymous

    These infrastructure projects. Would love to see politicians move beyond the black and white world of ‘it will be/it won’t be’ built by a certain date and use a more realistic system of probability.
     
    e.g. (my numbers are made up)
    20% probability the cable car will be ready for the Olympics
    50% by the end of 2012
    95% by the end of 2013.

    That would better reflect the way the world works, with uncertainties over planning and delivery factored in. It might look a bit odd to the press at first, who would jump on the most negative number, but if an administration stated that, from now on, they’d work in probabilities rather than certainties, they might better manage expectations.

  • corky

     Once again big statements made but it’s very foggy when Boris is questioned on transport.
    The cable car is a nonsense why spend 57 million on it.
    Most Londoners would prefer to see the Underground running on time more trains no more signal disasters,clean trains and seats for people instead of standing crushed in,there is a law against overcrowding animals in transport but humans can be crammed in.
    Once again it’s all noise.

  • http://twitter.com/richardbrennan richardbrennan

    Does anyone know when the Stratford International DLR extension will open? I’ve heard July 2011 given as an  estimate.

    Also, does anyone see it being used much aside from the Olympics, given that Stratford, West Ham and Canning Town already have good transport lines, and many of the people who use the overcrowded 25 bus can’t afford the DLR fares?

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