Massive expansion of Oyster PAYG

Big expansion to the Oyster PAYG 'network' in the New Year. Here's National Rail's map showing Oyster PAYG on National Rail, updated with the changes:

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/london/Oyster_jan_2010.pdf

And the ATOC London Connections Map anticipates the change in its December 2009 version, using the device of a red dash-dot line to show the boundary of the area where Oyster PAYG will be available, which is not quite the same as the boundary of zone 6.

TfL have produced their own map showing the changes - it's here - http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/tickets/oyster-rail-services.pdf. I like the way this map is colour coded by the mainline termini and ignores this week's TOC names, but I wish TfL and ATOC (via FWT) weren't producing their own maps with very similar purposes.

I had trouble finding Oyster info on the National Rail site by using menus and links. Here are a couple of pages I've happened upon by luck or found by searching for "oyster".

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/london/oystercard.html

http://www.nationalrail.co.uk/times_fares/london/index_custom.html

Richmond Station

Richmond station is a National Rail run station served by the Underground (like Barking) it has seven platforms (cf Barking's 8) of which 2 are through and 5 terminal (Barking 2 terminal, 6 through). Richmond station's train information board includes district line trains alongside National Rail ones, rather than pretending that they don't exist as c2c officially seem to do a lot of the time at Barking. Admittedly there are a lot more Underground trains at Barking, but the failure to integrate the staion shows up in comparison with Richmond.

Car free

Check out http://www.giveupyourcar.com/ and the associated http://www.thecaraddiction.com/ to read about how to avoid owning a car and the advantages that can bring to your life and wallet.

"New" TfL information number

TfL's website says "Get journey information in a flash by calling our new, voice-activated telephone service on 0843 222 1234" but calling 08 numbers is more expensive from most phone lines.

Say no to 0870 is a good website for finding the geographic "connect numbers" for 08 NTS (Number Translation Service) numbers

The entry for 0843 222 1234 gives two alternatives - 020 7222 1234 - TfL's main number and 020 7222 1200 - a lesser known but still long-standing number which (it says) connects through to the same place as 7222 1234 option 2. I haven't tested this.

Barking & Gospel Oak Line

According to December 2009's Modern Railways magazine, "Signalling enhancements on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line were completed on [Saturday] 14 November 2009, equipping the route with extra capacity to allow it to act as a diversionary route for for freight when the main North London line is blockaded next year.

The Gospel Oak - Barking service currently comprises two trains per hour in each direction [no it doesn't - Ed]. It was planned to double that frequency in the December timetable this year, but this has been put off until My next year for two reasons. First, the freight diversions from ... next year's blockade [see above] will require considerable line capacity. Second, the new diesel trains ... are running late in construction".

I've been the victim of a higher number of cancelled trains recently. I wonder if this coincides with the "signalling enhancements"?

Don't be confused though - according to TfL's publicity there will still be closures on the B and GO "until 2011" - see http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/rail/rail-all-future.html.

Transport software

http://www.mobexx.co.uk/content/software

I don't plug products for commercial reasons, but I cam across an advertorial for this company's bus network management software and just found it interesting to read about. Going to their website I notice they offer a turn-key package for taxis too.

If we are to tap in to the advantages of cars as transport, whilst minimising their negative effects, on thing we don't want is a million and one minicab firms each with their own phone number / controller and each only willing and able to dispatch one of their own vehicles. I don't know what scalability the mobexx software has, but an integrated taxi/minicab service for London (or even on a larger scale) makes sense.

Re-use those tetra paks

http://www.bicycology.org.uk/tetra_pak.htm

Here's a Blue Peterish "make" - Tetra Pak becomes wallet/purse

Barking & Gospel Oak Line

It looks like the weekend disruption on the B&GO will continue for at least another year (see news below). I really can't work out what it is they're doing that's taking so long - and we had a recent spate of signal problems (!) and train failures. It was like the old days. I don't know why technicians haven't improved the bit of track just outside Barking where the train jolts, nearly throwing people over. I have reported it but I'm just ignored.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/rail/rail-all-future.html

"LONDON OVERGROUND PLANNED CLOSURES ON GOSPEL OAK - BARKING LINE: To enable the running of more frequent and reliable services across London, on time for the Olympics in 2012, there will be temporary closures on various lines of the Overground network. TfL will run two rail replacement bus services an hour calling at all affected stations in both directions.

The first set of improvements, to enable the running of 4 trains per hour will take place at weekends on the Gospel Oak to Barking line until 2011 during which time there will be a reduced service most weekends.

LONDON OVERGROUND PLANNED CLOSURES ON RICHMOND - STRATFORD LINE: In addition to this, further works are scheduled to take place on most Sundays until 2011 on the Richmond to Stratford line. TfL will also run a rail replacement bus service during these times.

There will be an extended period of line closure between GOSPEL OAK - STRATFORD in the first half of 2010. Dates are still to be confirmed."

Barking Station

As most people will know, Barking made it into the worst 5 stations in England and Wales. The full report from which that information is taken is here

http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/rail/passenger/stations/betterrailstations/

Rumours are spreading that the Barking Dog will be closing to make way for redevelopment, but 'better stations' speaks of £50 million to spend on 10 stations - noty enough to rebuild Barking. The council has a master plan for the station quarter, of course, but whether developers are waiting in the wings I don't know.

Axe Street Cycle Lane

I'm pleased to report a small but welcome campaigning victory. Axe Street, Barking was made one way in the 1970s. A few years ago, the one way restriction was partly lifted to make things easier for construction traffic for the many new buildings in or near the street. A few weeks ago, I objected to a plan to re-introduce 1 way working, saying that one way streets are against the council's policy of promoting cycling. As a result the council has offered to install a cycle lane to allow cycling in the opposite direction to the general traffic flow.

Right to ride to school

"All children should have the right to cycle to school.

There are many excellent programmes designed to promote cycling to children – such as Bikeability and CTC’s Bike Club.

But there remains a persistent problem - many children are unable to cycle to school because:

* they don’t know how
* their parents would rather drive them
* they don’t have anywhere to keep their bike
* their school actively discourages this mode of transportation

It is especially frustrating when children who have received Bikeability cycle training and whose parents are supportive of cycling are unable to cycle because their schools forbid them from bringing their bikes onto school grounds … or just forbid them outright.

In response to these concerns, CTC will be releasing a campaigning kit for families who want their children to be able to cycle to school despite opposition from head teachers and/or governors. "

Cycle to work guarantee

"A healthier workforce means higher productivity. Cycling to work is a great way for people to get, and stay, fit and healthy.

The Cycle to Work Guarantee is a voluntary initiative from the Department for Transport, challenging businesses to become cycle friendly employers by making it easy for staff to cycle to and from work.

By signing up, your business can signal its commitment by providing the facilities and incentives to help your workforce become healthier, greener and more productive.

• Secure, safe, and accessible bike parking

• Good quality changing and locker facilities

• Offset the cost of cycling equipment and save on the tax through the ‘Cycle to Work scheme’

• Bike repair for cyclists on or near site

• Training, reward and incentive programmes to achieve targets for more cycling

Massive expansion of Oyster PAYG

[See new entry dated 28 December]

Oyster Pay as you go will be accepted on every train in London that accepts travel cards, from 2 January. This map http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/Oyster-rail-services-in-London-Jan-2010.pdf shows it diagrammatically. PAYG is also accepted on Thames Clipper.

Don't be fooled into thinking that the lower PAYG fares that exist on London Transport Services will apply though. The National Rail (NR) fares are not changing.

My friends at FWT who make the useful ATOC London Connections map didn't accept that their text about tickets should be updated for Oyster - they argued that Oyster was primarily a TfL thing and their main concern was National Rail. I think they will have to change their mind now.

The interesting thing about TfL's PAYG map is that the NR lnes are colour coded according to the London Terminus/-i they serve - completely ignoring the mind boggling name/ownership changes that pervade NR. All that said, there is too much duplication in the world of train maps in London and TfL and ATOC/FWT should collaborate and rationalise.

Cycle of consumption

As I write the Christmas lights are being put up in Barking town centre. It's a cliché to say they go up earlier every year (though I do think it was 'only' a month before Christmas last year) and I daresay the words "bah humbug" will be dusted off, but this 'Disneytide' is just a rather pathetic attempt to stimulate the cycle of consumption.

Commercial enterprises are trying to "make money", but they can't. Only banks make money - the rest of us just pass it around. All the shops trying to get money off you this 'Disneytide' are going to give a fair proportion of it to their staff as wages, so that they can go off and give it to another enterprise who will give it to their staff and so on.

I'm not being a Puritan - people should enjoy Christmas, but just step back and think what it is you really want for yourself, your fellow human beings and - crucially - the planet. There will be people who wake up hungry and die before the next time they should be going to sleep again. What is it we're trying to achieve?

Trinity Buoy Wharf

A few photos taken on our visit there on 15 November

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/cardinal1962/TrinityBuoyWharf15Nov09#

Thames Clipper. Oysterising the Thames - The River Concordat

http://www.thamesclippers.com/routes-times-prices-booking/routes-times-prices-booking.html

This regular river service can be a bit low key in its presence at the piers in tourist areas, presumably so the tourist oriented boat operators can catch the tourists. Thames Clipper's all day ticket is £12 or £8 if you have a travel card.

http://www.thamesclippers.com/main/news-15.html

This press release from 6 April ('Oysterising the Thames - The River Concordat') says "From November this year Thames Clipper services will be able to accept Oyster Pay as you Go"

Electric car charging point

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23764768-electric-car-charge-points-installed-at-sainsburys.do

The Evening Standard reported that some Sainsbury's stores have these. Those at Beckton are at the western end of the car park on the A13 side. The brand is Elektrobay, but they don't yet feature on the supplier's network map:

http://www.elektromotive.com/html/network.php

100% renewable electricity/gas

I buy my gas/electricity from Good Energy because it uses 100% renewable sources. They’re doing a promotion whereby if customers get other people to sign up they get £25 off their bill and so does the new signer.

Until the end of 2009 I will donate any £25s I get this way to charity.

Please quote my account number when you sign up – G502256. Good Energy’s phone number is 08456 011410 (according to http://www.saynoto0870.com this number translates to 01249 766090)

Mayor's Cycle Safety Action Plan

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/roadusers/cycling/13382.aspx

"We want to know what you think about the Mayor's priorities for making cycling safer in London"

Deadline for responses Friday 11 December

Second class?

Recently the paintwork on the road around Barking station was "refreshed" and v smart it looks too. However, the cycle decals were excluded. I'm open to persuasion as to the merits of these decals without any other markings, but not refurbishing them like the other markings just makes cycling look like a second class form of transport.

Fellow travellers

http://www.fellowtravellers.co.uk/

"Fellowtravellers' alternative transport system puts control of public transport in the hands of the people who use it – by enabling users to create new bus, minibus and shared-taxi routes which meet real need; and by raising efficiency, economy, and reliability across the board."

"Anyone with a PSV licence, local authority private hire or taxi licence, or section 22 permits and a suitable vehicle can offer a route through Fellowtravellers. To help providers to plan and develop routes, any member of the public can suggest a route they would like to see delivered.To help providers assess potential routes, they can post prospective routes on site and gain valuable customer feedback and expressions of interest before fully committing themselves to delivery.

Providers can post routes which they intend to deliver as regular daily services, or for one day only (perhaps filling the empty leg of an existing booking). The service will be inexpensive because longer contracts and multiple passengers will enable providers to keep costs down; it will be safe because all fellow passengers will be registered Fellowtravellers' users; and it will be reliable because local competition will motivate providers to deliver the best service at the keenest price."

Veloroutes

http://veloroutes.org/bikemaps/?route=38512

This digital mapping site was tipped in August/September 2009's 'Cycle', CTC's magazine. It's built on the ubiquitous Google maps and looks not unlike bikely, that I think I've mentioned here before. The writer of the letter says it's "American based but covers the UK too". There are too many of these route recording sites, but that doesn't mean this one isn't good.

The specific route I've linked to starts in Creekmouth, Barking, but appears to cross the river there - where there is no means to do so. It then zig zags all over the shop.

Just like the old days

As more enlightened councils are looking for ways to increase cycling permeability in their boroughs, I have once again had to write to ours to ask them not to introduce one-way working in Axe Street, Barking.

Admittedly, they only removed the one way working introduced in the (early) 1970s recently to facilitate building works, but here is an opportunity restore a little bit of Barking's street network to full cycling access. The person to write to to object is Darren Henaghan. Objections have to be in writing. The notice is in thenews (Council Newspaper) p20 of the 17 October edition.

Clearing up messy gardens

B&D council have started a campaign under their "Love Where We Live" initiative to clear up messy front gardens in the borough. If you wish to report one, phone 020 8215 3010. This apples to all front gardens, not just council properties. Those unable to maintain their own front gardens, such as elderly people, may be able to get help. There will also be a tool library giving once only loans of gardening equipment to people who cannot afford their own.

I sourced this information from the council's newspaper, thenews, page 5 of the 17 October edition. I couldn't easily find anything on the council's website.

This made the BBC news on 22 October - http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8320093.stm

Teacup service replaces Circle Line

From December, instead of just running round the Circle, Circle Line trains will run from Hammersmith, through Edgware Road, right round the Circle to Edgware Road again to terminate and reverse.

This will enable trains to be near their depot at Hammersmith more frequently to receive routine maintenance and therefore be less likely to be taken out of service with faults.

The concern is what it will say on the front of the train that isn't at best uninformative and at worst confusing to people who might set off to Hammersmith in the wrong direction.

Blakes Corner Abuse

The roadway from Station Pde to Ripple Rd is open again, mainly to let East London Transit (ELT) buses through. Each end of the newly re-opened stretch sports "no motor vehicles" signs with "except buses" qualifications or similar). Sadly, even before ELT starts to run, motorists are ignoring the signs and driving into / through the area.

If this were "cyclists" there would be calls for some cruel and unusual punishment to be inflicted, but motorists - despite their claims that they are put upon - can apparently get away with illegality such as this, even whilst driving past the police station.

Eco man with a van

http://www.ecovanandman.com/

"Eco Van & Man is a London man and van removal company with a difference. Not only do we provide a highly professional, competitively priced moving and storage service throughout London but we are totally committed to caring for the environment.

Our aim is to run our business on a completely sustainable and carbon neutral basis and not only have we invested in the finest electric and LPG vans, recyclable materials and committed people but have undertaken to set up and invest in an Eco charity and our own Eco forest to offset the few carbon generating aspects of our operations."

Barking to lose 179 bus service

Edited 16 October following clarification from TfL


When ELT routes EL1 and EL2 start up in February, the 179 route will terminate at Ilford and no longer serve Ilford Lane and Barking. I missed the consultation on this - it's now a done deal.

The letter I have from TfL says the bus frequency in Ilford Lane will be 16 buses per hour (combined 169, EL1, EL2).

The two separate routes that will make up the ELT are:

• Ilford to Dagenham Dock via Barking town centre
• Barking town centre to Dagenham Dock via Barking Riverside

The second of these clearly won't serve Ilford Lane.

TfL responded to my query saying that from early next spring the 369 route will cease, EL2 will run between Ilford and Dagenham Dock and EL1 will run the same route but terminate at Thames View Estate. EL3 will start up in 2013 and run between Barking and Dagenham Dock via Barking Riverside.

The Zeitgeist Movement

I've written about this "outgrowth" - to use one of Peter Joseph's favourite words - of the Venus Project before, but thought I'd have a stab at explaining it in my own words - well more in my own words.

There are several starting points, so I'll begin with technnological unemployment. There are many people working in jobs that could be done as well or better by machines. This is because the system says they have to have a job to get money and they have to have money to get food, but why is the system like this? Worse still, there are some people working in jobs that are pointless or counter productive - my example previously was of single mums being constrained to work in fast food outlets - a contradiction of the government's policy that we eat healthily. These single mums are being taken away from the worthwhile job of raising children.

People should be able to have life's essentials (food, shelter, potable water etc) as their birthright and should not have to work for them.

Under the current system people have to work to eat, and of course people have to buy things so that others can be paid. The so-called "cycle of consumption". It's no good making things that would last for ever as people would only buy them once and the people that make them would be out of work and unable to eat. Therefore, we deliberately make things that break or wear out and need repairing or replacing. The repair work is more work for people to do, which is held to be good, and the stuff that's thrown away basically adds to our sickening pile of waste.

The common factor in all this is money, which was necessary when resources were scarce as a way of allocating them, but are resources truly scarce? With rapidly advancing technology, we can in theory know exactly what resources we have at any one time and allocate where need is greatest. Technology can also help us get the best yields of food from land and sea in a sustainable way. Instead of this we have stratification where in one part of the world people are dying of starvation and in another they're dying from the opposite.

The mechanics of money itself are quite ridiculous. All the money in existence is on loan from banks and interest is due on every penny of it. Therefore more money is owed than actually exists to pay it back. Another reason we have to go to work is to earn money to pay back loans to the bank. It is no less than slavery. Every so often the difference between the money owed and the money that exist becomes so apparent /severe that we have a financial crisis, as we are having now.

The argument runs that with no money there would be no incentive to do the things that need doing, but is this really true? People the world over do things voluntarily and would probably do more if they didn't have to work all day too. Many of them are doing voluntary work to "give something back" to society as they plainly don't get that from their paid work. Further, much of our work is to earn enough money for the basics including the loan from the bank that we pay back as rent or mortgage in exchange for a place to live. Some of the basics are things we must buy in order to be able to go to work - transport being the most obvious example. For most people there's not much money left for inessentials or time left to spend it.

The financial crisis we are having is just that - a financial crisis. It's only because money touches so many aspects of our lives that it seems worse than it is. Your house or flat didn't cease to exist at the crunch moment. The sun still shines, plants still grow and every other species on the planet carried on as if nothing happened.

A true economic system is based on real resources - a resource based economy. The monetary system helps destroy and squander these resources - and it has to because it can only work with scarcity. It pays to pollute water because it makes it scarcer and therefore costlier. The fact or belief that mains water is impure or sub standard also creates - along with advertising - a market for bottled water.

In a resource based economy we would conserve our resources, especially the non-renewable ones. This would require us to know what we have, and technology would help us do that. Without money, vast numbers of jobs would disappear - especially the ones that are only about handling money - banking, insurance etc, but also advertising and also the many jobs that are completely unnecessary or could be automated.

The Zeitgeist Movement denies the need for government and politics. Governments can pass laws to make things happen, but other people actually make them happen. If you're ill you go to your GP, not your MP.

Talking of being ill, the pharmaceutical companies are often criticised for making money out of the vital medicines that people - who often can't afford them - need. But they are just working in the same monetary system as everyone else. It just so happens that they're a very pointed example of the absurdity of our current system. It's true that they need money for research and that to get money they have to sell pills and potions. Also, people have to be ill to need the pills and potions. In a resource based economy, knowledge about the beneficial effects of plants, chemicals, minerals, etc, would be shared (pharmaceutical companies have to compete with each other). Jacque Fresco (originator of the Venus Project - see blogs passim) often says that celery juice can reduce blood pressure, but pharam companies can't make money out of it. This absurdity would not occur in a resource based economy. [NB I'm not giving out medical advice - just repeating what Jacque Fresco says. A little internet research will confirm that celery juice is certainly good for you - hardly a surprise.]

Without money we wouldn't be slaves to work and we'd have far more time to educate and enlighten ourselves. Education wouldn't be a competive chase for grades supported by a system that teaches exam passing as a skill, it would be a proper quest for understanding and knowledge as we all know deep down it should be - it's what we mean when we say "education".

The Zeitgeist Movement spends a lot of time pondering how the "transition" from a monetary to a resource based economy will come about. Spreading the word and convincing people is one way in the hope that popular uprising will help bring about the change. If the financial system collapses it will help too, but it seems likely that there will be some suffering before the change comes about. The environment needs saving urgently now. If the biosphere can't sustain life it won't matter what economic system we have!

Even if we're willing to make he change, there's a lot of work to do. Even just getting the information systems in place is a major undertaking, though there's more in place than we might imagine. At the moment the best IT is used for war, which obviously would have no place in a resource based economy, and so all the hardware and human skill that's used for that would be freed up for socially progressive use, but in a co-operative, non-monetary society all computing power could be harnessed to the same ends.

Removing or reducing the residual need for human labour would be another big challenge as so many things are designed to be cleaned/maintained/repaired by human hands. One of the big ideas from the Venus Project is entirely new cities built to last by robots. I must admit the idea is attractive but the possibility seems rather remote or far fetched. But what do I know? Jacque Fresco says it will be more sustainable to build new cities than maintain and repair old ones, which sounds plausible, though the best bits of old ones will be kept as museum cities.

Altogether, the radical ideas of the Zeitgeist Movement / Venus Project offer an attractive and sustainable way to live on the planet. Our current system is neither of these things, but a disgrace.

Stop SMIDSY – sometimes sorry just isn’t enough

CTC – the UK’s national cyclists’ organisation is calling on all cyclists to add their voices to its new campaign to combat bad driving. Stop SMIDSY is a major campaign to end the culture of brushing off dangerous incidents with the excuse “Sorry Mate I Didn’t See You”. It aims to change lax attitudes towards bad driving and the failures of the legal system to respond to it when it occurs.

By encouraging cyclists to report crashes and near misses on the new Stop SMIDSY website, www.stop-smidsy.org.uk, CTC will build up a picture of how cyclists are treated by other road users, with the ultimate goal of transforming drivers’ attitudes to reduce danger on the roads.

The website enables cyclists to report not only crashes and near misses, but also dangerous and threatening behaviour, along with the subsequent reaction from the police, prosecutors and the courts. The information cyclists provide will help CTC to build up a picture of the scale of the problem and to highlight individual cases showing the difficulties that cyclists face. Visitors to the site can also find information on the law, get practical tips on dealing with bad driving and seek legal support via CTC’s claims line.

CTC’s Campaigns Coordinator Debra Rolfe said: “Stop SMIDSY is about giving cyclists the opportunity to speak out about what’s happening on our roads. Far too many drivers are getting away with just saying ‘sorry’, rather than being taken to task for their poor road skills. That’s why we’re calling on anyone who cycles to help Stop SMIDSY”.

Public spirited

The railings in the area around Upney Station have recently been replaced and very smart the new ones look, too.

However, at the steps to/from Lambourne Road, the council didn't take the opportunity to clear the large amount of litter in the green space next to the steps. The workers pushed the litter away to a line a couple of feet from the steps and there it stayed.

This morning, I saw one public spirited man with an orange bag (recycling) picking up some of the litter - presumably the recyclable bits. Good on him! If only there were more like that - or even better fewer oiks chucking their empty cans, bottles, etc on the floor wherever they feel like it.

Jacque Fresco and The Venus Project

I don't remember where I first came across Jacque Fresco, founder of The Venus Project, but I have watched much of his material on YouTube. I've also written about it here before. Jacque is now 93 or 94 years old, but still fascinating to listen to. In a live Q&A, the ideas come tumbling out of his mouth in a connected - but not especially organised - way. Frustratingly for questioners, his answers do not always relate terribly well to the question, which isn't helped by the fact that he's rather deaf, and his partner Roxanne Meadows summarises and relays the questions to him.

I went to hear him speak today at the City University at Northampton Square. We saw a video (designing the future), heard a talk. I didn't hear anything new (I've seen a lot on YouTube) but I thought I'd hear him in vivo before nature inevitably takes its course.

Jacque's core idea is a bit communist in the best sense - the fraternity (and I should say sorority - though Jacque is not terribly PC) of all, but he denies that it's politically communist and is equally scathing of all politicians who he would say simply talk about /promise things, without being able to do anything about them. Jacque's premise is that engineers and technicians are the only effective improvers of our society.

The most appealing aspect of Jacque's grand design is co-operation, in contrast to competition, but as competition is usually if no always for the pseudo-resource we call money, his model requires us to abolish money. This is superficially appealing, but raises the question of how we allocate scarce resources without money to place a market value on them. Jacques argues that there is in fact abundance of life's necessities - or at leat there could be if we we co-operated and if we didn't squander vast resources on war - a high level expression of destructive competition.

Without money, people stop making / doing things to get money and make / do things for the general good of humanity. Those who suggest money is the solemotivator are easily dismissed in that people do act philanthropically (and less than they might if they didn't have to do a 9-5 turn to earn a crust).

Jacques profligately produces designs of futuristic (6o's style futuristic) buildings and transport. The futurist element of his work is prominent and he embraces sustainability, whilst rather radically arguing that the automated building of standardised, modular cities is less energy intensive that the more obvious 'green' approach of reparing and restoring what we already have. It is difficult to judge whether Jacque's futuristic designs are far fetched and whether the aesthetic aspect is necessary for the functionality he seeks to achieve.

Those of us who share Jacque's vision of the future high-tech, sustainable, money-less, labour free world are called upon to spread the message. The BIG problem is how we would make the transition from as-is to this better society. Jacque and Roxanne regret that only a crisis is likely to provoke such a radical change, and that an incremental, conservative transition is unlikely to come about. Either way, I don't think many of us will live to see it.

Relief for no 5 bus route?

TfL's Consultation and Engagement Centre says that that they are considering extending the 238 to Becontree bus station, thus bring the frequency of buses along the busiest part of the 5 route to 14 per hour in the peak. However, there is also the extra custom generated by Academy Barking Central (or whatever it's called) - the development at the UEL campus.

The plan is still subject consultation and "availability of third party funding"

Bicycle Safe

http://bicyclesafe.com/ is a US website on the subject. Of course where it says left we have to understand right and vise versa, and all the diagrams are similarly reversed for our context. Any references to the law will be to US law, of course.

Hubbub October - November 2009

Apologies that the latest Hubbub (LCC branch newsletter for B&D, Havering and Redbridge) did not get posted out with London Cyclist (LCC magazine). I've uploaded it here.

Council improvements to footpaths and cycleways

The Barking & Dagenham Post reports that "over the next 10 years the council plans to update public footpaths and cycle lanes [sic] with help and "funding from Transport for London, land owners, user groups and developers."

"Deputy council leader, Cllr Bob Little, Labour, said: " ... There will be further consultation on ways and methods of improving cycling. We want much more [sic] safe ways of cycling in the borough that will encourage people to use cycle paths [sic]."

Rather "Prescottian", as reported in the Post, but good news all the same.

i-Bus info goes public

The Barking & Dagenham Post reports that the data about the location of buses gathered by TfL for their i-bus project (of which Countdown is a component) will be made available to customers by SMS or on the web to enable them to see in real time where their bus is.

Waitrose or Ocado

Waitrose have set up their own home supermarket delivery service in apparent competition with Ocado, a partner company that delivers Waitrose products. The Waitrose service will apparently deliver any Waitrose product that their shops stock, and they don't charge for delivery if you spend over £50. However, at the moment their delivery coverage is not as wide as Ocado's. I think they pick your order off supermarket shelves in the "traditional" way.

Ocado only allows you to order some Waitrose products. They have their own special offers and you may not get Waitrose's if you order through them. Most delivery slots are charged for though if you order enough in advance and pick anti-social delivery time, you can get free delivery, though the minimum order is £75. I believe Ocado pick your order from a warehouse.

Abbey Green Consultation

The "About my area" newsletter features an article by the Friends of Abbey Green about an exhibition and consultation. You can see it here:

http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/site/content.asp?area=334&story=140878

There's also a press release from 17 September on the council's website here:

http://www.barking-dagenham.gov.uk/2-press-release/press-release-menu.cfm?item_code=3475

I can't find much else about the matter on the council's website, but AMA says there's 3 week long exhibition starting on Wed 7 October and "a meeting at the Town Hall at 6pm on Wednesday 14th October 2009 to allow local residents to air their views on the six proposals for the Green."

British Cycling's Skyride Local

It is odd to see an organises bike ride advertised as starting in Goodmayes and to find that no-one in Redbridge LCC knows anything about it, but that's just what's happened with two Sunday rides billed as "Essex Ramble", one on 27 September and one on 25 October. Both are marked on the BC website as being full, but it isn't obvious how many people "full" represents.

I've registered with BC and will presumably get e-mails with details of rides, though they haven't asked where I live so it won't be too well tailored, I expect.

I wonder if the rides are pre-existing ones that BC have got involved in, or whether they are events they've organised from the ground up. It would be interesting to know who the local organiser is.

All very odd.

Topping up Oyster PAYG at Barking Station

In the mad world that is train transport in London, Barking station, being run by c2c and not TfL, does not sell Oyster PAYG from its ticket machines, even though many, if not all of them are capable of being upgraded to do so, and the manufacturer (Shere) would like to do that.

London Overground run stations have machines that sell tickets to most National Rail destinations and Oyster products including PAYG - giving a better offer than Barking.

Oyster products are available from the traditional human run ticket office, and Oyster PAYG is useable on all trains that run through Barking, within the zonal fare system.

Oyster products can be bought on line and transferred to the card at Barking and of course Oyster cards can be linked to a credit/debit card, so that the system pulls £20 (or more) off the credit/debit card onto the Oyster card when the balance falls below £5. This is the most convenient option - it's called auto top up.

The fact that Oyster PAYG can't be topped up by machine at Barking is a confusing anomaly, but at least there are shops where this can be done - including shops near the station. The nearest being Judiya Enterprises, opposite. You can find such shops on line at http://ticketstoplocator.tfl.gov.uk/LocationLocator/

but I'm not sure if this list includes Londis, no 33 Station Parade on the same side of the road as the station, a few doors nearer the town centre (used to be 7-11).

Watch your waste week

http://www.nlondon-waste.gov.uk/yourwaste/watch_your_waste_week_2009

19-25 October 2009

Barking Bus Disruption

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tfl/livetravelnews/realtime/information.asp?time=future&mode=buses&line=all&incident=1045450_TfL

Resurfacing works in Longbridge Road (between Wakering Road and The Catch roundabout) mean that buses will be delayed, diverted, and generally disrupted "Between 20:00 Friday 18 September and 06:00 Saturday 19 September." However this is not the first closure of this stretch of road, and I don't know if it will be the last.

Cycling Academy at Barking College

The B&D council newspaper is adverising this but I can't find anything at the college website http://www.barkingcollege.ac.uk/ or by Google.

Train information at stations and on line

The daily e-mail I receive from TfL told me today that there were severe delays on the Barking & Gospel Oak Line owing to a signal failure. I phoned the recorded announcement and it said that one train was running non stop Barking to S Tottenham owing to an earlier train failure. The live departure board on the web had "no report" for the 17:25 train even at 17:15 and the white board at Harringay Green Lanes simply said "delays". The 17:45 was on time.

What a lot of useless rubbish.

When I got to Barking, I wondered if the fact that only c2c and London Overground trains are announced by loudspeaker, but not Underground trains, is a breach of the Disability Discrimination Act.

New Ticket Machines London Overground

I've noticed the new ticket machine at Harringay Green Lanes. Couldn't see the make, or find anything on Google. Not sure why such new machines (2007) have been replaced (if they have) may just be HGL?

£10 off home delivery

I'm not all that keen on supporting the Tescopoly, but they've got a £10 off offer for new customers of their home delivery service who spend £50 on shopping to be delivered by Sunday 13 September. It may be some people's first foray into the delights of having the shopping brought round.

ecoupon code = XX4GZF

Low Carbon Neghbourhood

http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=23462

Barking Town Centre is one of 10 Low Carbon Zones in London.

"Each of the winning boroughs will be awarded at least £200,000 to pioneer energy –busting measures in their low carbon zones. The Mayor wants to make London a low carbon city, boosting ‘green collar’ jobs and helping to lower energy bills by becoming more energy efficient. These zones will showcase exactly how London can become a low carbon city by using a wide range of measures to help people cut carbon and by reducing the emissions of some of London's older buildings, which have generally been more difficult to make energy efficient."

Pink Oyster Readers

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/12483.aspx

TfL has introduced pink coloured Oyster readers at Gospel Oak, Gunnersbury, Highbury & Islington, Kensington Olympia, Rayners Lane, Stratford, West Brompton, Willesden Junction and Blackhorse Road.

"The introduction of Oyster route validators will mean that the Oyster system will identify when passengers have avoided travelling through Zone 1 for those journeys where there are several different choices of route."

I'm confused because I assumed swiping on the platform reader at Stratford told the system you'd changed at Stratford. Is the only change the colour? Also, if you travelled Barking to Blackhorse Road via zone 1, you would take much longer than the direct route, so Oyster ought to be able to work it out by time. Furthermore, the readers between the Gospel Oak Line and tube at BHR were taken out of service when Oyster PAYG was introduced on the B and GO line.

Building Society Members Association

A bit off the beaten track here, but it's good to know that someone is keeping an eye on what the building societies are getting up to with customers' money. Check it out at

http://www.building-societies-members.org.uk

Changing horses

In a 21st century parallel to the concept of changing horses at inns on long journeys, car manufacturer Nissan "is working ... to set up stations where drivers may be able to pick up another battery rather than waiting for theirs to be recharged".

If the problem of range of electric vehicles is to be solved, this kind of solution needs to be developed, but not just for Nissans. Standardisation of battery compartments and fittings accompanied by a rental or lease scheme for the batteries is what is needed, so that any electric vehicle can hot swap to full batteries and be on its way whilst the driver is having a cup of tea and a loo visit.

Gospel Oak Line NOT closed for engineering on Bank Holiday

Remarkably the Barking - Gospel Oak line is NOT closed for engineering works on Monday 31 August, but will be running a Saturday timetable.

That's just about the only bit of good news. According to the BARKING-GOSPEL OAK LINE USER GROUP

"the work on the Barking-Gospel Oak Line is running late and is now expected to end this autumn ... 'BGOLUG welcomes the work, which will provide signalling that can handle four passenger and four freight trains per hour but thanks to Network Rail’s inordinate delays, changing contractors at the last minute, instead of being finished this weekend we have another three months of weekend closures and replacement buses to endure. Meanwhile, our weekday trains are packed solid in the peak periods and the new trains and 15-minute frequency service promised by Transport for London (TfL) for September have slipped back into next year'.

Logic Busters

I have been inspired by TV's Benefit Busters to write to the Radio Times:

"It was good to see the more positive outlook that the course they were on helped the single mums featured on 'Benefit Busters' to develop, but I don't see what was gained over all by them getting jobs in a pound shop. I'm not demeaning their achievements as individuals, but society needs to be working towards improving the human lot - our survival and success as a species. There being jobs in a pound shop requires that people buy the poor quality goods sold in them. This in turn keeps others in work making the poor quality goods, but nobody really wants or needs these goods - they're just made, bought and sold to keep people in work in a rather ridiculous cycle of consumption - a job creation scheme generating landfill.

I don't know whether these particular mums were making a good job of raising their children, but investment in raising well nourished, educated, socialised, and otherwise cared for children, is good for the children's - and society's - future. Tax money well spent. Perversely, though, the government instead cajoles single mums to work in pointless jobs, selling pointless products - rubbish. Perhaps worse: The trainer emphasised that fast food chains often take on staff and the mums should be prepared to take those jobs. So: the government is paying a private company to train people to get jobs in fast food outlets whose viability depends on people buying the fast food, and presumably eating it, whilst that same government spends tax payers' money trying to persuade people not to eat junk food?

The trainer pointed out the social stigma of being on benefits - even though in effect the beneficiaries are being paid to raise children. The stigma should be attached to making, buying and and selling rubbish that's bad for us and bad for our planet."

Let's just spell this out. If you go and buy some rubbish in a pound shop you are helping keep people of benefits by generating a demand for goods that are probably destined to be landfill. If you don't buy fast food, you are not helping to create jobs in that trade, and therefore more people are on benefits. But the government doesn't want you to eat junk food, because it is bad for you.

To keep my letter short I omitted the irony of single mums going out to work to earn enough money to pay someone else to look after their children. Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to stop people getting fulfilment from their lives through work, but what fulfilment is there in working in a pound shop or a fast food shop? It only feels better because of the stigma attached to being on benefits, but who attached this stigma?

Poly Polyclinics

Where the Plough stood in Ilford Lane now stands the Loxford Polyclinic. Wondering what it did, I Googled and found two separate pages within the NHS pages. This, the NHS tell me is because two different bits of the NHS provide services there.

Hands up all those who care which bit of the NHS provides them with a service. Noone? Quite. The reason I actually contacted the NHS was because this page:

http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/Hospital.aspx?id=5NA12&v=4

claims that Loxford Polyclinic is at 45-49 Cleveland Road, Ilford, IG1 1EE

whereas http://www.nhs.uk/ServiceDirectories/Pages/hospital.aspx?id=RF4LP

says it's at

417 Ilford Lane, Ilford, IG1 2SN.

Neither of these pages gives much useful information about what services are provided by any bit of the NHS. This page

http://www.redbridge.nhs.uk/newsandpublications/content.asp?id=184

is essentially a news item from a Redbridge bit of the NHS saying (in the past) what will be provided there. Not to be outdone, this page http://www.bhrhospitals.nhs.uk/visitingus/loxford3.php gives another bit of the NHS's contribution.

Absolutely bizarre! Not een links between the pages.

Blake's Corner

Apart from some temporary signs forbidding it, which I imagine should go soon, it is now possible and legal (per the permanent signs) to cycle from Station Parade into Ripple Road through Blake's corner. The last time cyclists could legally do that was in the mid 1990s.

I look forward to cycling being re-allowed in many other locations

Don't be tempted by 'cheap' bikes

The Guardian recently carried this review of a £70 bike, headed:

"Asda claims its new bike is the country's cheapest. It may also be the nastiest and most poorly built".

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jul/22/asda-cheap-bike

Supermarket bikes don't come ready to ride - you have to get the assembly finished off, which may mean paying someone. The componentry is often cheap and nasty, and won't last very long, and may not be replaceable or worth replacing.

When thinking about cost, always consider the lifetime costs of what you're buying, not just the "first cost" that you part company with in the shop. We're all tempted by what looks like a bargain, but what looks cheap may not be cheap and if it's a bike it may even be dangerous.

Cow Bridge improvements

The bridge over the R Roding at Cowbridge Lane, that I think should be called Cow Bridge, has had lighting installed to improve (the feeling of) saftety. It's a pity it couldn't be improved as a cycle facility.

Bike Dock Solutions

http://www.bikedocksolutions.com/

Barking now has its very own bicycle rack company, based in the old power station in River Road.

Potholes

Concerned by the lack of meaningful action on potholes that I have reported, I asked the council how they determined which potholes to do something about and which not to. The response is a cause for great concern. Intriguingly some holes I had reported acquired some white paint marking them out for repair, presumably. This is the only visible action on site for these long standing reports.

One part of it is about a particular pothole. I was sent an e-mail exchange in which it appears someone had immediately classified the pothole as "not dangerous". On what basis or with what authority did they do this? The highways department replied to their colleague (in Customer Services?) that as the holes are not dangerous they will only monitor them. It appears that the holes were arbitrarily classified as not dangerous and then actual decisions built on this.

The second part of the reply was a spreadsheet categorising footway and road defects into 5 response priorities, depending on criteria like size and location. None of the priority categories is labelled 'dangerous', though there is text about dangerous faults under the priority 1. The sheet does not say what the response should be - only how quick.

Road (carriageway) defects can apparently only be priority 2 - no higher, no lower. The text in the priority 2 column says "Potholes with a depth greater than 40mm and extending more than 200mm in any direction", so we know that potholes of this size should be 'responded to' in 24 hours, but the spreadsheet is utterly silent on smaller potholes and other response times. Apparently no pothole qualifies for being repaired as part of planned works, even.

I have asked the questions.

Car club expansion

New "car club only" parking spaces are appearing in Barking, including Salisbury Avenue (near Priory Road), Axe Street (near 'The Victoria') and St Erkenwalds Road. The spaces will be occupied by Streetcar microhire vehicles.

Cars and therefore car clubs are unlikely to be "deep green", but not owning a car is a stepping stone to a more sustainable lifestyle and car clubs and microhire can help with this. Even if your motivation is not environmental, you can free yourself from some of the hassle of car ownership by joining one of these schemes.

Cars available for common use also free up space,which is at a premium and reduce the amount of cars standing idle - better asset management.

http://www.streetcar.co.uk/

A Campaigning tour of south Dagenham

I spent a few hours on 8 July out with the council's cycling officer looking at recent and on going works mainly in the A13/A1306 area to the south of the borough. Thanks to him for finding the time in his busy schedule. There are photos at http://picasaweb.google.com/cardinal1962/CycleFacilityTour8July09. Apologies for those that are out of focus.

The emphasis in the borough does seem to be on off-road facilities at the moment, with Council initiatives, TfL initiatives (being delivered by Sustrans) and Sustrans' own initiatives all having this focus. What we saw, therefore, was either paths in parks and green spaces or tracks alongside roads that lead between parks and green spaces. It must be said that riding in green spaces - and in particular the Beam Valley path - brings pleasant respite in an area like south Dagenham that is dominated by the A13/A1306 and industry / industrial sites, and the new pathway parallel to Goresbrook Road at Castle Green does provide a pleasant alternative to part of Goresbrook Road, which is narrow and dominated by parked cars, but greenways should be an aid to and not substitute for permeabilty - easy access for cycling down roads and paths everywhere.

Though I understand the attraction of off road facilities for less confident cyclists and children, cycling must not be sidelined into being purely a leisure activity - it is a form of transport too. Neither must off road cycle facilities be used as a tool to keep carriageways freer for motor vehicles. Motorists cannot expect full segregation and should not be led to believe that the roads are their exclusive domain or right. That said, as you know, cycle lanes and tracks are often abused by motorists parking their vehicles in/on them, but it was particularly galling to see a council vehicle parked on the pavement blocking a council provided cycle track. Seeing cycling as mainly a leisure activity can lead to decreased permeability in town centres, with the current fashion apparently seeing them as the domain of pedestrians, public transport and car parks, with cycling not being properly accounted for, even if cycle storage is now more commonly provided in homes.

We discussed the problems of cycle signing. It should be integrated with other signing where possible (not assuming cycling doesn't exist or that it must have dedicated signs) and there should not be too much emphasis on route networks. people will not want to cycle out of their way to use a route network if a more direct route exists. Signs should not direct them to do this by always pointing down network routes.

We spent some time at The Chequers junction a 6 way junction formed by Chequers Lane, Goresbrook Road, Heathway, Marsh Green Road, New Road, Ripple Road. Despite being "detrunked" this is still a busy junction, especially when the A13 is busy and drivers seek an alternative route. Progress on the junction is hard to see as much work is subsurface - 17 ducts cross under it, but eventually sustainable modes will be able to cross carriageways using Toucan crossings if they wish to avoid the carriageway.

Smith Electric vehicles

http://www.smithelectricvehicles.com/

I came across this firm when I was reading an article (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8114470.stm) about a government sponsored electric vehicle trail. The firm is providing vehicles Government's Low Carbon Vehicle Procurement Programme. They produce a range of commercial vehicles including a minibus and use Lithium-Ion Iron Phosphate battery technology.

The electric car trial is described in this article


http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/jun/23/uk-electric-car-trial

Minicab portal

I've discovered a minicab portal that lists mini cab firms by borough. I'm not sure about their data quality - there's a mix of '020' and '0208' spellings of phone numbers. Also, there are several non-geographic phone numbers listed - I wonder if some firms have got themselves listed in Barking & Dagenham even though their vehicles aren't based here.

I'm not sure that boroughs are a terribly helpful way of dividing up the information - people are likely to just want the nearest one to them.

Of course in an ideal world there wouldn't be dozens of phone numbers. Customers would just book centrally and the nearest available and suitable vehicle would be assigned and dispatched. That would be most efficient and user friendly, but we have to have competition and a bewildering listof companies/phone numbers.

http://www.londonminicabnetwork.com/barkingdagenham.htm

Recycle Week 22 - 28 June

http://www.recycleforyourcommunity.com/

Yet another recycling website! There's a competition to win a bike. The answers are supposed to be on the site, but I can't find one of the three.

Wheelie bin roll out (ha ha)

http://www.wastewatch.org.uk/page/4811

After a successful pilot, Barking and Dagenham's houses will be issued with wheelie bins - one grey for rubbish and one green for recycling. Maybe those who are daunted by the prospect of two wheelie bins can come to an arrangement with a neighbour if their waste volumes don't merit such a lot of capacity.

Presumably those of us in flats with shared wheelie bins will have a similar arrangement.

Hydrogen Car

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/features/hydrogenpowered-car-makes-debut-1706673.html

Several newspapers covered the launch of another hydrogen fuel cell car. This Riversimple Urban Car ticks several boxes, being made of carbon fibre and powered by fuel cell and electric motors. Also it is "open source" that is, designed collaboratively.

The car will be available for leasing rather than selling, which is a step forward as the split incentive is removed - both lessor and lessee will want the car to be economical over its whole life and not just to have a low first cost - but a fixed monthly fee will make people drive it more to get their money's worth. A pay as you drive cost model would be better and the next logical step would be to have the vehicles available for hire, of course, so that they're not sitting around doing nothing most of the time like most privately owned cars.

http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/ I noted the Honda Clarity back in 1998. It doesn't seem to have taken the world by storm - maybe because it's $600 pcm to lease.

If the government really wanted to do something about pollution from motor vehicles it would be finding ways of getting refuelling stations out there to support hydrogen vehicles.

Financial crisis

Join with me in calling this a financial crisis and not an economic crisis. The economy isn't only about money. Look out of the window - everything is still there. The earth's natural resources are still there. The financial system is basically a gambling game - and it's that game that's gone wrong. What's this got to do with sustainability? Well, we all have to take part in this game. We have to go to work and earn money to buy products and services to keep other people in work so that they can buy products and services, and so on. And it's no good making durable products, because that would put people out of work and they will no longer be playing the game, so we have to make products that won't last ("planned obsolescence") to keep the cycle of consumption going.

People aren't starving in this world because there isn't enough food. They just haven't got the money to buy it. Having plenty of something is not good for the monetary system. If there's enough food for everyone then there's no "market" for it. To have a "market" you have to have people trying to outbid each other for scarce resources. Polluting (say) the water supply is good in this set-up as it helps make safe water more scarce and therefore it can have a market value.

This is completely nuts. If we can raise enough food for everyone, surely we have a moral duty to? Surely we have to preserve and conserve the abundant, but not unlimited, resources of the planet?

Bygone Barking By Bike

We had a good turnout for the 10th Bygone Barking By Bike - our local history bike ride. Many thanks to historian Colin Ramage for his talks each year and for spending his speaker's fee on drinks for all afterwards. There are some photos of the ride here:

http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/cardinal1962/Bbbb16June2009

Kerbside textile recycling collection

The "Top" textile recycling Collection scheme was started by the Osborne Partnership in Dagenham in a small area but has now covers the whole borough. To use the service, put your textiles for recycling in a bag - but NOT the orange recycling bag - and contact 020 8596 9999 to arrange collection.

At the green fair in Barking on 13 June special bag labels were being given out - but I'm sure they're not necessary provide you label the bags clearly.

Also of course there are bring sites for textile recycling, for example at Tesco's Barking superstore and in Salisbury Avenue j/w Greenslade Rd. The link takes you to a list of bring sites in LB Barking and Dagenham.

The following things are acceptable for textile recycling in LBBD:

Clothing for rewearing or recycling
Pairs of shoes, boots, trainers etc
Bags (hand bags, school bags, luggage etc)
Towels
Household fabrics (duvet covers, curtains)

But not:

Duvets
Blankets
Pillows
Cushion covers (!)

Mayor's LCN+ cutbacks

Short BBC video (featuring Richard Evans of LCC Merton) showing weaknesses in the LCN+ and talking about funding cut backs.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7969310.stm

The Exploratorium's Science of Cycling

http://exploratorium.us/cycling/index.html

Find out why you don't fall off (assuming you don't)and more.

Showersmart

http://www.greenconsumerguide.com/apply-for-showersmart.php

This quick and easy to fit dooberry may save you water if you have a shower attached to a combi boiler. You can pply for a free one

Stop driving sticker for stop signs

Here's an example of the use of a clever campaigning sticker:
http://www.cyclestreets.net/location/16637/


The sticker has been attached to a red Stop sign and it says '[Stop] Driving, start walking, cycling, using public transport'.

Be warned that attaching stickers to road signs is probably illegal.

Barking Park Improvements

http://www.lbbd.gov.uk/2-press-release/press-release-menu.cfm?item_code=3330

The miniature railway in Barking Park re-opened on 11 April. (This is not a transport story - the line doesn't connect with Barking Station!). The press release above explains what other things will be done using the £3M+ the park has been granted by the Lottery.

I had an input to the consultation about restoration some years ago and mentioned cycling based improvements including improving the Park Avenue entrance (dropped kerb and wider gate).

20mph limit case builds

Press release from the London Assembly:

NEWS RELEASE - 09/197 - Thursday, 23 April 2009

New report makes the case for 20mph speed limits in London

The potential for more 20mph limits in London in order to reduce road casualties should be fully explored through a borough-led pilot programme, according to a new report published the same week as the Government announced proposals to reduce speed limits on residential roads.
The report by the London Assembly Transport Committee – ‘Braking point: 20mph speed limits in London’ – found that in areas of London where 20mph zones have been introduced by boroughs and Transport for London (TfL), there has been a 42 per cent reduction in casualties.

Some evidence suggests that the 400 existing 20mph zones – which cover 11 per cent of London’s road network - have also contributed to benefits beyond road safety, including improving traffic flow, reducing emissions and encouraging walking and cycling, although further research is needed.

The report concludes that implementing a borough-wide default 20mph limit all at once may prevent more casualties and prove more cost-effective than the current piecemeal approach of introducing individual zones.

In order to thoroughly test the case for borough-wide limits, the report calls on the Mayor to examine diverting some Transport for London’s £63 million road safety budget to support a borough-led pilot programme from 2010/11.

The pilot would involve two boroughs implementing default 20mph limits on residential roads but deploying different enforcement methods to assess which is most successful at reducing casualties as well as the most cost-effective.

Jenny Jones AM, who led the investigation on behalf of the Transport Committee, said that the report’s findings make a strong case for further work on the introduction of 20mph limits.
“We are talking about saving lives and improving Londoners’ living environment – surely this is justification enough for investing in a comparative pilot to test the best approach.

“Some boroughs are keen to expand on the successful zones they already have in place and I hope the Mayor and Transport for London will put in the necessary funding and effort to support this.”

The benefits of 20mph limits have not gone unnoticed by London’s boroughs. Eight, including Hackney and Southwark, intend to go beyond the use of zones and implement borough-wide default 20mph limits.

The London Borough of Islington will have a borough-wide 20mph limit on all its residential roads by March 2010; the other six are developing the plans on a piecemeal basis by extending zones over a number of years.

The comparative study of different enforcement methods recommended in the report should also monitor the impact of Islington’s borough-wide limit, which will feature a minimal enforcement approach using signage alone in many parts of the borough. A variety of enforcement methods can be used in 20mph zones, with average speed cameras a promising new option that should be explored.

The report calls on the Mayor to investigate funding and pilot proposals with TfL and report back to the Committee by October 2009.

For more details, please contact Dana Gavin in the Assembly Media Office on 020 7983 4603/4283. For out of hours media enquiries please call 020 7983 4000 and ask for the Assembly duty press officer. Non-media enquiries should be directed to the Public Liaison Unit, Greater London Authority, on 020 7983 4100.

Vicarage Field Development

Apart from the improvements - and from the artist's impression it looks better - to St Awdry's Walk (see below), the main changes proposed are:

• Linking Vicarage Drive to St Awdry's Road
• Service road from Ripple Road to be new entrance, with a new ramp to the roof level car park along the side of the existing building
• Ground level car park to have housing built on it
• New tall building above Station parade entrance.
• New "car park ... on the eastern side of the existing building"

The blurb makes many references to sustainability and reducing reliance on cars and it says that the centre will be "more pedestrian oriented", but I note there will be "the same number of [car] parking spaces as the existing centre."

New meaning of 'improvement'

I've long been familiar with the idea that not making things worse for cyclists is called an "improvement" - perhaps the obvious case was not blocking off Crow Lane, Chadwell Heath, to cyclists wishing to turn left into it from Whalebone Lane (can't turn right into it as Whalebone Lane is a dual carriageway). This was called an improvement by the council and local press, but Vicarage Field's meaning of 'improvement' wins the prize for spinning the word so far it's facing the other way.

On page 3 of their glossy and on www.vicaragefield.com/scheme.php they claim "Dramatic improvements to St Awdry's Walk for pedestrians, cyclists and shoppers [sic]". What are these "dramatic improvements"? Well, in the words of the man at the exhibition, "we're going to ask cyclists to dismount"!

I pressed him further and he said that segregation of cyclists and pedestrians had been discussed, but that's what we've got currently. Every shared segregated path I use seems to have pedestrians in the cycle bit. That's not illegal, but I'm not sure why they do it, unless it's just obliviousness. OK, the cycle decals have never put in since St Awdry's Walk (known locally as Peto Alley) was segregated, but generally the decals don't seem to register with pedestrians. I think shared unsegregated is the way forward where a path is shared by cyclists and pedestrians. He agreed that may cyclists are considerate but said some are not. True, but these are just the ones to ignore signs telling them not to cycle. I doubt there has been a collision, let alone a serious one, in Peto Alley for many years, if ever.

The proposal is to have a high level walkway - at the level of the footway at Station Parade (a bridge over the railway) but in the scale model at the exhibition the walkway ended with steps at the St Awdry's Road end. I don't know whether they've looked into a continual slope or series of slopes with level platforms. If they are not going to genuinely improve this important route for cyclists then they should leave it as it is, not make it worse. In my campaigning to stop cyling from being banned through the town centre pedestrianised area (Blake's Corner where the band stand was, East Street etc) I have advocated making/improving alternative routes for cycling avoiding the very central area. Now is the chance to do this at Vicarage Field. I will not let thecut off this important link to/from the station for cyclists.

New on line cycle route planner and maps.

Camden branch of LCC have been putting cycle route maps of London on line for some time now. They use the familiar Google base maps and add cycling specific layers familiar from London Cycle Guides, but also provided by other sources. see http://maps.camdencyclists.org.uk.

Camden LCC wrote recently: "The [cycle route] planner now uses the excellent new OpenStreetMap-based route planner developed and hosted by www.cyclestreets.net. You can plan a route anywhere in London or the UK (though there is currently a limit of 30 km on the length of routes that can be planned).

Many thanks to our Cambridge CC colleagues who did all the hard work to make this possible!

Notes:

- The cyclestreets.net planner is a Beta version. It works pretty well, but there is more work to be done. E.g. route planning does not yet take gradients into account.

- The London coverage of the underlying OpenStreetMap community mapping database is now pretty comprehensive and includes many cycle-specific details that other maps lack, but it relies on feedback and the voluntary effort of the OSM community. Feedback is best provided through the link that will appear at the bottom of each route that you plan.

With the current level of community involvement cyclestreets.net and OpenStreetMap have achieved an amazing result. With further feedback and effort they can be the most effective cycle route planner available."

Road to nowhere

The "road to nowhere" (which still hasn't got a name as far as I can tell) having been built all the way from Jenkins Lane to Highbridge Rd is still blocked off - now because the southern end has been included in a building site. My photo shows the "no-entry except buses" sign which has been there for many years - even though the road didn't go anywhere, they got their punches in early by barring cycling.

Hazard at Eastbrook End Country Park (The Chase)

If you're cycling down "The Chase" across Eastbrook End Country Park, be careful of the speed bumps there. I've had a report from someone who came off her bike on hitting one of them and broke a couple of bones. I've asked the council to look into the size, location and signage, etc.

You can see a report at http://www.fixmystreet.com/report/53987 showing the location on a large scale map.

The Story of Stuff

This website www.storyofstuff.com centres on a nice little animation showing how our linear production / consumption 'cycle' is no good as we live on a planet with finite resources. It shows in very plain english how we are exploiting both the planet and each other in the cause of consumerism, not only by over producing, but alo through the pollution caused along the way. A lot of the figures are about the USA, but the principles apply further afield. I particularly liked the expression "designed for the dump" for planned obsolescence - the way in which goods are made so that they break and have to be replaced.

(One way out of this wasteful cycle is the use of leasing. If you leased, say, your washing machine, it would be in your interest for it to be cheap to run, reliable, cheap and easy to repair and effective, but crucially it would also be in the lessor's interest, too. )

The story of stuff also shows how 'perceived obsolescence' - the idea that you need a new whatever is created and supported by advertising.

RT Bus 30th Anniversary

Believe it or not it's 30 years since the RT bus was last used in regular service. The last route to use them was the 62 out of Barking garage. To mark the anniversary, preserved buses (RTs they hope) are running between Romford and Brentwood, Romford and Ongar, and Brentwood and Epping (via Ongar) on Sunday and Monday 12 and 13 April 2009. See www.thelondonbuscompany.co.uk.

Ongar Station will be open for visitors to see the restoration work towards opening the Epping and Ongar Line as a preserved railway - see www.eorailway.co.uk and there will also be classic buses running from Victoria to Ongar via Aldgate - see http://tclbs.org/2009_programme.htm

Revision of London Cycling Guides

Dr Natarajan Veena is collating amendments / errata for the 4th edition of the London Cycling Guides due to be published in January 2010. We have a golden opportunity to put in corrections, additions and amendments by the end of May 2009. Please make sure you are working from the latest edition of the guides - the code on the back is TFL11xxx.06.07 (xxx being unique for each guide number).

You will need to be precise in explaining your amendments and this is not helped by the lack of a reference grid on the maps. If you are able to copy your amendments to me I will collate a local list and pass on any to other LCC branches as appropriate.


Please send them to Veena.Natarajan@tfl.go.uk

or by Fax to (020) 3054 204

or by post to: TfL CCE Cycling, Walking and Accessibility, 9th Floor, Palestra, 197 Blackfriars Road, LONDON, SE1 8NJ

Shiply

http://www.shiply.com/how-it-works.php
This is a transport brokerage / reverse auction set up. You say what you want to ship and transporters bid for the job. They don't want to run empty lorries etc - any income they get is better than none, and this opens up cheap transport opportunities for customers.

Bike Belles

http://www.bikebelles.org.uk/ is a new Sustrans micro-site subtitled "What every woman needs to know to get out and about by bike".

London Cycle Network (Plus)

Following my entry http://stibasa.blogspot.com/2009/03/london-cycle-network-plus.html a few days ago I have discovered that the project did not allocate funding to upgrade the Thames venue / A1306 to LCDS standards.

No Yellow Pages

There was a distribution of Yellow Pages directories today and I didn't get one! This must have been because I have been taken off their distribution list as requested.

The YP Customer Service Team is on 0800 555 444.

London Cycle Network (Plus)

Maybe I'm a bit of an old cynic, but the LCN+ seems to generate a lot of paper and not so much on the ground. Every so often I'm sent an extract from one of the project documents showing me what £ has been spent or is being asked for, plus what's been done on the ground or is programmed, so I thought I'd decode it and show it here. I mean decode fairly literally - the item I'm looking at, for example, has a 'scheme code' and a 'barrier reference' - meaningless outside the project.

The LCN+ project has identified "barriers" to completion of the network. In B&D one of these is Barking's Northern Relief Road, the issue being how you cross it. There are two "grade separated" crossings at Wakering Rd and Linton Rd. The one at Linton Rd is in a pickle because of the redevelopment there, but as the report I'm looking at says, "Redevelopment in the area will contribute to necessary changes". Put another way, the route has been designed in to the redevelopment. Something of a breakthrough if it works.

The route to/from Wakering Rd ("Link 2") has suffered from rather bad "legibility" since the "Costa del Barking" development in the Church Road area was built. With new roads and flow restrictions it took a full strength Sat Nav to find one's way through, but I notice new signs are appearing to confirm that one is heading for Barking. I have to investigate fully, but thanks to our Cycling Officer for this long overdue work.

Link 3 includes "Goresbrook Road and A13 (Heathway to Havering Boundary). This is the first bit of the A13[06] route that we audited back in 'o3 in what is called a CRIM. The report says "Design and Implementation of improvements following review of CRISP recommendations." The CRISP recommendations are the ideas generated during the CRIM (which was a bike ride down the route taking notes and photos) or submitted at around the same time for the same purpose. I'm guessing the "review" was a look through to cross out which ones there are no plans to do.

The junction of Heathway and the A1306 is also part of link 3. The report says "upgrade of four arm ATS junction and installation of ASLs. It's actually a 5 arm junction - Goresbrook Road, Heathway, A1306 (east), Chequers Lane, and A1306 (west), but I suppose blocked off Goresbrook Road hasn't been counted. ASLs = Advance(d) Stop Lines. Not High Tech, just forward of the motor vehicle ones.

The third bit oflink 3 in the report is the junction of the A1306 with Thames Avenue - just our side of the A1306 Beam Bridge. This junction is to be upgraded to conform to the London Cycle Design Standards.I'm not sure exactly what that entails

Delays to new trains on Barking to Gospel Oak line - and to 15 minute service?

Rail magazine issue 612 (page 9) says:

"Delivery of 12 two-car class 172 Turbostars to London Overground will be late ... The diesel multiple units were due to be delivered in the summer according to Transport for London spokesman Guy Pitt, but the delay means the Class 150/1s currently used on the Gospel Oak-Barking line will remain in place until the new units arrive. Pitt says this will not ... impact on the planned 15-minute timetable on the railway due to be introduced later this year. 'We are not quite moving into contingency territory yet,' he said."

Barking & Gospel Oak Line to close for 16 weeks?

Rail magazine issue 612 (25 Feb - 10 Mar) says (page 17) that the line will be closed for 16 weeks from next Christmas Day. I think it must be wrong. TfL say on this page (my emphasis):

"works are scheduled to take place on Sundays from April to December 2009 on the Richmond to Stratford line and all week, every week from late December 2009 to April 2010 between Gospel Oak and Stratford."

This press release says: "No service between Gospel Oak and Stratford for 16 continuous weeks, from 25 December 2009 until 12 April 201". Many of the other details in the press release tie up with the Rail Magazine article.

Plaza Bicycles

Travelling up Ilford lane on the top of a 179 I noticed a hand written sign at a shop called Plaza that "Plaza Bicycles" is now open. I can't give you any more details and I wouldn't build your hopes up, but if you're in the vicinity of 350 Ilford Lane, (between Khartoum Road and Wingate Road) it might be worth popping your head round the door to see what's what.

Is this madness or revelatory?

I've come across an outfit called The Venus Project and it its activist arm The Zeitgeist Movement. It's a bit hard to say whether their ideas are hare brained idealistic lunacy or a workable whilst radical model for society.

Certainly some of the building blocks of their argument are undisputable and/or extremely appealing. For example, we only have the resources of the planet to sustain humanity. I think this is undisputable. They add that the amount of money that there is is irrelevant and it is created or destroyed at will.

They say that the planet can produce enough food for everyone (which I assume is true) but that not everyone has enough money to buy the food they need (plainly true). They place great faith in science and technology over politics, charity and religion.

They are truly internationalist (we're all fellow humans on one shared planet). Some of the futuristic stuff (maglev trains going at 4000 mph, for example) is a bit less plausible but they point out how much resource both physical and intellectual has gone into war and destruction, saying it should be spent on making things better - "weapons of mass creation" and how much stuff is made not to last, which is very wasteful.

The root cause of the world's problems is the monetary system, which is obsolete, they argue, and we can do without it. I promise you it makes a very thought provoking read.

Free packaging

I've taken to selling stuff I don't want on e-bay and Amazon. So far I've managed to re-use old packaging with no problems. One of my buyers gave me a good tip though: computer shops are often keen to get rid of packaging.

This may also make it easier for you to not stash boxes for equipment you've bought. If the manufacturesr/retailer doesn't require you to keep it then maybe someone else can use it rather than it gathering dust in your loft.

And the real threat to pedestrians is...

CTC's Cycle Digest issue 57 says:

• 364,082 pedestrians were injured by drivers between 1998 and 2007, while 2,623 were
injured by cyclists

• Pedestrians are 263 times more likely to be killed by a driver than by a cyclist - this despite
the fact that cyclists and pedestrians often share the same space and much of motor
vehicle mileage is made on motorways, where pedestrians are prohibited.

Source :www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2009-01-26b.250454.h

It's nice to have these facts to hand. BTW 364,082 / 2623 ~= 139

PLANNED CLOSURES ON GOSPEL OAK - BARKING LINE

Quote from TfL e-mail:

PLANNED CLOSURES ON GOSPEL OAK - BARKING LINE:

To enable the running of more frequent and reliable services across London, on time for the Olympics in 2012, there will be temporary closures on various lines of the Overground network. TfL will provide alternative travel arrangements to keep passengers connected to the public transport network. The first set of improvements, to enable the running of 4 trains per hour will take place at weekends on the Gospel Oak to Barking line from 7 February until 25 October 2009 during which time there will be a reduced service each weekend.

Works will take place as follows

Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 February, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 February, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Sunday 22 February, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 28 February and Sunday 1 March, normal service

Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 March, normal service

Saturday 14 March, line closed South Tottenham - Barking

Saturday 21 March, line closed South Tottenham - Barking

Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 March, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 April, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 11 (from 10pm) until Tuesday 14 April, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

ALL Saturdays between 18 April and 1 August (inclusive), line closed South Tottenham - Barking

Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 August, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 August, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 22 August, line closed South Tottenham - Barking

Saturday 29 August, line closed South Tottenham - Barking

Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 September, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 12 and Sunday 13 September, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 September, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Saturday 26 and Sunday 27 September, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Sundays 4 11 18 and 25 October, line closed Gospel Oak - Barking

Barking and east London hit hard by weekend tube/railclosures

This weekend there is no District line between Upminster and Embankment, no Jubilee line beween Green Park and Stratford until 1230 No Barking & Gospel Oak line and no Circle line. The Hammersmith and City line, which runs on the same tracks as the District between Barking & Aldgate East, a is running.

I know the work's got to be done, but it is taking a long time. The District line east of Barking seems to be closed weekend after weekend. Last weekend when it was only closed east of Dagenham East I thought the end was in sight.

As to the B and GO, we had a 4 week closure in September and we now have works pretty much every weekend until September. We welcome improvements of course.

Friends of Abbey Green

The Next meeting of the group is on Saturday 4 April at Maritime House, Linton Road, Barking. There's also a meeting with the Tree Warden (presumably a site meeting) on 17 February. The text message I got referred me to the website - I assume meaning http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/East-London/Barking/IG11 but I couldn't see anything new on there today.

Friends of Abbey Green

I found a small web presence here. It's not been updated since the inaugural meeting on 24 January. There is a link to a newsletter, but the main news in that is the meeting, too, though there is a contact Mary Smith - +44 7960 040 734.

http://www.aboutmyarea.co.uk/site/content.asp?area=IG11&story=122381

The road to nowhere

The "road to nowhere" (see blogs passim) has now been blocked of as part of a new develpment at Muirhead Quay - currently just a level site. Perhaps the little protuberance from the development site itself into the road that meant altermate working with give way in that bit of road will be removed.

Annoying block off in riverside path corrected

http://stibasa.blogspot.com/2008/04/annoying-block-off-in-riverside-path.html. I reported back in April about this "construction mis-alignment". It has been improved with ramps from the riverside path up onto the plinth (if that's what you call it).

Abbey Green

A new group 'Friends of Abbey Green' is advertising for members - I saw a poster in the Florist's at Barking Station, but I can't find anything on the web. They say that a "substantial number of mature existing trees and silver birches outside St Margaret's School could be cut down and may be replaced with saplings as part of the Town Centre Action Plan".

There's a meeting on Saturday 24 January at 10am at St Margaret's Church centre where you should be able to find out more.

When looking for it I did find this rather nice panorama of the Green (which is in Broadway / Abbey Road).

http://www.bbc.co.uk/essex/content/panoramas/barking_abbey_green_360.shtml

Websites about recycling and waste minimisation

General recycling
http://www.recyclenow.com/
http://www.recycling-guide.org.uk/
http://www.recycle-more.co.uk/
http://www.recycleforlondon.com/
http://www.zerowaste.co.uk/

Others

http://www.lovefoodhatewaste.com/

www.veoliaenvironmentalservices.co.uk/greenwich/veolia.html (virtual tour of Materials Recovery Facility)

Micro car hire

These schemes use technology to make it possible to hire cars for short periods of time. I'm aware of three schemes (yet again the disadvantages of competition kick in) of which streetcar seems to have the most vehicles, including some convenient for Barking. Transport for London figures indicate that one car club vehicle in London can replace the need for 10 privately owned vehicles.

http://www.whizzgo.co.uk

http://www.zipcar.com

Bike ride and afternoon tea?

The following Essex country churches are known to serve tea and cakes on summer Sunday afternoons:

• Blackmore, St Laurence. 2-4.30pm (first Sunday of month). Very popular with cyclists.
  
• High Beech, Holy Innocents. 2-4pm (2-5pm if this site is correct). Allegedly 20 types of cake. (I feel certain there should be a disclaimer here somewhere!)
• Stanford Rivers, St Margaret. 2 - 4.30 some say, but the church's website says 2.30-4.30. Tea also available by arrangement.

Anyone planning to lead a bike ride might like to cut their teeth with an afternoon trip to one of these.

Oyster Card Helpline

An alternative number to 0845 330 9876 the published number is 020 7227 7886. Thanks to www.saynoto0870.com for this information.

Train tickets

The recommended website for buying train tickets is www.nationalexpresseastcoast.com/
It's really well designed and easy to use and copes well with railcards. In conjunction with the machines at Barking station that can print out the tickets you've bought, it makes for an excellent and quick ticket buying set up.

However, I tried to buy a return from Barking to/from Romford. The cheapest it offered me was £4. Then it let me go all the way through to typing in my credit card number and then said the minimum purchase was £5. Annoying, but I'm glad in a way because when I bough the ticket directly from a machine at Barking Station, the fare was £2.65

Recycling

Prompted by a questionnaire from GLA Member John Biggs, I've been checking up the latest recycling position in B and D. The council's website was out-of-date and therefore in some aspects wrong when I looked on Christmas Eve.

Yellow Pages

if you haven't got yourself off the distribution list for a printed YP (see http://stibasa.blogspot.com/2008/05/paper-yellow-pages-no-more.html) then you should recycle your copy. You can now put YP in the orange bags (the bags say "directories") or you can take them to Jenkins Lane / Frizlands Lane. The council website incorrectly said that YP cannot be recycled.

Fruit juice cartons (Tetra paks) and similar

John Biggs assistant told (wrongly) me that these cannot be put into B and D's recycling schemes. There is a eurobin for them in Axe St and also one in the Tesco car park not far from the Town Quay.

Plastic

John Biggs' questionnaire said that all plastic can be recycled. I'm told that's not true even in theory. It certainly isn't in practice in B and D. In an e-mail his assistant wrote:

"the orange bag collection can take hard plastics (eg plastic bottles), but not soft plastics (eg wrappings, yoghurt pots)". I'm not sure how you tell hard from soft plastic if yoghurt pots come under soft - also I'm not sure if plastic can be recycled through other routes; one of the bins near where I live is labelled 'cans and plastic' (or similar).

Carrier bags

Tesco's have a hopper for these at their Highbridge Road branch. The council's website doesn't mention this - perhaps because they only mention recycling that they provide. Bit silly.

Orange bags

The council's website has a page headed: Recycling, Orange bags, what can be recycled. This is misleading as it means "what can be put in the orange bags." They need to sort this page out. If we want to know whow we can recycle things that can't go in the orange bag, the same page should tell us how / where.