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).