Ken Livingstone on transport as a public service

[whole diary]

[ChrisB]

I'm intrigued by this statement. One person's red light is another's green, and 'greens all the way' on one route suggest other routes must wait longer.

Not sure I agree with your logic....if the red- and green-phases remain the same length before & after adjustment, but just rephased with a delay such each set turn against the main flow before they are reached, then the green aspect on the side-flow remains green for the same length of time as previously....

I found this piece in The Independent which, whilst initially suggesting that Livingstone fiddled with traffic light sequencing to make the Congestion Charge more palatable, goes on to half-admit that pedestrian phases had previously been set too short - which, based on the form of post-war highways engineers, seems fairly likely.

Livingstone was quite happy to admit what he'd done at the time, and was done for the reason given. Wholesale too. While phases may well hjave been adjusted for pedestrians to get longer since, no wholesale reversion was ever made. Ask any cabbie worth his salt still working since Livingstone's time in office.

Modern traffic signalling systems tend to use SCOOT to optimise traffic flows; prior to SCOOT signal timing was pretty crude. Many authorities (including London presumably) have adopted a hierarchy of transport users¹ with pedestrians and cyclists at the top; this hierarchy is programmed into SCOOT and may give drivers, with their in-group bias, the feeling that they are being short-changed.

_{1. See https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/341513/pdfmanforstreets.pdf, table 3.2}

[Red Squirrel]

....if the red- and green-phases remain the same length before & after adjustment, but just rephased with a delay such each set turn against the main flow before they are reached, then the green aspect on the side-flow remains green for the same length of time as previously....

Yes, that would seem like an act of sabotage. However my understanding - and I should immediately admit that I haven't studied London's traffic signalling system, so I may well be wrong - is that prior to SCOOT, the signals were not linked over wide areas and ran on local timers, so any such act of sabotage would have required constant tinkering to maintain the disruption as the clocks drifted.

Livingstone was quite happy to admit what he'd done at the time, and was done for the reason given. Wholesale too.

Did he go on record? Can you provide a link? I'd be interested to know exactly what he said...

Ask any cabbie worth his salt still working since Livingstone's time in office.

I had reason to travel by taxi quite a bit during recent protracted road works to replace Victorian water pipes in our area. Talking to the drivers, you'd have thought fresh piped water was a curse. Whilst taxi drivers have a right to an opinion, I think it's best to season it with any salt they may be able to spare.

[ChrisB]

He did go on record, yes - but I've no chance of finding it as I can't remember where....and don't have the time to google...

By asking any cabbie - the LTDA took this up at the time - and most cabbies of that era remember.

[Bmblbzzz]

In the 70s and 80s I spent many hours examining the Morning Star in Swindon waiting room. Along with its sister engine the North Star.

Perhaps if the Morning Star ever ceases publication, they'll also call the last edition 'Evening Star'? 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BR_Standard_Class_9F_92220_Evening_Star

Of course the Evening Star is the Morning Star - and there's a lesson there for all of us, he said profoundly...

Tomorrow's bright dawn is last night's glitter ball.

Or is it the other way round?

[Red Squirrel]

He did go on record, yes - but I've no chance of finding it as I can't remember where....and don't have the time to google...

By asking any cabbie - the LTDA took this up at the time - and most cabbies of that era remember.

Well if you do find time to track it down, I'd be very interested in the detail. The most relevant thing I found in my googling was a quote from the Chairman of the LTDA describing cycling campaigners as 'the ISIS of London'...

[TonyK]

I had reason to travel by taxi quite a bit during recent protracted road works to replace Victorian water pipes in our area. Talking to the drivers, you'd have thought fresh piped water was a curse. Whilst taxi drivers have a right to an opinion, I think it's best to season it with any salt they may be able to spare.

I asked an Edinburgh cabbie for his view on the tramway, then sort of under construction "NAY-ONE wants it!" And in Blackpool, when asking about the extension to North Station, I got a similar answer.

[JayMac]

Indeed. Cabbies are well known for their unbiased and authoritative insight when it comes to traffic management or alternatives to their service.

They're not known to ever moan or use hyperbole.