Video: New York’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority is far better than Transport for London at explaining why Tube delays happen – and how they’re solved May 19, 2015 Presumably in an effort to quell commuters' constant rage, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority has released a video explaining the science behind delays on the subway – and it's in the style of an 8-bit video game. So what happens? According to the video, subway (and, presumably, London Underground) trains usually have a regular interval [...]
Forget Silicon Valley and Silicon Roundabout: Birmingham’s Silicon Canal is the future of the UK’s technology sector July 23, 2015 For years now we've been told that London could rival the Silicon Valley with its own tech hub. But five years after launching my business, I’m a bigger advocate for Birmingham's Silicon Canal than I have ever been. There is an incredible talent pool in Birmingham that offers a wealth of brilliant software engineers. These [...]
Work on Crossrail for Bikes gets underway – and London mayor Boris Johnson lends a hand March 10, 2015 Work on Boris Johnson's flagship “Crossrail for Bikes” scheme began this morning, with the mayor donning a hard hat and clambering into a digger to help break the ground. The first leg will be the route that runs north to south from Kings Cross to Elephant and Castle – notoriously the most dangerous junction for [...]
Plans for a Bakerloo line extension through Lewisham, Camberwell and Beckenham have huge support from south Londoners following consultation March 27, 2015 Londoners have given overwhelming support to long-awaited plans for extending the Bakerloo line further into south London from Elephant Castle. Transport for London has received one of its largest-ever responses to a consultation, which is proposing the extension of the Tube to Lewisham, and potentially even as far as Hayes. Some 96 per cent of the [...]
London Mayor 2016: Tessa Jowell focuses on housing for Labour bid May 19, 2015 Mayoral bids are like London buses. You wait for five years (or so it feels) and then two come along at once. Yesterday was the somewhat unorthodox launch of entrepreneur-turned-Tory candidate Ivan Massow, who opted for the “disarmingly honest” approach with his bid. Today it was the turn of Tessa Jowell, who stood [...]
Clarendon Works in Notting Hill: Inside W11’s quirkiest brick factory June 11, 2015 Discover the definition of industrial chic in a smart neighbourhood in Notting Hill. For tips on how to modernise industrial architecture in London, look no further than Clarendon Works. This Victorian brick-making factory is an iconic building in Notting Hill, with its cavernous proportions and red brick exterior. It’s also an impressively wide house, [...]
Bad news if you travel through Elephant & Castle – prepare for commuter disruption for the next year March 31, 2015 If you travel through Elephant & Castle to get to work, prepare yourselves for more than a year of disruption as part of the Crossrail for Bikes project gets underway. The northern roundabout at the south London junction is being overhauled by Transport for London to provide two-way traffic, dedicated cycle lanes and safer pedestrian [...]
High Court ruling on taximeters could spell the end for Uber as we know it March 28, 2015 An application by Transport for London (TfL) to the High Court could put the brakes on Uber services in London, and it all comes down to taximeters. These are the small boxes with which taxi drivers calculate the fare over the course of a journey, and the law states that in London they can only [...]
Sadiq Khan: Can a Labour mayor make City Hall pro-business? Labour mayoral candidate on what separates him from Jeremy Corbyn September 23, 2015 Sitting in a cafe around the corner from the Labour party’s headquarters in Westminster, Sadiq Khan says that he and the new Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, are not always in agreement. “Ken Livingstone as the Labour mayor often disagreed with the Labour leadership, Boris Johnson as the Conservative mayor often disagreed with the Conservative [...]
London’s cyclists will continue to die until decisive action is taken June 24, 2015 The latest cyclist casualty figures from TfL look like good news. Cyclist deaths and serious injuries appear to have gone down at the same time as the number of people in London cycling – especially commuting into the centre – is increasing. And yet the number of cyclists killed or suffering life-changing injuries in [...]