London mayor Sadiq Khan should park the cap on taxis – it’s actually TfL licensing that is clogging up our roads August 24, 2018 Congestion is snarling up London, and Sadiq Khan is right to be worried. Traffic speeds are now well into horse and cart territory. In the morning peak, passengers on the route 15 bus between Tower Hill and Charing Cross are now down to crawling along at an average of 4.2mph. The number of private hire [...]
Tech titans bed down in London: Why Brexit won’t be bringing about a ‘techxodus’ any time soon August 24, 2018 Brexit has generated investment uncertainty for many companies, but not – it would seem – for the US tech giants opening the throttle and splashing out on multi-million long-term property deals in London and creating thousands of jobs. Facebook, Google, Snap and Apple have firmly quashed the notion that the UK’s exit from the EU [...]
Ride-hailing firm Ola kicks off operations in UK August 20, 2018 Uber rival Ola today launched its first services in the UK, as it started operations across South Wales in Cardiff, Newport and Vale of Glamorgan. The Indian firm, which has 125m customers worldwide, says it will offer drivers high introductory commission rates. Customers will also be given discounts on journeys using the ride-hailing app. The company said [...]
Mayor of London: Capital must prepare for no-deal Brexit August 17, 2018 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has tasked the body responsible for preventing a repeat of the Grenfell Tower fire with examining London’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit scenario. The London Resilience Forum will seek to establish what access the capital has to food, medicine, energy and emergency services in the event of the UK leaving [...]
Sadiq Khan tells government: Give me the power to limit number of cars August 15, 2018 Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has demanded new powers to bring in a controversial cap on the number of private hire vehicles (PHVs) operating in the capital, following a similar clampdown in New York. Last week New York became the first major American city to introduce the one-year cap on cars used by platforms such [...]
Tory MPs hit back over rail fare hike August 14, 2018 The government has come under fire from Tory MPs for hiking train fares amid a growing dispute over the measure used to determine price rises. Transport secretary Chris Grayling said tonight the government will “freeze regulated fares in line with inflation” for the sixth year running, a move that will potentially add hundreds of pounds to [...]
Emergency COBRA meeting to be held after terror attack August 14, 2018 An emergency COBRA meeting is being convened this afternoon, following a terror attack outside Parliament this morning. Armed police officers arrested the man, who drove a silver Ford Fiesta into the security barriers outside the Houses of Parliament shortly after 7:30am, on suspicion of terror offences. He is not believed to be known to police, [...]
London is starting to fix its housing crisis – but there’s still a way to go | City A.M. August 7, 2018 Hats off to the folk at City Hall who recently published their latest Housing in London report – over 100 pages packed with fascinating figures about the state of housing in the capital. While such a document may not set everyone’s pulse racing, this kind of in-depth, illuminating research is vital if we are to [...]
Westminster council derails second Sadiq Khan project with legal challenge against CS11 Cycle Superhighway August 2, 2018 Construction works on a proposed cycle superhighway at a dangerous gyratory in north-west London have come to a grinding halt after Westminster council mounted a successful legal challenge against Transport for London (TfL) – derailing its second project this year. Work on the first section of Cycle Superhighway 11, which is intended to span [...]
DEBATE: Should London’s Congestion Charge exemption for private hire vehicles be removed? | City A.M. August 2, 2018 Should London’s Congestion Charge exemption for private hire vehicles be removed? Jack May, a columnist for Progress, says YES. London’s air is toxic. Just one month into 2018, London breached the year’s legal air pollution limit. Britain is being taken to the European Court of Justice as a result, and could be landed with a [...]