Mayor Boris - What should he do for London?

boris employ more police. the guy is a criminal. didnt you know that already? lol. i guess you missed out the bits of him helping have journalists beaten up and smashing up restaurants and being arrested. the scourge of drugs must be attacked? *smirks* so you voted in an ex cocaine snorting journalist sacked from newspapers for breaching basic rules on integrity!

all in all youre pretty stupid arent you thinking it's kens "outpost of leftism" tfl who are responsible for an overcrowded tube. nice own goal there by broon isnt it. dont you realise though that the mayor has NO responsibility over the tube, ken even went to court to try and stop the pfi and was unable to do so. dont the tories support tube privatisation which means the mayor would continue to have no control over the tube?

but then... none of this election has been based on actual fucking reality. i have had a deluge, and i mean utter deluge, from concerned londoners about this election. all you people who voted lib dem are going to look pretty fucking stupid now.

gothicform said:

but then... none of this election has been based on actual fucking reality.

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In one sentence you have summarised the Mayoral 08 Election pefectly.

However in relation to the thread, I wouldnt like to see the end of the Bendy Bus, The reinvention of the routemaster would come at a crazy price, and one that in my opinion isnt worth paying.

Crime is of course a huge concern, and a zero tolerance policy is just what is needed in my opinion, with more visible police on the streets.

He is pretty weak when it comes to Urban imagination. So I suspect we can hope that he brings in some good urban advisers and listens to them rather than the Tory dark forces.

Hopefully he will realise that increased cycling is a key to street congestion rather than traffic lights and pedestrian control and therefore more street space must be taken from vehicles and given over to cycling.

I would like to see him take on board the environmental momentum London had been picking up. Hopefully as this was noted on a world stage it will force the issue rather than him being able to forget it.

I would like to see him tackle EH and Prince Charles and Simon Jenkins head on in a typical Tory hey leave the market alone attitude!

I definitely want the Mayor to push every borough to get their act together before the Olympics and create some exciting public spaces preferrably all linked up. This is where the boroughs tended to subdue Kens original ideas, perhaps some new blood will freshen things up but the only small trouble is Boris hasnt actually mentioned public space.

.Adam said:

Crime is of course a huge concern, and a zero tolerance policy is just what is needed in my opinion, with more visible police on the streets.

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I would be a little bit nervous on a zero tolerance policy. Some, only some, members of the police can get a little bit "excitable". I would be cautious about giving them too much power. Unless they all had cameras on them, so if there was a complaint against a officer, then the camera footage could be looked at.

These teenage murders must stop. But, zero tolerance, I don't think, is the way to tackle it.

gothicform said:

well you votedi n a guy who supports zero tolerance the "excitable" police. why do you think paddick hates ken so? again, well done! are there any policies of ken's you actually dont support and any policies of boris you do? lol

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Red Ken bringing in the congestion charge was a brave move. And although they're not proper police, having PCSOs is better than nothing. Apart from that, I'm glad Red Ken is gone.

Horizon911 said:

Huge amounts of money have been wasted by Red Ken on transport, yet the tubes are still as crowded and smelly as always. The mayor must come up with a solution to this.

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Argghhh! Do your research! In fact huge amounts have been put into the system to tackle that very crowding issue! Except you wont see the effect for a few years because that's how these things work. They don't happen over night, or even over a year. And the worst thing is, when the system improves people will thank Boris.

Boris' solution is blindingly simple - sit and wait, because it's all going to come into place, by the huge amount of work done under Ken and TfL.

But I hope Boris doesn't just sit and wait, but starts planning for the period during and after Crossrail 1. That's the time period we're at in terms of the Tube. These things take years and years to plan so you have to be ahead of the game.

It's hard to be optimistic but here's a taster of what I'd like:

Keep bendy buses on the routes suited for them - such as the long and wide streets like Marylebone Road. In fact, as I've said before, I think this is a non-issue. Have more ticket inspectors, but don't waste millions bringing back conductors and the ridiculous notion of a modern routemaster.

Do not attempt to change TfL or privatise parts of the tube. It has been PROVEN to be a disaster for the governments coffers and for London transport.

Keep the congestion charge (that will of course stay) but also keep the LEZ (would be madness to scrap it now) and the £25 charge for gas guzzlers. No need for them in Central London.

Definiitely more police are required, although zero tolerance is a dangerous idea. Designate more funds for the poorest boroughs and areas of poverty within particular wards.

I don't have a clue how he can 'insist' on high quality designs. The mayor doesn't control the planning system to that degree. It's also subjective to an extent. Boris should not seek to disrupt the current crop of skyscrapers in planning/approval stage. And he should fight borough councils and EH when they waste money opposing schemes for being 'too tall.' Also I hope he keeps Rogers on as architectural/planning advisor and continues to promote new public spaces, pedestrianisation.

Keep the affordable housing quota or pressure national government into getting new council homes built. He wont do either sadly, so affordable housing for everyone is something we can forget for the next 4 years.

More cycle paths, more bus routes, expansion of the tube, greener buses. Also the cycle scheme like Paris should be implemented. Don't introduce knife scanners on tube stations, but instead put more police on the streets. And I seriously hope he doesn't ban alcohol on the tube.

He has no power over the airport policy really.

Finally, keep promoting community cohesion and supporting ethnic minorities. Don't scrap universal transport benefits or those targetted at low incomes/disabled people etc. Don't close London's international offices which promote business. I fear he will scrap the deal with Hugo Chavez which means no more subsidised bus travel for the poorest.

LiamF1 said:

But I hope Boris doesn't just sit and wait, but starts planning for the period during and after Crossrail 1. That's the time period we're at in terms of the Tube. These things take years and years to plan so you have to be ahead of the game.

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London really needs Crossrail 2 - north to south. I know Boris and the Conservatives are also keen on high speed lines running to, or through London as well. But, I gather the maglev idea has been thrown out.hno:

London's tube system has gone way beyond its design limits years ago. So Crossrail 1 and possibly 2 are essential otherwise London will grind to a halt.

JDRS said:

I don't have a clue how he can 'insist' on high quality designs. The mayor doesn't control the planning system to that degree.

Keep the affordable housing quota or pressure national government into getting new council homes built. He wont do either sadly, so affordable housing for everyone is something we can forget for the next 4 years.

And I seriously hope he doesn't ban alcohol on the tube.

He has no power over the airport policy really. .

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Boris said in his speech just now that 50k affordable homes will be built.

Alcohol should not be permitted anywhere in public beyond pubs and clubs, including on London's transportation systems.

High quality design is subjective, true. Just look how many people support 20fc - hopefully which will die. But he does have some powers and potentially can block high profile projects he doesn't like.

On the airport, a new estuary airport is required linked into Kent's high speed line. City Airport should then be downgraded to a heliport and then.....height restrictions on buildings north of CW should be lifted.

Potto: I've added your mega city "vision" idea to my talking points at the top of the page. Not that there's a fat chance in hell that the mayor will go for it.

Horizon911 said:

London really needs Crossrail 2 - north to south. I know Boris and the Conservatives are also keen on high speed lines running to, or through London as well. But, I gather the maglev idea has been thrown out.hno:

London's tube system has gone way beyond its design limits years ago. So Crossrail 1 and possibly 2 are essential otherwise London will grind to a halt.

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I hope that Crossrail 2 will be persued in time to allow the double Crossrail TCR station to be built all at once in order to have a fully integrated station (and one of utmost quality design) and then as soon as Crossrail 1 has been constructed, the expertise moved directly accross to 2 to minimise costs.

I welcome the idea of focusing more on river transport.

I hope pedestrianisation initiatives are followed and extended, and things like improving the quality of architecture on the central riverbanks is followed and that the condition of height becomes much less important than it is now; that elegance is persued instead.

Most of all, I hope that design is not sacrificed due to cost.