The Evening Standard: campaigning for the 2%
Remember the Evening Standard’s campaign against increases to parking charges in Westminster?
Endless front page headlines, leader columns and op-eds warned of thousands of job losses from Westminster’s “tax on nightlife.”
In the end the plans were scrapped and council leader Colin Barrow even stood down following the row.
So how many people would actually have been affected by these “devastating” charges?
Well a new study out today reveals that car ownership in London has actually gone down in London significantly since the mayoralty was set up.
While London’s population has risen by 603,000 since 2000, car ownership has actually dropped by 117,000.
And while many people do still drive into town centres across London, the number of people driving into central London is now vanishingly small.
In fact the report highlights findings by TfL that just 2% of people who visit central London do so by car, van or lorry.
That’s right, just 2%:
In fact four times more people visit central London by foot. And the vast majority, 87%, visit by either tube, bus or train.
All of which makes you wonder.
If the Evening Standard are really so worried about a “tax on nightlife”, then why didn’t they campaign against the massive increases in public transport fares over the past four years.
Why haven’t they warned of “arrogant” city hall bosses whacking up the cost of public transport above inflation year after year.
And why did they spend months worrying about a handful of people put off driving to the opera as opposed to the millions who take public transport into central London instead?
03 Dec 2012
London agenda for Friday
1. Represent rap’s original values at the Rap Mayhem Festival [Le Cool]
2. Explore Aldwych, one of London’s closed underground stations for a mere £25 [Run Riot]
3. Watch Big In Japan feat Daniel Wang & Ray Mang at the Book Club [Flavorpill]
4. Watch the opening film of the Nordic Film Festival, Love is all you need [Don’t Panic]
5. See the stars through the Hampstead Observatory Telescopes [Ian Visits]
6. Hear History of the Hawk // Throne // Secret Cinema // Empress at The Old Blue Last [London In Stereo]
30 Nov 2012
Independent on Sunday sells only 52% of its distributed copies
— The per centage of the 120,000 copies of the Independent on Sunday that are paid for each week. Compare that to sister knock-off paper, i, which averages 300,000 per day. Boring old regular Independent sells 60,000 copies out of 80,000 distributed.
The Telegraph says that millionaire Tory party donor David Rowland has offered £10-15 million for The Independent
30 Nov 2012
Wild Nothing - Nocturne
Jack Tatum’s Wild Nothing have produced one of the albums of the year in “Nocturne”: a slick, dreamy US-indie-pop record that tops off catchy songs with a gorgeous, echoey sheen. Released on Bella Union in the UK, the album is out now. They play a one-off London show at The Lexington tonight – with much bigger dates on the horizon, it’s the last time they’ll play a mid-sized venue for the forseeable future, we imagine.
28 Nov 2012
The Chicken Cottage Awards on video
We’re a little late on this, but as the London Video Log of record we could not ignore this amazing work, the annual awards ceremony of Chicken Cottage,
The fried chicken shop may be London’s most significant contribution to food culture, so it is gratifying to find that its largest representative takes its leadership seriously.
Here’s Part 2:
Previously
28 Nov 2012
"The mundane illuminated". We grab a minute with Melissa Dunne, artistic director of Papercut Theatre
I want people who see my work to see something mundane and everyday illuminated in a way they hadn’t thought possible.
I was drawn to theatre because it is a very enabling art form. Also because it is very truthful, there’s no special effects to hide behind – especially in fringe theatre.
The best thing about my job is watching a germ of an idea grow and watching talented artists collaborating to make it happen.
The work that inspires me is anything by Katie Mitchell. Also Lars Von Trier though I wouldn’t want to have a cup of tea with him.
The best advice I ever got was that you’re never entitled to anything. That was said by Declan Donellan which made me very humble.
The best advice I can give is if you have a good idea trust it.
The thing I love most about theatre in London is how people are more willing to help emerging artists than you’d think. People are sometimes limited by lack of funding or ambition but I can’t really blame them for that.
What I really want to do next is make my short film.
See also:
Gavin grabs a minute with artist Roger Kite at his new exhibition in Bethnal Green.
28 Nov 2012
Only 16 commuters touch in to Emirates Air Line, figures reveal
The number of commuters regularly using the Emirates Air Line cable car between Greenwich and the Royal Docks is as low as 16, new figures released to The Scoop reveal.
Just 16 Oyster card holders used the cable car more than five times in the week ending 21 October, qualifying for a regular users’ discount.
The figure is part of a detailed breakdown of usage of the £60 million transport link during one week in October, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
It also reveals that on one day, just three passengers used it between 7am and 8am.
TfL was asked for hourly statistics between Sunday 14 and Saturday 20 October. Unsurprisingly, the service was popular with tourists on weekend afternoons, with 2,231 passengers recorded between 3pm-4pm on Saturday 20 October.
But its gondolas are crossing the Thames largely empty during weekday mornings. No more than 14 people used the cable car in its first hour of operation on any weekday.
On Wednesday 17 October, just three people used the cable car between 7am and 8am – compared with 10 making equivalent journeys by Tube and DLR to or from North Greenwich within that hour.
An average of 78 people used the link between 7am and 10am on any weekday, not quite enough to fill a single double decker bus.
In addition to the 16 regular users who got an Oyster card discount, just 41 multi-pass tickets were sold that week, enabling users to pay in advance for 10 journeys over a year.
The figures obtained by The Scoop are the latest in a series of statistics showing how few people are using what mayor Boris Johnson called “a much-needed new connection” when it launched in June.
Two weeks ago The Scoop revealed the link was running at less than 10% of capacity, while earlier this week it was revealed only 301 people used the crossing one day after it was affected by high winds. Details of the sponsorship deal with Emirates – which at £36m, leaves a £24m shortfall on the project – have also been disclosed.
TfL said in a statement: “The number of journeys made on the Emirates Air Line after only five months is currently over 1.5 million, this has already exceeded the first financial year target of 1.3 million passenger journeys and current passenger numbers are in line with TfL’s forecasts.”
“The purpose of the Emirates Air Line is to support regeneration in east London. If the Emirates Air Line was at full capacity now there would be serious concerns about how it could carry the future population growth it was built to support. TfL expect passenger numbers to increase further as regeneration takes place either side of the river.”
| Sun 14th | Mon 15th | Tue 16th | Wed 17th | Thu 18th | Fri 19th | Sat 20th | |
| North | 6,137 | 1,318 | 725 | 1,618 | 1,577 | 1,323 | 7,911 |
| South | 6,337 | 1,356 | 555 | 1,812 | 1,956 | 1,569 | 8,269 |
| TOTAL | 12,474 | 2,674 | 1,280 | 3,430 | 3,533 | 2,892 | 16,180 |
Total cable car passengers, broken down into north and southbound journeys, 14-20 October 2012. Source: TfL
| 0700- 0759 |
0800- 0859 |
0900- 0959 |
1000- 1059 |
1100- 1159 |
1200- 1259 |
1300- 1359 |
1400- 1459 |
1500- 1559 |
1600- 1659 |
1700- 1759 |
1800- 1859 |
1900- 1959 |
|
| Sun 14 Oct | - | - | 135 | 397 | 944 | 1,388 | 1,795 | 1,643 | 1,988 | 1,695 | 1,422 | 773 | 294 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mon 15 Oct | 6 | 28 | 30 | 148 | 304 | 302 | 390 | 362 | 320 | 283 | 203 | 159 | 139 |
| Tue 16 Oct | 8 | 12 | 37 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 204 | 558 | 257 | 204 |
| Wed 17 Oct | 3 | 16 | 65 | 305 | 334 | 474 | 309 | 384 | 498 | 398 | 301 | 197 | 146 |
| Thu 18 Oct | 14 | 40 | 45 | 362 | 369 | 357 | 346 | 527 | 403 | 426 | 335 | 145 | 164 |
| Fri 19 Oct | 6 | 13 | 67 | 254 | 455 | 391 | 384 | 302 | 248 | 188 | 204 | 197 | 183 |
| Sat 20 Oct | - | 169 | 367 | 746 | 1,144 | 1,735 | 1,854 | 2,087 | 2,231 | 2,077 | 1,937 | 1,242 | 591 |
Cable car passengers, hour by hour, between Sunday 14 and Saturday 20 October. Source: TfL.
See data for equivalent journeys by Tube and DLR to North Greenwich.
Service closed for part of Tuesday 16 October due to ‘adverse weather conditions’
28 Nov 2012
Snipe Likes: On and On by The Sea and Cake
Following on from last week’s Fun Adults post, here’s a great little animated video from Chicago’s The Sea and Cake, directed by Naomi Nagata, beautifully simplistic in its appreciation of the humble straight line. On and On is the second single to be taken from the quartet’s recent Runner album, out now on Thrill Jockey.
27 Nov 2012
Police spend millions "improving" Scotland Yard before selling it
The Metropolitan Police spent over £18 million refurbishing New Scotland Yard in the past two years, before announcing plans to sell it.
The “improvement works” included tearing down partition walls and a £5.5 million refurbishment of two floors at the building, due to begin this month.
The Met intends to sell the building as part of £500 million worth of cuts being implemented by Mayor Boris Johnson.
Liberal Democrat London Assembly Member Caroline Pidgeon said today that the Met were guilty of a “terrible waste of public money”:
“To spend so many millions on improvements to New Scotland Yard just before selling the building does seem a terrible waste of public money. Although I have no objection to New Scotland Yard being sold off at some point and a new central office being found for the Metropolitan Police Service the decision must be carefully planned and be part of a long term plan to make best use of all police buildings, not just a knee jerk reaction to a tough budget settlement.”
The Met are also considering plans to close a number of police stations across London and dozens of station front counters.
At this month’s Mayor’s Question Time, Boris Johnson said he was exploring the idea of setting up “pop-up” stations in places like supermarket cafes instead.
27 Nov 2012
Bastards Of Fate - Huge Magic
Well, here’s something to blow those disgusting old calcified cobwebs off your brain. Forget retreading those same old tired neural pathways to enjoyment, and let this strange lot plough you some new ones. I’m not even going to try and define what The Bastards Of Fate do, except to say that the element of surprise is alive and well in this music, which makes Ariel Pink look like Gary Barlow. They’re rumoured to be making UK plans for 2013; but if that’s too long for you to wait, get the album here. Enjoy.
27 Nov 2012
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- Punk brewery just as sexist and homophobic as the industry they rail against
- Only 16 commuters touch in to Emirates Air Line, figures reveal
- Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
- Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?
- Random Interview: Eileen Conn, co-ordinator of Peckham Vision
- Peter Bayley has worked for 50 years as a cinema projectionist in East Finchley
- The five best places in London to have an epiphany
- The five spookiest abandoned London hospitals
- Nice map of London's fruit trees shows you where to pick free food
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