• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I am really glad to hear that because there is a huge wealth of knowledge out there. I do think that if a cyclist had been involved in the planning of that cycle route over Blackfriars Bridge the fatality would not have happened. I used it once and was so shocked that I did not use it again. You made the point that there has been a lack of staff and resources and clearly one of the problems is that staff at TfL do not understand the wider aspects of the whole cycling agenda. Also, although we have someone in...

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I also have problems with the funding that goes to cycling in London. Are you prepared to spend more money on cycling over the next four years, particularly on things like on-road training for schoolchildren, which is a very controversial issue at the moment but the more of it is done the safer it will become?

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

There are problems between bus drivers and cyclists. I have huge sympathies for bus drivers: it is a very difficult job, badly paid and so on. At some point in their training it would make sense if there was an opportunity for them to experience what it is like on a bike in traffic in London. Has there been any thought given to that?

• Question by: Nicky Gavron
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

What plans do you have for ensuring that boroughs support road safety improvements for cyclists and/or road users? Last Thursday I was at a school play in Barnet and the parents lobbied me because they could not get the safety measures they wanted. After the play they took me down the road to see the problem and showed me the hill. They told me they could not get the safety measures they needed. Indeed, it was a very dangerous situation. I was also told that the safe cycling training for the youngsters in the borough had been cut. I am...

• Question by: Valerie Shawcross
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I very much welcome the enthusiasm of Elizabeth for this project, because it will be a major core contribution to transport capacity in South London. However, I think the discussion we had earlier about how the Assembly positions itself is quite relevant to this. Do you think that we could have a more united London approach if the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Members on this Assembly joined positively in lobbying their national colleagues for a pro-London agenda for public transport investment and thought far more seriously about their attacks on the TfL budget at the budget time of year. The...

• Question by: Lynne Featherstone
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I am concerned that whilst prudential borrowing is an option for a number of projects, your rather instantaneous pledge to fund the East London Line will simply let the Treasury off the hook and Londoners will end up having to pay the interest on any such loan. I am further concerned that this will extend to a great number of projects. Do you not have concerns that every time you say you will pay, the Government is off the hook?

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

So you cannot give us assurance of any timetable. You were talking about putting out tenders and so forth at that time.

• Question by: Elizabeth Howlett
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

I am very delighted to have that information. I worry about the statement you gave us on 25 February, that because Gordon Brown (Chancellor of the Exchequer) had graciously given you £400 million borrowing approval, TfL would fund and build the East London Line. If you were so committed to it at that time, why are you saying you need permission from Government to build?

• Question by: Murad Qureshi
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

Given that business is a major stakeholder in London, what kind of contribution can we expect from them in the major infrastructural projects we have in mind in London?

• Question by: Roger Evans
• Meeting date: 24 June 2004

You have said over a long period of time that you require more money from Government and have used a deficit as a justification for this. Surely your position on the bus budget with the way it is growing is just unsustainable in the longer term and you need to plan to do something about it?