• Question by: Darren Johnson
• Meeting date: 19 December 2001

Darren Johnson: This station could have some strategic importance - Brian Coleman: Are you standing in that ward? The Chair: Darren, don't be distracted - just get on with your question. Darren Johnson: We are not discussing Liberal Democrat election strategy, or Green strategy, either. This could be an important station strategically. The TfL document "Improving Commuter Railways" talks about Orbirail and the need to identify particular interchanges on the Orbirail route. The site has yet to be identified, but I think that the Brockley site could be ideal: it is on the line to Charing Cross and could be...

• Question by: Angie Bray
• Meeting date: 19 December 2001

I welcome your support for extra stopping stations on some of these lines around London. I wonder whether you are as impatient as we are in west London to get resolved the issue of the two new stopping stations on the west London line at White City and Imperial Wharf, given that the -

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

That is absolutely true. One of my problems with the TfL budget this year is that it is sending conflicting messages. The £22 million you spoke about is based on an increase in the precept, which will cover £20 million of that. So the actual expenditure could be only £2 million. The real problem is a lack of strategic thinking. Bob Kiley has already said that he does not think we can spend money on pedestrians and on cyclists this year. He thinks that there are two separate cases to be made. Within the base plan, there is £13 million...

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

We spent £8 million last year, but it was spent via the £110 million going to the boroughs. We are going to spend £8 million next year, but that is out of £120 million going to the boroughs. So the boroughs are not complaining,

• Question by: Louise Bloom
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

Whichever way you look at the figures Jenny described, Ken, I am sure you will agree that the fact that only 2% of journeys in London are made by bike is a bit pathetic - especially compared with Copenhagen's 22% and Amsterdam's 28%. The fact that we are comparatively low down the list needs to be addressed. The Liberal Democrats in the past have told you about our idea of a "take bike" system, whereby commuters or tourists could use a smartcard to pick up a bike at a rail station or one of the interchanges - Earl's Court, King's...

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

Do you think that London cyclists should be confident that Derek Turner is their champion?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

But he is a Board member. There needs to be someone in the management team.

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

That explains a lot about Bob Kiley. The second question is about the lack of a champion for cyclists within Transport for London - apart from Steve Norris, of course. Where does it belong? Part of the problem is that it was seen to be ambushed by the bean counters in TfL because it did not really have a home - it did not belong to the bus people, the road people or the rail people, so they went for it.

• Question by: Jenny Jones
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

I do not want to cast slurs on your character, but this announcement of £8 million is a bit like what the Labour Government keep doing. It is double counting - money you are already giving to the boroughs - isn't it? It is just that you have ring-fenced it so that they have no opportunity to spend it on anything else?

• Question by: John Biggs
• Meeting date: 21 November 2001

You have been around long enough so that, when you make a budget announcement, people work feverishly on their calculators to find the catch; but on the face of it, what you are doing with cycling is welcome - with the caveat that, if it is being taken from money that the boroughs would have got anyway, that is a large and separate problem. There are two questions. First, is this not an example of Transport for London being blind to the concerns of cyclists, and of our Mayor having to rescue the situation in the face of severe lobbying...