Life during lockdown

For public health and road safety, the number of motor vehicles in London need to be considerably reduced. We also need a traffic police who enforces traffic rules: at present, it seems like nothing is done about the many motorcyclists racing on main roads, with vehicles whose exhaust has been illegally modified in order to cause the worst and loudest possible noise. This really affects communities.

One effective measure would be to replace the vast majority of on-street parking with protected cycle lanes. In order to cycle safely, one has to keep at least 1 metre away from parked cars, but this is close to impossible on side streets, where cars are parked on both sides of the road, with oncoming motor vehicles and often motor vehicles intimidating the cyclist who happens to be in front of them.

Less motor traffic and proper enforcement would make it safer and more pleasant for everyone to walk too.

As an 81 year old, employed part-time I need to travel around the capital; especially for scientific clubs and societies/clubs etc, as well as for concerts and theatre.

Clearly, I am advised to avoid public transport, and walking is OK for modest distances only. The Mayor's desire to foster bicycles is not safe for someone of my age. I MUST drive (plug-in hybrid), but road closures, electric only rules, the loss of the congestion discount, and so on make this terribly difficult and terribly expensive.

Do not close down the life of elderly persons - we have a lot to congtribute ot London life 

I cannot believe you have omitted carers and care homes.  Carers wages need reviewing urgently as they are terrible.   Who can live on £8-8.50 per hour these days, and they do incredibly difficult work with Parkinson's, Cancer, etc. Etc.   This is the Most aimportant thin g to change.      It's dreadful how the agencies give so little training and pay so little.        The fact they are not even paid for travelling between homes etc is a disgrace.

with such low wages they seem to attract rather bad carers.   Just look at the abuse in care homes.   Pay them more and get decent carers!!!     It's an outrage.   They should be up there with nurses in terms of importance.

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Good ideas, but I think the environmental objective should be first on the list and the priority. We have trashed our economy to combat Covid 19 of which less than half a million have (sadly) died globally, but climate change threatens billions of lives and could even wipe out the human race. Meanwhile pollution damages the lungs of hundreds of thousands of children in London as well as killing thousands of vulnerable adults each year.

Yes to improving infrastructure for pedestrians and cyclists, but we also need to do more to discourage private motoring and to move to cleaner vehicles. 

Can we also protect trees and other plants in roads and gardens? In planning applications, disputes between neighbours etc there should be a presumption in favour of green - ie in favour of not cutting down trees and other plants which improve the environment and encourage biodiversity. Stop the concreting over of private spaces - maybe a requirement to have a minimum percentage grass or plants?

1. London will need a great deal of money and resources to achieve a good recovery. The first thing is to consider sources to generate additonal income, especially from those who have the broadest shoulders. There is a lot of private wealth in London. What about a Covid Recovery Fund, or a London Regeneration Fund?

2. Cyclists can be a problem on the roads by contravening the rules of the road, behaving dangerously and venting road rage. There is an increase in cycling since the pandemic. Consider a registration system and number plates for all cycles so that those cyclists who break the law and behave dangerously can be identified and cautioned or charged. It might also allow stolen bikes to be tracked.

Avoid knee-jerk changes designed to appease popular opinion driven by a corrupt media. Gather experts and ensure you examine whole system solutions, and the feedback loops from proposed changes. The wrong change can be more damaging than doing nothing. Trust your expertise. You probably have a much better idea of what we need to do than a random collection of people posting online :) Having said that, you do need to convince us that you have done the due diligence, or we wont trust you to do the right thing. #howtosuckeggs 

People need to be encouraged to shop for big value items in London. Without tourists, retail and other spending will be severely hit, there will be less tax revenue to spend on any infrastructure and massive unemployment

Curtailing of foreign purchases as suggested will decrease  property prices forcing people into negative equity and out of their homes

During the worst of Covid19 we got used to shopping on line,when supplies were short there were many options to buy from China for less! 

People have been proved more productive in Insurance and finance, working from home so how are the shops and  cafès going to survive?

Shopping in Oxford St has to go back to being a family outing, It has to be possible to buy something bigger than you can carry on a bus.

Limiting public transport encourages small item shoppers to look first online and buy from companies not paying UK tax

Stop the Congestion Charge after 6pm for private vehicles. Make the over 60s exempt from ULEZ,  they can't afford to buy new cars & are the most likely to shop in a high street or town centre

Stop thinking the over 60s can spend £500 or cycle on a Boris Bike without harming themselves! Many are diabetic & foot care is incredibly important! They are also less resilient & more vulnerable when carrying shopping.

We have lost enough of our old folk due to the virus, how many more do you want to get rid of?

Boris lost  a few thousand via his poor handling and reluctance to go into Lockdown & those coming to pension age will see massive devaluations of their work & private pensions due to the impending financial crisis from Covid19 & Brexit creating the perfect storm

Dont forget in just 3 months time our annual flu virus is due to start too!

Hackney Lover- Your comments on cycling are well made and I have also enjoyed cycling for pleasure and sometimes business in London's quieter streets however it is not realistic for everyone to cycle especially those who frequent many of the upmarket shops, restaurants and other attractions. They will simply stop using them and this will mean that the city will lose it's vibrancy and die. Overseas visitors will go to other cities that are more accessable by car

I think we should

 Be more concerned with the health ( covid 19 testing) and equal opportunities for youth. More apprenticeships. 

   I don't think all this house building in London is going to enhance our health or the environment. It will just add to pollution and congestion. I live in London on the edge of Barnet. There are at least 4 major housing developments which will, whatever people say, not be better for London. If there is a need for housing build on the outskirts with good transport. At least there would be a new steerage system which will not impact on the Victorian ones we have now!

I think the worst thing you could have done is to have increased the congestion charge by £4 and extend the hours

How can you expect to revitalise  the West End shops, offices, restaurants, theatres, cinemas, night life (when allowed) by increasing the charges?

This shows a complete lack of understanding of the laws of supply and demand

If you want London to thrive it should be reversed now

COVID-19:

1. Ensure everyone can get tested at least for antibodies if they want and ALWAYs for the virus if they think they have it. Roll it ouf first vulnerable communities, including ALL key workers and BAME Londoners.

2. Keep homeless and vulnerable people off the streets - hotels are unlikely to get full that fast, so use the time to find long-term solutions.

3. If exhibition centres can be used for field hospitals, why can't they be used for field schools? Getting vulnerable and disadvantaged children back to school should be top of the agenda. More so than reopening for exhibitions. London has many venues that are sitting empty!

Generally:

A. Make central London practically car free with deliver trucks allowed in between 9pm - 7am. Where possible reduce buses too by rationalising routes. Provide more space and safety for walking and cycling, BUT ALSO make it possible to get to central London safely - from where I live there are some stretches with bike lanes but largely it's sharing the road with busses and cars - not great for new/rusty cyclists!

B. Make public transport more accessible - it is one of the most expensive I've come across (and I've travelled a fair bit) - and even more frequent during peak hours (there's a train every minute in Moscow for instance). Working with employers and education to stagger starting times permanently would help, but this applies equally to all public services and civil servants.

C. Provide at least low-skill jobs to unemployed - planting trees, cleaning streets / parks / the Thames, picking produce on farms in or near London. Young adults in limbo could also benefit.

D. Recycling - get serious about it. Provide more bins. Recycle more widely. Make it easier to recycle electronic waste. Include apartment buildings in biodegradable waste collection, etc.

We need to initiate a GLA Housing delivery programme that is funded by the Govt, using public sector assets, to deliver housing that is affordable. This addresses - job training, employment, wellbeing, community cohesion.

Should look at ways that limit foreign investment locking-out Londoners from housing.

Happy to assist/ continue this dialogue.

Interesting ideas, get government bailout, put fares up, budget deficit, set up unnecessary board????

Best ideas to get London going again will come from small/medium business as these have been worst hit, the last thing London needs is more interference and waste of money by the Mayors office.

Put Congestion charge back to pre Coronavirus times and costs, better still suspend for 12 months.

Suspend Business rates for 12 months for Small/Medium size businesses with a turnover of less than XXX?

Why do we need to 'Reimagine our City' when visitors from all over the world want to come and see our Historic places and Museums?

To recover Businesses need reduced costs from local councils and local government for 12 months.

Stop the nonsense thoughts about 'Curing the congestion on public transport', ever since I started using trains during the 'Rush Hour' they have been full and have as many people standing as sitting down, councillors and/or politicians are always saying they will cure it. This has been so for 43 years of my working life, unless more people are able to work from home public transport congestion will not go away. Lets hope one good thing comes from this terrible virus, more companies have the trust to let their employees work from home. This is the best way to cure congestion of all types in rush hour, and with less cars on the road will improve air pollution as well.

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We need to separate out the necessary from the desirable.

People have to get back to essential work, but as there are still substantial dangers, "just fun" things should be curtailed a bit longer.  This doesn't have to mean no restaurants, but it can mean only snacks so customers do not stay long.

People meeting well spaced in parks are fine, but it's not yet time for us to meet friends at home.

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Create a network of green and interesting walking routes that will encourage people to walk for pleasure.