DAILY CAP ON FARES WILL BE CUT / POLICE TELL CYCLISTS: DO IT THE SAFE WAY: BE SAFE, BE BRIGHT, BE SEEN / DRIVERS WANT FUEL PRICE CAP AT MOTORWAY SERVICES / MORE THAN 4,000 FOREIGN-REGISTERED MOTORISTS ESCAPE SPEEDING OFFENCES IN SCOTLAND…….AS ENGLISH AND WELSH WANT SCOTTISH DRINK-DRIVE LAWS
DAILY CAP ON FARES WILL BE CUT
DAILY CAPS on fares in London are to be cut by between two and four pounds, says Mayor of London Boris Johnson.
The announcement follows protests that people using Oyster cards were being charged up to £100 a week more than people using contactless cards.
A press release from the Mayor’s office said: “London’s workforce has changed. “22 per cent of Londoners now work part-time, while many others have flexible working patterns and do not know how many days or hours they will work each week.
“In response the Mayor is cutting pay as you go daily caps dramatically so they become one fifth of the cost of a 7 Day Travelcard to Zone 1.
“This produces a much fairer commuting cost for many part-time workers and will mean that those with unpredictable working patterns can simply use pay as you go Oyster or contactless payments with the new guarantee that they will pay no more in a day than one fifth of the cost of a seven-day Travelcard ticket.
“Bringing daily caps in line with the cost of monthly and annual tickets would cost more than £200 million per year.
“Daily fares capping allows customers using Oyster or contactless payments to make as many journeys as they need to in a single day, but caps the amount they pay for their travel at a set level.
“Once the total of all the fares reaches a certain amount the customer will not have to pay any more for their journeys for the rest of the day.
“The all-day cap for Zones 1-2 will be cut by £2.00 from £8.40 to £6.40; and for Zones 1-6 by over £4.00 from £15.80 to £11.70. “This means that part-time workers using pay as you go will pay similar daily rates as full time commuters using a seven-day Travelcard.
“As an example, for someone who uses a Zone 1-2 seven-day Travelcard (£32.10 in 2015) but only travels five days a week, their travel will cost £6.42 each day – similar to the new £6.40 pay as you go daily cap for those who travel less frequently.
“The potential savings will be considerable, ranging from £200 to over £600 per year. “When a three-days a week customer travels between Zones 1-5 in 2015 they will pay a maximum of £10.90 a day, rather than the current maximum of £15.80, saving £4.90 a day, or £14.70 a week.
“Over a year (for example 45 weeks) the savings are over £600.”
The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “This fares package delivers on my commitment to address the needs of flexible and part time workers. “By overhauling our fares structure we will put money back into the pockets of hundreds of thousands of hardworking people who make such a vital contribution to London’s economy.”
London Assembly Labour group transport spokesperson, Val Shawcross, said: “The announcement of a lower daily cap will be welcome news for Oyster Pay As You Go users and corrects an unfair anomaly which means people in part-time or flexible work have had to pay more.
“With more and more people choosing to work flexibly, it is about time the Mayor is taking action to offer fair fares to people who don’t work Monday to Friday.
“But for Travelcard users the impact of the 2.5 per cent rise in fares next January will be to put even more strain on those already struggling to cope with living costs far outstripping wage growth.
“The truth is that despite pledging to keep fares low Boris Johnson has overseen a 40pc rise in fares since he became Mayor, that’s meant Londoners paying fares 13pc above inflation over the six years.
“Whilst the changes to daily caps will help part-time workers and start to balance the difference between Oyster and Contactless payments, another year of rising fares means Boris Johnson is set to leave a costly legacy of inflation busting fare rises throughout his mayoralty.”
The new fares come into force on 2 January 2015.
(Sources: Mayor of London’s office press release / GLA Labour party press release).
POLICE TELL CYCLISTS: DO IT THE SAFE WAY: BE SAFE, BE BRIGHT, BE SEEN
The Metropolitan Police Roads and Transport Policing Command (RTPC), and Transport for London (TfL), are urging cyclists to be safe, be bright – and be seen this Autumn.
This is all in a bid to further improve cycle safety in the capital during Operation Safeway.
This operational activity will see more than 500 officers deployed at key junctions across London, carrying out education and enforcement for all road users – which would include the issuing of Fixed Penalty Notices to both motorists and cyclists – to improve road safety, tackling offences such as cycling without lights in the hours of darkness, driving whilst using a mobile phone, and crossing the advance stop line whilst traffic lights are on red.
This time of year – with the darker evenings following the clock changes last weekend – is a peak period for cycle fatalities and serious collisions and cyclists used to commuting home after work in daylight may now find they do so in darkness.
During this phase of Operation Safeway, officers will be encouraging cyclists to be compliant by giving cycle lights – funded by TfL – to those caught without them in the hours of darkness, to allow them to legally continue on their cycle journey, as well as making it easier for them to be seen by motorists and pedestrians.
Cyclists riding without lights will also be liable to a fixed penalty notices of £50 – by law, a bicycle must have a working white front light and a working red rear light from sunset to sunrise.
The Metropolitan Police Service also supports the Highway Code’s advice that cyclists should make themselves as visible as possible and wear reflective clothing or accessories at night.
In support of Operation Safeway, the RTPC Cycle Safety Team will be running ‘Exchanging Places’ events which puts people, particularly cyclists, in the driver’s seat of an HGV to get a better understanding of what a driver can and cannot see, especially with regard to cyclists on the nearside and directly in front of the vehicle.
Operation Safeway was launched late last year in response to a series of tragic cyclist and pedestrian deaths on London’s roads. Thousands of officers from the MPS are now regularly deployed at key junctions across the capital, enforcing road safety and giving advice to all road users during rush hours. (Source: Metropolitan Police press release).
DRIVERS WANT FUEL PRICE CAP AT MOTORWAY SERVICES
price info needed ahead of exit on carriageway
Motorists say they are being ‘held to ransom’ when filling up at motorway service stations and want prices to be capped.
Fuel at motorway services can be up to 10p per litre* more than the national average price of petrol and diesel, which is reflected in the findings of the RAC’s research** as three quarters of motorists (74 per cent) feel the price of motorway fuel is ‘very expensive’ and one in four (26pc) drivers refuse to buy petrol or diesel at services as a result.
The RAC is calling for urgent action to be taken to address motorway petrol and diesel pricing, either by motorway services’ fuel retailers themselves or at a government level.
“There is also real concern about drivers risking their fuel tanks running dry rather than filling up at motorway services, posing a real danger on the nation’s fastest roads” say the RAC.
One in five drivers admit to putting in ‘just enough fuel to get by’ at a motorway services to then find a cheaper alternative later.
The RAC, which deals with around 22,000 incidents of running out of fuel each year, says it is unacceptable that motorists should have to pay a premium on motorways.
RAC fuel spokesman Simon Williams said: “It’s no wonder that motorists feel held to ransom with prices on the motorways inflated to such an extent.
“In some cases motorway petrol and diesel might even be 15p dearer than the cheapest forecourts which would add as much as £8 to the price of a tank of an average family-sized vehicle.
“We can see no reason why motorway fuel should be so much more expensive. “Arguably it is much easier from a delivery point of view than it is getting fuel to urban filling stations. “Questions need to be asked to find out what reasons motorway service operators have for charging such increased prices.
“Our research actually shows that almost a third of drivers would come off the motorway and add another 10 miles to their journey to find cheaper fuel.
“We’re calling for motorway fuel retailers to be more reasonable with their pricing. “In fact, a quarter (24%) of the drivers we surveyed would accept paying 2p extra at motorway services, but not an extra 10p.”
The issue of giving motorists advance warning of motorway fuel prices – something the Government had pledged to address last year but as yet has not actioned – was also a concern.
Some 76pc of motorists surveyed say service stations should display the price of their fuel well before the exit so they know how much it costs before leaving the motorway.
In May 2013, as part of a review into motorway fuel prices, Prime Minister David Cameron said motorway services could be forced to advertise their fuel prices in advance, but to date there has been no obvious progress in making these changes, nor has there been an update on tackling high motorway fuel prices.
Mr Williams added: “We feel it’s only fair that the motorist is able to make a choice about how much they want to pay for fuel before coming off at the exit and having to accept whatever they are presented with.
“We hope that the Government takes action – preferably within this parliament – to make the much-needed change to motorway signage as well as addressing the bigger issue of pricing to make it more affordable for millions of motorists to fill up at motorway services.
“”It’s not like anybody has a choice about whether they put fuel in the car or not, but they should not have to experience this 21st century form of highway robbery.” (Source: RAC press release.)
MORE THAN 4,000 FOREIGN-REGISTERED MOTORISTS ESCAPE SPEEDING OFFENCES IN SCOTLAND….
The Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM) has found that foreign drivers have escaped 4,073 speeding offences in the last twelve months.
The figures were revealed following a Freedom of Information request to Police Scotland which asked how many foreign motorists had been caught by speed cameras across Scotland. The IAM says that as foreign vehicles are not registered with the DVLA these speeding offences are not pursued.
The highest number of foreign speeding offences were:
1. Lothian and Borders, with a reported 3,182 offences and the top recorded speed of 106mph in a 70mph limit
2. Tayside, with a reported 252 offences and the top recorded speed of 98mph in a 70mph limit
3. North East Scotland, with a reported 199 offences and the top recorded speed of 108mph in a 70mph limit
4. Dumfries and Galloway, with a reported 139 offences and the top recorded speed of 98mph in a 70mph limit
5. Northern (Highland and Islands), with a reported 131 offences and the top recorded speed of 99mph in a 60mph limit
The locations of the highest recorded speeds were:
1. 108mph on the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen near Mill of Forest Stonehaven Aberdeenshire (70mph limit)
2. 106mph on the A1 at Gladsmuir, East Lothian (70mph limit)
3. 99mph on the A9 approximately half mile south of The Mound near Golspie Highland (60mph limit)
4. 98 mph on the A90 Dundee to Aberdeen Road at Waterston Road Angus (70mph limit)
5. 98mph on the A74(M) Glasgow – Carlisle Road Southbound Carriageway near Junction 19 Ecclefechan
IAM’s director of policy and research, Neil Greig said: “The high numbers of foreign speeders on our roads show how important it is that Scotland joins up with the rest of Europe to harmonise motoring offences and give the police extra powers to pursue dangerous drivers.
“Progress on this issue has been very slow and in the meantime thousands of drivers are avoiding fines and bans simply because their cars cannot be easily traced.
“By including cross border enforcement among new devolved powers the Scottish government could further enhance its road safety credentials and deliver safer roads even sooner”. (Source: IAM press release.)
…AS ENGLISH AND WELSH WANT SCOTTISH DRINK-DRIVE LAWS
MORE THAN two-thirds of motorists want the Scottish drink-drive limit introduced across England and Wales, according to a survey by the Institute of Advanced Motorists (IAM).
Under the new proposal, the Scottish government will lower the legal drink-drive limit to 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood before Christmas – to reduce the number of drink-related accidents and deaths on Scotland’s roads.
Over 83 per cent of IAM’s survey respondents confirmed that they drink alcohol, and over 47 per cent have agreed lowering the limit from 80mg to 50mg of alcohol in 100ml of blood will reduce the number of accidents taking place across UK roads.
IAM’s director of policy and research, Neil Greig said: “England and Wales are now totally out of step with drink-drive limits across the rest of Europe.
“Existing research has shown that between 63 and 116 lives can be saved every year by a lower limit. “Different limits are also a recipe for confusion and the IAM would urge the Westminster government to review its approach as a matter of urgency.”
A total of 2,632 people took part in the survey throughout October 2014.
The poll further revealed that over 53 per cent would prefer more thorough police checks to target drink-drivers, while only five per cent would support an increase in alcohol prices to tackle the problem. (Source: IAM press release.)
