TfL Throwing Good Money After Bad, Again ... After Two Decades Of Mismanagement

Over the last nigh on two decades, Transport for London have spent many millions of tax payers money on transport systems that have done no more than add to the gridlock and congestion. 

State of the art 'CentreComs' at Palestra, sensors in the roads, sensors on beacons, auto signal re-phasing, forcing traffic from side-streets onto main routes....etc. 

So how are they going to make good, all the damage they've done to the arteries of the capital.....simple, they are going to throw many more millions of rate payers money at he problem. 

Outside, third party consultants, think tanks, along with systems designed by engineers who don't live or commute in Central London, their only experience is with computer modelling. 

Transport for London (TfL) have now announced plans to develop a new control system for road management which will see access to data highlighting potential congestion points. (Didn't we hear all this before in 2012?)

Whatever happened to their state of the art 'CentreComs' control centre at Palestra, that could access rich data highlighting potential congestion?

Many millions were spent on systems that proved to be useless in reality and only added to traffic problems daily.   

In a recent statement, TfL say they bid to reduce the impact of congestion on the roadways in London, with new software, provided by Sopra Steria, which will grant access to data about road traffic, bus performance, weather and roadworks.... which will result in improved response times for TfL. Immediate updates of road incidents, and the actions taking place to resolve them, will be part of the collective shared data scheme.....we won't be holding our breath as we've heard this all before.

Adrian Fieldhouse, Sopra Steria’s Managing Director for Government, said: “Our vision is to empower government to make a difference to everyone, everyday, through the services we design and deliver. The new control room system will make use of rich data to enable TfL to keep citizens and visitors alike safe and on the move through the city’s road network.”

TfL is not only responsible for the management (or mismanagement) of 580km of London’s roads, but also manages (mismanages) London’s 6,000 traffic lights, tunnels and several bridges. (Look at the mess TfL made of the Hammersmith Bridge fiasco)

In June 2018, TfL awarded a contract to Siemens to develop and install new Real Time Optimiser (RTO) technology across London, which was supposed to dramatically improve TfL’s ability to control its traffic lights in response to real life incidents and conditions. We've got news for TfL.....it's not working.

TfL say their partnership with Sopra Steria aims to further the efficiency of detection and response to incidents which, in turn, will reduce road danger. 

We say their partnership is more akin to....the blind leading the blind. 

TAXI LEAKS EXTRA BIT :

Some ask why TFL have allowed London pavements to become no go zones or obstacle courses for the partially sighted and the blind.

How long before an elderly partially sighted or blind individual seriously injures themselves, who should they SUE, the council,bike supplier or TFL ?