A rant about the 384 bus and the TFL bus times app which simply doesn't work properly

 Last night, I went to watch Hadley FC at the Brickfield Lane Stadium. They were kicking off at 7.45pm. As part of the fun for me is to have a couple of beers with friends at the ground, I took the bus. I can walk up my road and get a 384 from Glendor Gardens. As I rather like a pint before the game, I set off in good time at around 7.10pm. The TFL app said that the bus was coming in eight minutes. The journey takes around ten minutes, so I had plenty of time. After ten minutes, the app was still showing  minutes. A 292 going to Borehamwood was showing 3 minutes, but turned up. I was tempted to take it and walk the rest. I'd have still been on time, but it is still about 1/2 mile walk. I decided to wait. After another 20 minutes, another 292 came. That bus was actually showing as due in 2 minutes, a minute after it departed. By this time it was nearly kick off time. The 384 was showing as 8 minute still.

So cutting my loses, I got on the 292 at Scratchwood open space and started walking. I took the precaution of checking if a 384 was due. It said 7 minutes. I set off. almost immediately a 384 bus  zoomed past me. Half way to the ground, another 384 zoomed past. By now I was furious. A mate saw me and took pity and gave me a lift the last 1/4 of a mile. I was fifteen minutes late. 

I ask the question to TFL. What is the point of travel apps if you can't rely on the information. If there had been a warning about the delays, I'd have made other arrangements, either taking the 251 and walking or driving. I'd not have missed 15 minutes of an enthralling game that Hadley won 3-1 after going 1-0 down to an amazing free kick. 

The point is serious though. People get the 384 to Barnet to use the hospital, for appointments. I get that occasioanlly things go wrong, but the app is relied on. There should be notifications when it isn't working properly. I get that me watching Hadley is not a matter of life and death, but for some people missing hospital appointments are. 

If the Mayor of London is serious about his commitment to clean air, we need public transport systems that work. That means travel apps must work properly.

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A couple of years ago I wrote a song amd made a video about the awful state of the UK's transport systems. I rather like it.

Sadiq Khan or Susan Hall? God help us all!

 Did you watch the news last night? I did. The big story was HS2 and the Tory conference. First up we had Conservative Mayor of Birmingham Andy Street, making the case for HS2, in open opposition to what everyone knows his party leader Rishi Sunak is planning. I have to say I was impressed. This was a grown up politician, doing his job eloquently. Here is a tweet he put out

I wasn’t expecting this in Manchester, but I won’t let HS2 go without a fight.

The offer to the PM is there - work with me and the private sector, grip the costs, and build Britain’s future. pic.twitter.com/JYBdkbGxHS

— Andy Street (@andy4wm) October 2, 2023

It was refreshing to see a politician doing his job properly. Next up was Manchesters Labour Mayor, Andy Burnham. Again, he was making grown up points, rather well. He urged Rishi Sunal to at least have a conversation with the Tory Mayor of Birmingham, even if he won't speak to him. I was left thinking that both Birmingham and Manchester have competent Mayors, who are capable of making coherent arguments. 

The next slot featured the Tory Mayoral hopeful for London Susan Hall. Watching and listening to Susan is like watching a car crash in slow motion. Whilst the two Andy's gave a masterclass in how to be a credible regional politician, Susan struggled to even say which party she was a member of

Your next Labour, sorry erm Conservative Mayor of London. Lord help ushttps://t.co/BaK48G3Rfz

— Roger Tichborne/Rog T (@Barneteye) October 3, 2023

Later on, speaking at the Conservative Friends of Israel, she made some highly inflammatory comments about Sadiq Khan's relationship with the London Jewish community. This prompted the British Board of Deputies to issue the following statement.

Throughout his tenure as Mayor,@SadiqKhan has treated our community with friendship & respect.

We hope to co-host the key Mayoral candidates at a 2024 Jewish hustings, where it will be clear that while London Jews may have varying political views, there is no fear present at all https://t.co/m7kWH0D4vb

— Board of Deputies of British Jews (@BoardofDeputies) October 2, 2023

I find it appalling that a candidate has put the Board in this position. I've listened to several interviews with Susan Hall and it is hard to sum up how undrwhelmed I am with her. It strikes me as truly bizarre that the Conservatives have chosen such a lightweight and incompetent candidate. The more we see, the worse it gets. It is clear to me that Sadiq Khan has alienated many Londoners with policies such as ULEZ. A credible Tory candidate would have a very real chance of winning, which may well give the Tories a huge pre general election boost. Only the most passionate Labour supporters I know still have faith in Khan. That the Tories have chosen someone who seems to have no policies and no personality is odd to say the least. Susan Hall's policy on ULEZ is to abolish the extension. Given that by the time of the next election, most Londoners will have got rid of their non compliant cars, it is far too late. The horse bolted, the stable has been redeveloped, but she still wants to shut the door. It is mad. I have been a vocal critic of the ULEZ, but her policy is idiotic.

Then we have Sadiq Khan. When I compare him with the likes of Burnham and Street, it becomes clear that he is simply not up to the job. Whilst we can all imagine Burnham and Street having sensible conversations over HS2, working to the mutual advantage of their regions, you feel Khan would rather gargle with battery acid than be civil to Conservatives, even when it would be beneficial to London. When we elect a Mayor of London, I want a good administrator, who keeps the buses and tubes running, who is a great frontman for London and who works across party lines for the benefit of our city. Ken Livingstone was happy to work with Tory sports spokesman Seb Coe to secure the Olympics. Sensible cost saving measures such as Oyster cards were brought in. Boris Johnson worked with the then Labour government, to ensure the Olympic infrastructure was built. He also championed Crossrail, which has transformed travel in London. Sadiq Khan seems to be permanently at war with central government. I get that we've not had great government over the last few years, but the likes of Burnham have shown what you can achieve if you are reasonable. 

My advice to the Tories would be to get Hall to stand down as a matter of urgency and get a big hitter in to do the job. If they had someone who at least appeared competent and didn't play dog whistle politics, they'd have a chance. If they don't, they deserve to lose. As for Labour, Khan is the incumbent. If the Tories stick with Hall, we've got another four years of him. No dount, he'll put this down to his brilliance, rather than the fact that the Tories have lost the plot. God help us all. 

 

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Brian Coleman Special - The Spin Doctor in Action

When the news Brian Coleman had appointed a spin doctor broke last week, I allowed myself a sly chuckle. What on earth could any spin doctor prescribe to make Brian Coleman seem a reasonable choice to the voters of Barnet? Silly me. I had asked the completely wrong question. Now sadly Brian hasn't asked me over to discuss what he's being told to do or say, or what his spin doctors plan is, but it is becoming pretty clear, just from watching what is happening. Telling Brian Coleman to behave himself is pretty much like me telling my dog not to lick her backside. If I give her a treat she won't lick her bum until she's finished guzzling it, but she doesn't even understand what I'm saying. So any spin doctor working for Brian has to approach the problem from a different angle. Maybe a really good spin doctor could make all his opponents seem equally, or preferably even more awful. Anyone who studied Boris Johnsons campaign, as I did for the 2008 Mayoral election will know that Boris had a team of happy helpers who scoured the local papers leaving nice comments about Boris and horrid ones about Ken. These were all anonymous, I used to exchange banter with them across the websites of various publications. Oh what fun we had.

Now lucky old Boris wasn't the only Tory with a team of web based, anonymous admirers. Finchley MP, Mike Freer has had a very small band of anonymous followers who also have left comments on the local paper for the last few years. Strangely, although they find Mike fascinating they seem to ignore all other topics. Until this week.  On a Hendon Times story about Andrew Dismore and Ken Livingstone, guess who has popped up?
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narthlandan, Barnet says...
10:10am Wed 4 May 11

Yes, I remember how wonderful it was when Ken stuck up council tax year after year and increased bus/tube fares. Really listened to the people.

 

AmandaB, Hendon says...
12:28pm Wed 4 May 11

Wow Ken in North London... he forgot where it was last time!

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It strikes me that what has happened is not so much that Brian Coleman has appointed a spin doctor (who'd want that on their CV?) as Boris has realised that Coleman will cost him votes big time in Barnet and Camden, therefore he's lent Coleman a spin doctor to do a bit of damage limitation. I suspect if it was as simple as Coleman getting the boot at the election, Boris would be quite pleased to see the back of him, but every vote Brian Coleman costs the Tories, is a vote less for Boris. If Andrew Dismore runs a strong campaign and Tory voters turn away from Coleman, it could cost Boris the race, if things get tight.

Now we all know that politics is a dirty game and hopefully no one is stupid enough to think that the two F'ing B's (Fabulous Brian & Fabulous Boris) are the only politicians out to do a bit of nasty negative campaigning. I hear whole truckloads of dirt are being ordered by all sides. Mrs Angry has claimed that her family have the power of Mystic Meg. I claim no such powers, but I do have this prediction. The Boris Vs Ken election will be one of the nastiest ever seen in the UK and the battle in Barnet between Brian Coleman and Andrew Dismore will be the nastiest GLA battle ever. Brian Colemans strategy will be to make people think that the pair of them are the same and hope tribal loyalties see him through. I am sure that Andrew Dismore has a stack of dirt to throw back & I suspect that he'll be aided and abetted by a whole army of people who don't like Coleman (including some local Tories who want to be rid of him).

I was asked this evening, as I discussed this blog over a beer with a mate, who my money was on. I'd say the smart money has to be on Dismore. There are three reasons for this (in order of importance) :-

1) We'll have had 2 years of vicious Tory spending cuts in London. Dave Cameron has no interest in helping Boris and no interest in saving Coleman, so the tide will be out for the pair of them politically.

2) Labour will see Boris as a massive scalp (as Ken was previously for the Tories) and will throw the kitchen sink at him. Brian Coleman is a fine stick to beat him with, being Boris's no 1 henchman in shafting Londons brave firemen. If Boris decides Coleman is a liability, he'll lose him.

3) Andrew Dismore is far more intelligent than Brian Coleman, has a team of people in the constituency who are loyal to him personally and he knows how to campaign. Boris would be well advised to stand well back when the Coleman hits the fan.

If I was a betting man, I'd take a small wager on Coleman being dumped before the GLA elections actually happen. There's a few things which could tip him out. He's up before the Standards committee again, sometime soon and could be suspended. There is a strong possibility that the Tories in Barnet will have a new Leader some time in the next six months (Hillan is apparently very poorly) and a new leader may well want shot of him. And the biggest imponderable, as mentioned previously - Boris might just wake up to the fact that he's probably the worst possible advert for the Tories.

In a tight election Coleman is just what Ken Livingstone needs. Would anyone who knows Coleman, be in the least bit surprised if he imploded to hole Boris below the waterline a few weeks before the Mayoral Election with one of his idiotic outbursts. I've no idea if Boris reads the Barnet Eye, but if he's reading this I have one question for him "Is your career really worth flushing down the bog, just to keep Brian Coleman in free dinners for the next four years?". The one thing which puzzles me about Boris and his indulgence of Brian is why? We all know that Boris has plenty of mates from the Bullingdon club, who are past masters at behaving badly, but at least they really are toffs. We all know that, when it comes down to it, Coleman is a bit common, he fools no one. For all their faults, at least the Bullingdon mob, could afford their dinners and weren't constantly on the ponce. Has Brian fooled Boris into actually thinking that this is how "commoners" carry on and that he's a man of the people? I've a word of advice for Boris. The average working man has no time at all for a man who won't stand his round. It amazes me that Boris thinks employing a spin doctor is the way to fix the Coleman problem. Wouldn't he be better sacking him & getting the spin doctor to spend his time getting him a few gigs back on "Have I Got News For You" or "Top Gear". Now that would win him a few votes for sure.

Barnet Council - Dishonesty in action !

I am totally disgusted by the latest scheme from Barnet Council to waste your money. There are many aspects of it which disgust me, which we'll discuss, but the worst is the big porkie that it "costs the Barnet Taxpayer nothing".

Barnet Council are planting non native Dawn Redwood trees along the route of the Edgware Road. According to the article in the Hendon Times :-

As the cost of planting and initial maintenance is being covered by the Mayor of London’s funding, users of the Edgware Road will be receiving a real boost to the environment and atmosphere of the street, which is currently overwhelmingly urban, at no cost to the Barnet taxpayer.

I'm sorry to have to explain this to Barnet Council, but the Barnet Taxpayer funds the Mayor of London. Where did they think the money came from? Do they think it grows on (Dawn Redwood) Trees? We are funding this. We are paying. I've no idea who the Tories in Barnet think pays for the Mayor, but we do. The taxpayer.

Now I'm a big supporter of the Environment. I'd love Barnet Council to spend more on improving it, so why don't I like this scheme? Because it is the wrong scheme in the wrong place. I don't think any scheme where Councils plant non native species is ever right. Trees should be planted to provide habitat for native species and should be sited in such a way as to give the maximum environmental benefit. These trees planted along the Edgware Road are only likely to encourage scavenging species such as pigeons, which are a nuisance. Barnet actually say :-

A statement from Barnet Council said: “The primary reason for choosing Dawn Redwoods was because they grow upright, in a tall and thin style, avoiding problems of bird mess dropping on to shop displays or car dealership forecourts, or obscuring them from the view of passing motorists.

Now there are plenty of spaces in Barnet where trees would provide a huge benefit to the local ecosystem. They could provide shelter for rare species, provide shade and improve the environment for all. As Barnet admit for these specimens, all we will see is the bottom of the trunk. How many songbirds will nest? They won't provide acorns or berries as a foodsource for local wildlife. What exactly will they achieve apart from looking nice on glossy brochures? Do you think that if you gave the experts, say the London wildlife trust, the money and said, "devise a scheme that will have the maximum benefit for Barnets wildlife and we'll apply for this money" they would have come up with this scheme?

The trouble with Barnet Council under Conservative Leader Lynne Hillan is quite well demonstrated here. They don't understand who payes taxes, they think they know better than the experts, they waste public money and they deliver no tangible benefit to the people who foot the bill - you and me. I'm just amazed that a supposedly Tory Mayor, Boris Johnson colludes with such scandalous wasting of his cash. Do you think he knows who foots the bill?