In Passing

  COVID-19 is wreaking havoc across the globe and events companies are not immune, with conference calendars being wiped out. But one enterprising soul came up with the idea of a hastily arranged private breakfast at London’s exclusive Ivy Club this week to discuss the topic: ‘COVID-19 – a catalyst for change? How the technology sector can strengthen the transport industry's resilience.’  LTT was quite looking forward to sampling the Ivy’s Full English breakfast, washed down with a pot of The Ivy 1917 breakfast blend. Alas, with one day to go, an email arrived: ”For obvious reasons, we have had to cancel the breakfast we had planned for Thursday morning.“

One story you won’t read about in the news pages is Transport for London’s bid for the contract to operate New York’s proposed road user charging scheme. The forward plan presented to last week’s TfL finance committee meeting contained this intriguing line: “Cubic and NY RUC Bid.” A web search revealed that New York State last March authorised the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority, an affiliate of New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority, to establish a congestion pricing system for Manhattan’s central business district. Implementation of what will be the United States’ first such charging scheme is apparently proposed for 2021. Eager to learn more, we gave TfL a buzz. And there the story loses a little fizz. After checking things out, the spokesman came back to say that TfL did indeed review this opportunity with Cubic last year but the parties chose not to pursue it. “We’re not sure why this is still showing on this list to be honest,” he added. “Thanks for flagging, it’s a good job someone is keeping an eye on our reports!”

  In grim times like these, even a minor mistake in the DfT’s Road Investment Strategy 2 raises a momentary smile. In one passage the DfT explains that is “working closely with Transport for the North and Transport for Great Manchester.” Mancunians know that already, of course.