Transport for London

 

Transport for London
Type	Local Government body
Founded	Greater London Authority Act 1999
Headquarters	Greater London
Key people	Mayor of London / GLA
Website	tfl.gov.uk

Transport For London (TfL) is a local government body responsible for most aspects of the transport system throughout Greater London in England. The role of TfL is to implement the transport strategy for and to manage transport services across London.

Management

TfL is controlled by a board whose members are appointed by the Mayor of London, a position currently held by Ken Livingstone, who also chairs the Board. The Commissioner of Transport for London (Peter Hendy since 17 January 2006) reports to the board and leads a management team with individual functional responsibilities.

History

Transport for London was created in 2000 as part of the Greater London Authority by the Greater London Authority Act 1999. It gained most of its functions from its predecessor London Regional Transport in 2000. However, it did not take over responsibility for the London Underground until 2003, after the controversial Public-private partnership (PPP) contract for maintenance had been agreed. Management of the Public Carriage Office had previously been a function of the Metropolitan Police.

Transport for London Group Archives holds business records for TfL and all its predecessor bodies and transport companies. Some early records are also held on behalf of TfL Group Archives at the London Metropolitan Archives.

Organisation

TfL is broken down into three main directorates and corporate services, each with responsibility for different aspects and modes of transport. The three main directorates are:

• London Underground - responsible for running London's underground rail network, commonly known as the tube, and managing the provision of maintenance services by the private sector. This network is sub-divided into three service delivery units:
  • BCV: Bakerloo, Central and Victoria lines
  • JNP: Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines
  • SSR (Sub Surface Railway): Metropolitan, District, East London, Circle, Hammersmith & City and Waterloo & City lines

• London Rail - responsible for:
  • Co-ordination with the operators that provide National Rail service within London.
  • London Overground.
  • Docklands Light Railway - normally abbreviated to DLR, it is the automatically driven light rail network in East London, although actual operation and maintenance is undertaken by a private sector franchisee.

• Surface transport - consisting of:
  • London Buses - responsible for managing the red bus network throughout London, largely by sub-contracting services to private sector bus operators.
  • London Dial-a-Ride - provides paratransit services throughout London.
  • London River Services - responsible for licensing and coordinating passenger services on the River Thames within London.
  • London Streets - responsible for the management of London's strategic road network.
  • London congestion charge.
  • London Trams - responsible for managing London's tram network, by sub-contracting to private sector operators. At present the only tram system is Tramlink in south London, but others are proposed.
  • Public Carriage Office - responsible for licensing the famous black cabs and other private hire vehicles.
  • Victoria Coach Station - owns and operates London's principal terminal for long distance bus and coach services.
  • Cycling Centre of Excellence - promotes cycling in London
  • Walking - Promotes better pedestrian access.
  • London Road Safety Unit - promotes safer roads through advertising and road safety measure.
  • Transport Policing and Enforcement - responsible for enforcing traffic and parking regulations on the Red route, tackling fare evasion on buses, delivering policing services that tackle crime and disorder on public transport in cooperation with the Metropolitan Police Service's Transport Operational Command Unit (TOCU) and the British Transport Police.
  • Freight Unit - which is currently developing the London Freight Plan and is heavily involved with setting up and supporting a number of Freight Quality Partnerships covering key areas of London.

Each of the above main units has its own corporate identity, formed by differently-coloured versions of the standard roundel and adding appropriate lettering across the horizontal bar. The roundel rendered in blue without any lettering represents TfL as a whole (see Transport for London logo). The same range of colours is also used extensively in publicity and on the TfL website.

Fares

Most of the transport modes that come under the control of Transport for London have their own charging and ticketing regimes. As an exception, buses and trams share a common fare and ticketing regime, and the DLR and the Underground another.

Superimposed on these mode-specific regimes is the Travelcard system, which provides zonal tickets with validities from one day to one year, and off-peak variants. These are accepted on the DLR, buses, railways, trams, the Underground and provides a discount on many river services fares.

The Oyster card is a new contactless smart card system, which can be used in pre-pay mode to pay individual fares or to carry various Travelcards and other passes. It is used by touching the card flat on the yellow card reader, found on all ticket gates where otherwise a paper ticket would be fed through, allowing the gate to open and the passenger to walk through. Oyster pre-pay cannot be used on most National Rail routes in London. However Oyster pre-pay does have a set of daily maximum charges that are cheaper than buying a Travelcard for those not using National Rail.

Journey planning

TfL has developed an electronic 'Journey Planner', which enables users to plan journeys by multiple modes in and around London. Additionally, it is available at kiosks and some payphones throughout London. The Journey Planner is also available via mobile phone applications - some mobile phone network operators may charge to access this service.

Mentions in 2006 honours list

After the attacks on the underground and bus systems on 7 July 2005, many staff were recognised in the 2006 New Year honours list for the heroic work they did. They helped the survivors out, removed the bodies, and got the transport system up and running, to get the millions of commuters back out of London at the end of the work day. Those mentioned include Peter Hendy, who was at the time Head of Surface Transport division, and Tim O'Toole, head of the Underground division, who were both awarded CBEs.

Others include:

• David Boyce, Station Supervisor, London Underground (MBE)
• John Boyle, Train Operator, London Underground (MBE)
• Peter Sanders, Group Station Manager, London Underground (MBE)

Transport museum

TfL owns and operates London Transport Museum in Covent Garden, a museum that conserves and explains London's transport heritage. It is currently closed for a redevelopment project, due to reopen in 2007. The museum also has an extensive depot, situated at Acton, that contains material not normally on display; the depot has several open weekends each year.

Transport for London website

TfL's website, found at tfl.gov.uk includes information on all aspects of operation, from corporate affairs to 'real time' travel disruption news.

See also

• Transport in London
• Passenger Transport Executive

External links

• Transport for London website
• TfL Journey Planner
• TfL Congestion Charging website
• Transport Briefing Public transport developments in and around London
• Parking permit information for all London boroughs
• Mentz Datenverarbeitung GmbH

Transport for London
Tube · DLR · Buses · Taxis · Trams · Rail · Coaches · River · Dial-a-Ride · Streets · Congestion charge · Oyster

Preceded by London Regional Transport

London transport authority 2000–present

Succeeded by Current

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