New measures affirm TfL’s transparency commitment
9 Oct 2015 11:30 AM
All replies to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests to be published online and webcasts of Board meetings available for longer
A range of measures, which are designed to make TfL an even more transparent organisation, are set to be brought in following the publication of a new transparency strategy yesterday.
The plans come after a public consultation with customers and stakeholders, which asked for their views on the usefulness of the wide range of information currently published by TfL and how it is presented.
A total of 93 responses were received from a range of stakeholders, with many helpful suggestions about further information they would like to see made available on a regular basis.
Easier for stakeholders
Actions that TfL will take include:
- Publishing all replies to Freedom of Information (FOI) requests online. This will commence in 2016. The precise date will be announced by the end of the year;
- Publishing a schedule, which will set out when TfL will publish regular information and datasets. This will make it easier for stakeholders to plan their scrutiny of this material. The first schedule will be available in December 2015;
- Making webcasts of Board meetings available for longer than the current six month period, via TfL's YouTube channel. This will start from December 2015 and will mean the recordings can still be viewed when they are no longer available on the Greater London Authority website;
- Reviewing how information is presented on TfL's website. Work is already underway to make it easier to find and interpret the data published;
- Identifying any gaps in the information TfL publish about the number of customers using each service and standardising the presentation of this information. This will make it much simpler to understand the number of journeys made;
- Publishing an update twice a year on the progress made by TfL to further increasing transparency, including making more open data freely available.
Vast scale of responsibilities
A huge amount of information and data reflecting the vast scale of TfL's responsibilities is already available on a dedicated transparency page tfl.gov.uk/transparency
TfL also makes an extensive range of real-time open-data feeds available and they power hundreds of smartphone travel apps developed by third parties.
This approach is being extended beyond travel information into areas such as road safety.
Mike Brown, MVO, London's Transport Commissioner, said: 'Our role is to modernise and improve London's transport services so they continue to support new homes, jobs and economic growth.
'As we do this, we are committed to being open and transparent, and we are making more information publicly available than ever before.
'We want our customers and stakeholders to be able to scrutinise how we operate and how our income is spent for the benefit of London.
'For many years we have published a huge amount of information and data and this strategy is the next step in going even further.'
All income is reinvested
The information TfL makes available already helps in the scrutiny of how the network is run. All income - from fares, charges, government grants and commercial activity - is reinvested in running and improving transport services.
TfL's view is that all information should be made publicly available unless there is a legitimate reason why it can not be. Personal customer data, for example, should not be made available and some data could also have disproportionate costs associated with making it available.
The Transparency Strategy will be reviewed on an annual basis and can be viewed here: tfl.gov.uk/transparency