TfL seeks public views on its approach to transparency

9 Dec 2014 02:09 PM

Views sought on the current approach, including to free open data, and on what other information should be made publicly available.

Transport for London (TfL) has yesterday launched a public consultation to help develop its approach to transparency.

Customers and stakeholders are being asked for their views on the usefulness of the wide range of information that is currently published and how it is presented. They are also being invited to suggest further information that they would like to be made available as a matter of course. Responses will be used to formulate a Transparency Strategy which will be published in summer 2015.

With responsibility for 30 million journeys every day and an annual budget of £9bn, TfL is a large organisation undertaking a wide range of activities. Its purpose is to keep London working and growing and to make life in the capital better. Openness and transparency about how this is delivered is helping to strengthen relationships with customers, stakeholders and businesses, and is improving the services that TfL provides.

TfL is committed to being open and transparent about its activities and is making more information publicly available than ever before.

TfL's provision of real-time, free of charge open data since 2010 has enabled new and innovative ways for customers to obtain travel information and services. Developers have been able to access over 50 data feeds (www.tfl.gov.uk/developers) to create apps which complement the information TfL itself delivers directly to customers. TfL data now powers over 360 travel apps, most of which are free of charge. This represents an 87 per cent increase in the number of products available in the last year.

The TfL website provides a vast amount of regularly updated data and information covering fares, financial and operational performance, customer satisfaction, journey patterns, and progress on modernising London's public transport and roads networks. This helps people to understand how London's transport network is managed and how every penny of TfL's income is reinvested to improve transport.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: `It's absolutely right that Transport for London's customers and stakeholders can see information that shows how the organisation is run and how money from fares is spent. TfL does a great job of getting this information out there but it's important to review how it's done to ensure we're meeting the needs of those who use or have an interest in TfL's services.'

Sir Peter Hendy CBE, London's Transport Commissioner, said: `Openness and transparency about what we do is a vital ingredient to delivering better transport services for London. We publish a huge amount of information and data to help our customers and stakeholders hold us to account, but we want to make sure we are publishing what people want and in a way that they find helpful.'

There is a dedicated transparency page on the TfL website and a 'publications and reports' section to make finding information easy: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/transparency

A range of documents go into detail about TfL's financial and operational performance, including:

TfL recognise that the information provided must be constantly reviewed in order to meet the changing needs and expectations of customers and stakeholders. The consultation will run for 12 weeks until 2 March. Customers and stakeholders can respond by visiting: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/policy/transparency