Black cab exemption for the Rotherhithe tunnel
Dear Transport for London,
Given that zero PCNs have been issued for LEVC TX vehicles in the Rotherhithe tunnel between July 2019 and November 2019, given that these vehicles are regularly seen going through the tunnel, and given that these vehicles are more than 2m wide, they must have been issued an exemption.
Can you please provide a copy of this exemption, or any document/decision to this effect?
Yours faithfully,
Olivier Rousseau
Dear Olivier Rousseau
Our ref: FOI-2706-1920/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 3
December 2019 asking for information about a Black cab exemption for the
Rotherhithe tunnel.
Your request will be processed in accordance with the requirements of the
Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy.
A response will be sent to you by 6 January 2020. We publish a substantial
range of information on our website on subjects including operational
performance, contracts, expenditure, journey data, governance and our
financial performance. This includes data which is frequently asked for in
FOI requests or other public queries. Please check
[1]http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar... to see if this helps you.
We will publish anonymised versions of requests and responses on the
[2]www.tfl.gov.uk website. We will not publish your name and we will send
a copy of the response to you before it is published on our website.
In the meantime, if you would like to discuss this matter further, please
do not hesitate to contact me.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
References
Visible links
1. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transpar...
2. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/
3. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
Dear Olivier Rousseau
Our ref: FOI-2706-1920/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 3
December 2019 asking for information about a Black cab exemption for the
Rotherhithe tunnel.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of
Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.
I can advise that we do not hold the information you require; there is no
exemption in place for LEVC TX vehicles in the Rotherhithe tunnel.
Currently the legislation only allows us to issue penalties for goods
vehicles which breach the weight restriction. We are unable to issue
penalty charge notices to any vehicle for height / width and length
infringements. However, we currently have other measures to try and
inhibit infringements, such as width and height barriers.
If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached
information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
References
Visible links
1. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
Dear Transport for London,
Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.
I am writing to request an internal review of Transport for London's handling of my FOI request 'Black cab exemption for the Rotherhithe tunnel'.
The reply given to this FOI is wrong, and can be proven so by checking the reply of this previous FOI:
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/n...
There is a rather long list of "Non commercial vehicles" fined for using the tunnel while being wider than 2m.
Being surprised by the absence of LEVC TX (the new electric black cabs), I placed a follow up FOI asking who approved their exemption.
Being told that there is no enforcement on the size is wrong.
A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address: https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/b...
Yours faithfully,
Olivier Rousseau
Thank you for your request for an internal review which was received on 11 December 2019.
You have stated that you are dissatisfied with the handling of your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act.
The review will be conducted by an internal review panel in accordance with TfL’s Internal Review Procedure, which is available via the following URL:
http://content.tfl.gov.uk/internal-revie...
Every effort will be made to provide you with a response by 14 January 2020. However, if the review will not be completed by this date, we will contact you and notify you of the revised response date as soon as possible.
Yours sincerely
Emma Flint
Principal Information Access Advisor
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Dear Mr Rousseau
I am contacting you regarding your email concerning the response provided
to FOI-2706-1920. Following your email of 11 December 2019 a review has
been carried out by an Independent Review Panel (‘the Panel’) consisting
of individuals who were not involved in the handling of your request.
You have disputed the response provided to FOI-2706-1920 on the basis that
the information you seek has been provided previously to another FOI
request via the What Do They Know website.
However following further discussions with the Customer Correspondence
Manager in TfL's Road User Charging, Congestion Charging & Traffic
Enforcement Team, the Panel can confirm that the response provided to
FOI-2706-1920 is correct and we do not hold the information you are
seeking.
As advised, currently the legislation only allows us to issue penalties
for goods vehicles which breach the weight restriction. This means we only
issue PCNs to goods vehicles and these are identified as having an 'N'
vehicle type classification at the DVLA. Passenger vehicles such as cars
will have an 'M' vehicle type and will not get a PCN.
Concerning the other FOI request to which you refer on the What Do They
Know website and where you state we have listed "non commercial vehicles"
that we have issued PCNs to, this statement is incorrect. The vehicles
listed in response to that particular FOI request were 'N' type (goods)
vehicles and that is why they have received a PCN. Most of the vehicles
in that list are Land Rovers and Range Rovers. These are generally the
large 4x4 vehicles which most people do use in the same way they'd use a
car. However as they will be classified as goods vehicles (N - vehicle
type) with the DVLA they are liable to receive a PCN for going through the
Rotherhithe tunnel.
The Panel appreciate that the above response will come as a disappointment
to you, however we hope that we have provided a better clarity in regards
to the information requested in FOI-2706-1920. If you are dissatisfied
with the internal review actions to date please do not hesitate to contact
me or alternately you can refer the matter to the independent authority
responsible for enforcing the Freedom of Information Act, at the following
address:
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire SK9 5AF
A complaint form is also available on the ICO’s website
([1]www.ico.org.uk).
Yours sincerely
Emma Flint
Principal Information Access Adviser
FOI Case Management Team
Transport for London
[2][TfL request email]
References
Visible links
1. http://www.ico.org.uk/
2. mailto:[TfL request email]
3. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/about-tfl/
We work to defend the right to FOI for everyone
Help us protect your right to hold public authorities to account. Donate and support our work.
Donate Now