Ken's big guns

Say what you like about Ken, but we reckon his transport announcements today make BoJo's fiddling with conductors look like the work of an upper-class dilettante who doesn't use public transport:

The mayor said he would put a fleet of 500 hybrid buses, which cut emissions by up to 40 per cent, on the roads by 2010 with a view to making all buses hybrids by 2012.

He also outlined £500m of investment to create a "revolution in cycling", making it safer to ride a bike in the capital by creating cycling zones and routes linking schools, residential areas and workplaces.

Livingstone pledged to introduce a hire scheme to make 6,000 bikes available every 300 metres which would be free to use for the first half hour.

Add to that CrossRail, tube modernisation and a plan to snatch London's train system out from under the eyes of the rail operators, and it's classic Livingstone. Eye-catching and expensive. Just like Lee Jasper.