Request ID: FOI-0785-2122 Date published: 06 August 2021
You asked
I am writing to request the following information under the Freedom of
Information Act.
1. In relation to the traffic lights on The Highway A1203, nearest to
Dellow Street and between Garnet Street and Wapping Lane, at the
coordinates 51.509721162695136, -0.056915982646014315:
a) The current (as of the date of receipt of this request) traffic light
timings (eg. the time gap duration between red and green, and any other
programmed or initiated timing sequences) in operation over the 24 hour
one-day period, and the clock time (GMT) hours that different
timings/sequences are in force. For example, this may be that between
00:00 hours and 05:59 hours the lights are programmed to wait for 3
minutes after the activiation of a road sensor, or 2 minutes after the
activiation of the pedestrian crossing button; between 06:00 and 09:00
it will be x after y, etc.
b) All of the different traffic light timings and their dates of
operation since 1 Jan 2017 onwards until today's date.
c) A copy of the operational instruction or guidance for the current set
of traffic lights in operation at the site.
d) A copy of all complaints relating to these lights or this crossing made since 1 Jan 2017 onwards until today's date.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-0785-2122
Thank you for your request received on 19 July 2021 asking for information about the traffic signals near the junction of the A1203 The Highway with Dellow Street.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
As advised in my email of 23 July, the first three questions of your request are processed by our Data & Legal Team as they need to establish the type of organisation and what level of report is required.
To provide the information you have requested regarding complaints regarding these traffic signals would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with a request if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would cost in excess of £450 to provide a response to your current request. This is because it is estimated that it would take over 18 working hours to retrieve and compile the information you have requested.
Our Customer Service team moved to a new reporting tool in June 2017 so would only hold information from this date onwards. They have done a preliminary search using the terms ‘A1203’, ‘Dellow Street’, and the signal reference for this site ‘05/115’. From a review of the enquiries they’ve received in 2020 only three related mentioned the traffic signals in this area but were not about the traffic signals themselves. It is unlikely that we would be able to capture all of the enquiries we’ve received regarding these signals as there are several terms that may have been used by customers contacting us such as ‘traffic lights’, ‘traffic signals’, ‘crossing’, ‘junction’, as well as different ways in which the location could be described. Our Asset Operations team have also identified one query regarding the traffic signals in this area since December 2019, but it was not the signals your request relates to.
To help bring the cost of responding to your request within the £450 limit, you may wish to consider narrowing its scope so that we can more easily locate, retrieve and extract the information you are seeking. If you want to refine your request or make a Freedom of Information Act request in future, please bear in mind that the Freedom of Information Act allows you to request recorded information held by us. You might consider limiting your request to a shorter period of time and providing specific keywords that you would like us to search against, however as stated above, please note that this still may not capture all of the relevant information relating to your request.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note that we will not be taking further action until we receive your revised request.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
