From January tube fares will be increased by 25%. Buses in the "outer" zone will see an increase of a mere 43%, although buses in the "central" zone will remain unchaged for those using the Oyster smartcard pre-paid ticket scheme. Ken apparently wants us to use this pre-paid scheme to reduce queues at tube stations and speed up bus services.
I nust confess to living in London and never having heard about this Oyster card (I suppose if I took the bus more often then I might but then they are so unreliable...)
Anyway, I would have thought if you want people to take public transport then increasing fares at 10 times the rate of inflation is not the way to do it. I suppose that this is tied in with his tax scam (Congestion Charge, which I forgot to pay yet again so more fines!!!) not making as much money as he thought and also the fact that the company that runs it takes most of the money raised for themselves.
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CM
The Oyster card of which you speak is basically what will replace all prepaid bus passes, OAP passes and disabled passes. It will also be available as a pay-as-you-go type pass.
Not all Tube fares are increasing by 25%, similarly not all bus fares are increasing by 43%. The 70p flat fare is going up to £1, but even so a £1 flat fare to anywhere in outer London (ie from Bromley to Croydon for example) still has to be a bargain.
Londoners should consider themselves lucky on the bus fare front. I used to live and work in Lancashire and a return fare for a journey of 8 miles each way was approaching £5.
I have no time for Ken Livingstone, but on bus travel I think that he has it about spot on. Tube travel, though, remains amongst the most expensive in the Western world.
Cheers
Rob
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And, frankly, if you forget to pay the extremely well publicised (but not necessarily morally correct) congestion charge, then you deserve all you get, IMHO.
Rob
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Ken said on Steve Wrights radio show yesterday that there are two reasons for wanting everyone pre-pay on the busses. 1) It means the bus is not on the stand for as long and will speed up journey times 2) The muggers and crack heads will have no target, thus increasing safety.
Makes sense to me.
10 years ago, the bus journey from Manchester Picadilly Gardens to my halls of residence 3 miles away cost £1.50. The National Express return fare to Stoke was only £2.25 for the 80 mile round trip. Figure that one out!
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Rob,
I agree that the bus is good in London if they ever come (except for if you are trying to get somewhere and need to change a few times).
My point was really aimed at the tube fares.
As for the CC, my mind is like a sieve and I remembered the other day at 12.30am but had missed the cut off period for payment by half an hour!
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I'm by no way Ken's biggest fan but I admit the improvements to the buses are working.
The buses in my part of London are generally superb, every 10 mins and last bus home at 12.20am. I don't mind paying an extra 30p as the theoretical range on one bus ticket for me is 12 miles or 8p/mile. Easily the cheapest way to travel.
As for the congestion charge, they got the revenue figures all wrong, it appears it is TOO good a deterrent to driving into Central London, traffic volumes are down 25%.
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Well we're very lucky here and have an excellent bus service which rarely lets us down. At the weekend 7 of us (4 adults, 2 kids & a baby) had the freedom of London's trains, buses and tube system all day for a grand total of £15.20 - NOT bad eh !!
I think the idea is a sound one and will help to speed up the bus network - one of the major complaints about it. I'm also sure it will encourage people to prepay and thereafter use PT more often. I'm sure we will be purchasing these 'Oyster' cards and although, I recognise that there is a very big difference between peak and off-peak travel, we have very few problems with PT and tend to be using it more and more.
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BTW I might be wrong but I was under the impression that the 70p fare would remain the same for anyone using the cards and only those wanting to pay cash would have to pay the £1 fare. Can anyone confirm whether this is the case?
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Spot on V-Man - use the Oyster card and it remains at 70p which has to be one of London's great bargains.
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