Boris raises fares fifth year in a row
Londoners' wallets will be hit with another inflation-busting fare increase - as Transport for London (TfL) last week announced travel costs in the capital will soar by 4.2 per cent on 1 January 2013. This means Boris Johnson has overseen a 26 per cent increase in fares since he became Mayor of London in 2008.
The fare hike was today described as "a tax on working people" by local Labour Assembly Member John Biggs - who urged the Mayor to throw a lifeline to struggling Londoners.
Since Boris Johnson was elected in 2008 fares have risen:
Bus fares will have risen by 55 per cent - from 90p in 2008 to £1.40
- A single ticket on Tube, London Overground and DLR from zone one to two will cost £4.48 in cash – a rise of 12 per cent
- A weekly zone 1-6 travelcard is up 25% under Boris Johnson – was £44.60 in 2008 and will be £55.60 in 2013, costing Londoners £440 a year more.
Local Assembly Member John Biggs said:
“Yet again residents in Barking and Dagenham are being hit hard with the Mayor’s fare increases. Travelling into central London from zone 5 for work is going to cost an extra £440 a year.
“These fare rises are unfair and unnecessary and I urge the Mayor to think again. Energy bills will be going up 11 per cent, rents in London have increased by 8 per cent and the Mayor has added to this endless burden by putting up travel costs yet again.
“The Annual London Survey shows that getting cheaper fares are Londoners top concern, so it’s so disappointing that the Mayor is not listening to what Londoners want.
“It's scandalous that local residents are being punished for working outside of the borough. Boris' fare rises are a tax on working people. Transport costs in London are prohibitively expensive and the Mayor has successively ignored this fact for the last five years. Boris should spend less time campaigning for tax cuts for the richest people in London and more time keeping fares down for everyone else."