Tube and bus fares to rise again
London's bus and tube fares are set to increase again next year. Single Tube journeys will cost £3 rising from the current £2, and single bus fares will rise from £1.20 to £1.50.
The Mayor, Ken Livingston, announced the plans at City Hall on 4 October. However, there is some good news: the price of Oyster prepay bus fares will remain at £1 during morning peak time and 80p during the off-peak period.
According to Mr Livingstone, the aim of this change is to encourage commuters to use Oyster cards rather than cash during an attempt to speed up journeys and improve the efficiency of the transport network.
"The simple message is that you don't have to pay the new cash fares switch to Oyster and pay as you go, and you will save money, as well as time," he said.
Currently, almost 50% tube and 40% bus fares are bought with Oyster cards. Plans also stated that these increased fares are estimated to generate £80 million from buses and £50 million from tubes.
Mr Livingstone stated, "Too many people are paying cash, causing long queues at stations and on buses. Our objective is to move people away from paying cash, speeding up the whole system."
"I believe Londoners are astute enough to choose the best value fare for their journey."
Mr Livingstone also felt that it was "bizarre" that commuters should still pay for their fares with cash, suggesting it would be "more inexplicable" if that remained unchanged after the New Year.
He said the new fares would be the second of three previously announced increases, with another increase due in 2007.
The increase will affect just about every student and staff member here at Imperial. Simon Matthews, Deputy President (Finance & Services) said, "Obviously the increase in bus fares will severely disadvantage students who have to travel to or from college. However, it should be noted that Oyster card fares are still relatively cheap making prepay clearly a worthwhile investment."
Mayor Livingstone has not mentioned how this may affect students or commuters with an option to travel by car. With both the extension of the congestion charge and transport fares increasing, it is clear Mr Livingstone is adamant on setting a new record for the most expensive transport system in the world. Not only is this proposal questionable in terms of actually improving the network efficiency, but it is also unfriendly to the many tourists that London receives each year.
The transport spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, Geoff Pope said: "There is a danger that with all that has happened in the capital in the last few months, this will end up being the final straw, as people go elsewhere to shop and be tourists."
