Boris Johnson dismisses one hour bus fare proposal

Published in Mayor watch website on Wed 16th Dec 2009

Advocates of a one hour transferrable bus fare look set to be disappointed after it emerged Mayor Boris Johnson has once again rejected calls for the introduction of the new ticket.

The idea of a transferrable bus fare has been proposed several times and in April was the subject of a campaign by London Liberal Democrats who have previously advocated a scheme which would allow Oyster Pay As You Go users to change buses and complete their journey within 60 minutes without paying a second fare. More recently the idea was the subject of a motion agreed by the London Assembly.

Responding to a letter from Caroline Pidgeon, LibDem Assembly transport spokesperson and Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, who also presented the Mayor with a petition from residents, Johnson said he has "no plans to introduce such as scheme"

Echoing a statement previously given to this site, Johnson told Pidgeon the scheme "would be complex and expensive to introduce" and warned that it could have the unintended consequence of enabling "multiple journeys to be made for well over an hour in the last bus boarded involved a long journey".

Pidgeon said said the response "reveals that the Mayor doesn't understand bus travel."

"The Mayor has not even addressed the basic point that while you can switch from tube to tube and not pay an extra fare bus travellers are penalised for making just two very short bus journeys."

Pidgeon dismissed the Mayor's objections on the grounds of cost, claiming the scheme "could attract a lot more people onto the buses and therefore could generate significant extra revenue."

A spokesperson for the Mayor previously told this site that introduction of the scheme would require TfL to recoup the cost of lost revenue "by either increasing fares or seeking additional funding from elsewhere."

http://www.mayorwatch.co.uk/johnson-dismisses-one-hour-bus-fare-proposal/20099357