Rising Travel Costs
Posted by Diane Abbott, MP for Hackney North and Stoke Newington, at 14:18, Mon 16 November 2009:
Last month the Mayor of London Boris Johnson announced worrying plans to sharply increase travel fares. Bus fares for single journeys and the weekly bus pass are set to rise by a staggering 20%. I think these above inflation increases are unfairly hitting the most needy people.
Boris Johnson claims he was forced to raise prices to cover costs and TfL debts and has described these plans as an investment into the future of London. But station improvement plans have been put on hold and the step-free access programme across key stations has been scrapped.
82% of Hackney residents depend on London buses, myself included, meaning that this rise in fare prices will directly affect more than three quarters of Hackney residents. Some families will be seeing a rise of up to £263 a year. Infrequent users will also be disadvantaged. A part-time worker on minimum wage will be working three hours a week just to cover the cost of a weekly bus pass.
Affordable public transport is essential in the fight against unemployment – allowing people to travel easily to different destinations for work. It’s also essential in ensuring that everyone gets access to the sights and benefits of London. I’m afraid that the rise in bus fares will prevent Hackney people from taking full advantage of everything London has to offer.
I’m interested to hear your opinions on this issue. Is Boris doing the right thing increasing fares in order to cover the losses caused by the recession? What other way might there be to save money? How will these rises affect you?
Comments
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Posted by John Callon, 14:39, Mon 16 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Get a bike - healthier in more ways than one than being on crowded public transport.
Posted by Ben Sweeting, 14:45, Mon 16 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
i think it is important to keep bus fares low but we should all realise that london does have extremely good value fares at the moment compared to many other cities in england. perhaps it is more impotant in london because the larger commuting distances make it harder to walk and cycle. perhaps some more ambitious plans to make cycling to work more attractive for those of us who are currently not regular cyclists would be a good investment.
Posted by John Knight-Barnard, 14:45, Mon 16 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
It is one thing to remove for political purposes, the 'bendy bus' Route No 38 from Hackney. It is quite another thing to make the residents pay for all those double decker buses intended to replace them!
Posted by Anne Carroll, 15:59, Mon 16 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
I know that fare increases will hit me hard. I am a single mother working part time and rarely use the tube because of the costs involved. It is depressing to think that working Monday mornings will just be for busfare.
Already, a visit to the Natural History museum is a treat reserved for holidays due to prohibitive costs of getting to the other side of London. It is a shame because London has a huge mix of cultural and historical places that I would love to expose my child to more often.
While cycling does seem like a healthier option, I'm not confident enough to cycle on the roads and besides do not have any storage space for a bike when not in use.
Posted by Sharon Irvine, 16:25, Mon 16 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
This is all really to pay for the scrapping of the bendy buses - which Boris promised to do, yet doesn't use himself!
You ask any person who uses a wheelchair - or indeed, any less-abled person - and most of them will say that they prefer bendy buses and believe that they make it easier for them to travel around. I know a lot of people believe that they are much easier and more accessible than double-decker buses, and are angry that they are going to be taken away from them. I myself have a slight mobility problem and enjoy not having to climb up stairs in order to reach all the seats!
The increase in short-duration fares is going to hit those who can afford it the least - those on a low income, especially those who are unemployed, and will make it harder for these people to get around in order to find new work.
Whereas cycling is a very useful way of travelling for those who can undertake it, for many travellers it is simply out of the question, either because of disability, family, age or simply becuase of lack of storage facilities (I had a bike once that I had to chain to the outside of my house due to living in a first floor flat. I came back from being out one day to find someone had taken a hacksaw to the lock and done away with my bike. As much as I would love a bike, I refuse to buy one as I know the same thing will happen, especially if I get a newer bike!)
Posted by Shimrit Elisar, 17:13, Mon 16 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
I think these increases are an outrage. Cycling is all well and good but not practical for everyone and definitely not practical during the worst of the weather (which will arrive shortly after these increases go into effect). How do they expect us to keep paying more and more to live in this city? Where do they expect us to get the money from?
Posted by John Callon, 00:59, Tue 17 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Oh dear, do you remember when only the well-off could afford a horse and everyone else had to walk.
Just imagine what living in London will be like when the population of the country is 70 million (which government ministers are projecting and not discouraging) and most of the increase will be in London and the southeast. Rush hour on the tube will last all day.
I don't think these fare increases are about bendy buses; the bendy buses are going because so many people treat them as free buses and there is a need to recoup the lost revenue. Trusting people to pay their fare doesn't work here.
The country's economy has been ruined by the Great Leader (as Diane's friend, Andrew Neil, calls him). I'm afraid, Shimrit, that you will be paying more and more to live in this city and they will get the money from you by increasing all sorts of taxes as they have been doing for the past 12 years.
Less people are using public transport, and now it's time for the remaining passengers to pay to maintain the service - which, incidentallly, has improved exponentially over the past decade.
Posted by maxine bailey, 11:55, Tue 17 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
This city, my city, has become even more unrealistic for the "everyday" person to survive in, it seems that only the wealthy can afford to pay all these fines, for the rest of us even driving has become a bit of a minefield trying to avoid cameras and parking demons and public transport is expensive and inadequate, not to mention that the system for paying actually penalises those who are already struggling financially. It feel like control through financial ability, we are at the point where people cant afford to travel or to pay for childcare to get to work, is this the point? Why are we being crippled? "Welcome to HMPS LONDON* !!!! (* mutate britian)
Posted by Patrick Atkinson, 19:57, Tue 17 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
What do we expect he is a Tory and they look after their own, at all costs. British Rail before Privitisation only got £1 billion after they got £4 billion pound. Yet Livingston when Mayor was greatly subsidising the bus company's at one stage 40p in every pound, plus money to make alterations to buses, and big pay-packets for the top people around him. What we want Public Ownership workers control and management with community involvement with investment.
Posted by Diane Abbott, 10:00, Tue 24 November 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Thank you for all your comments. I found them very interesting and to me they illustrate the various problems that come from the rising travel costs. I have written to Mayor Johnson highlighting all your views and will post back here when I receive a reply. Meanwhile Hackney Council's campaign against the rise in bus fares - Be Fare Boris - has begun. See the Council's website for more details.
Posted by brian davis, 12:49, Mon 7 December 2009: (Is this post abusive?) #
Over the last 10 years my perception is that buses in Hackney have become safer as they they have become better used. It's been quite a few years since I have witnessed one of the incidents that I saw in the 'bad old days'. I think bus fares neeed to be kept low or usage may decline having a reverse effect on revenues as well as safety. The less well off use buses as opposed to tubes - you can see that if you travel in early, e.g. 6.30am. Personally I don't think life needs to be any harder at the sharp end.