TfL’s draft ten-year business plan confirms “fares will increase at RPI plus one per cent each January for the period to 2014/15”.
Since coming to office in 2008 Mayor Johnson has increased fares each year, most recently announcing an average increase of 4.2% from January 2013.
During this year’s City Hall elections, Johnson promised he would “bear down” on fares. However today’s business plan suggests Londoners will have no respite from rises for the remainder of his Mayoralty.
Commenting on the projected future increases, Val Shawcross, Labour’s transport spokesperson on the London Assembly, said: “We have already seen fares go up above inflation for the last five years. The Mayor needs to realise that Londoners are struggling, it is time he reined these inflation-busting fares in.”
The business plan sets out TfL’s proposed investment for the next decade, but is reliant on central Government funding and isn’t binding on future Mayors.
Proposals include providing additional capacity on the London Overground and Tramlink and doubling spending on TfL’s road network to £3.8bn.
Green Party Assembly Member Darren Johnson accused the Mayor of being “stuck talking about road widening schemes and a car dominated past” and called for further spending on cycling.
Assembly Member Johnson added: “Investment in cycling will only deliver safer streets if it is combined with the political will to put the safety of pedestrians and cyclists above the need to move traffic along faster.”
TfL says the Mayor will publish a new ‘Vision for Cycling’ document at a later date.
