Local Bus Fares Set for Big rise

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 8th Sep 2003

The Mayor has published the new bus fare structure due to come into effect in January. The standard, short, outer London journey fare will rise from 70p to £1.00 and one day passes will rise from £2 to £2.51 though pre-paid tickets will remain frozen.

To sugar the pill, children under 11 will be allowed to travel free (under 5's do at present). In a letter to MP Vincent Cable the Major, King Livingstone, says that the fare increases are necessary to meet extra services because the number of passengers has risen (by 1.4 million in four years).

Vincent Cable said: "this is a rather odd message to come from someone who made his reputation by introducing free public transport. It is inevitable that a fare increase of over 40% for local journeys will significantly cut demand from precisely the people who the Mayor and government are trying to persuade to leave their cars".

"I do accept that in the last few years bus services have improved, unlike rail. We must hope that the Mayor is as good as his word in ensuring that better services do follow the fare increases."