Boris seeks to justify inflation-busting tube and bus fare rises - and a 25% increase in the C-Charge

Today is not a glorious day for Boris Johnson.

As the Evening Standard reports, he has just announced a series of substantial fare increases for London's commuters which will come into effect in 2010, including:

• Congestion Charge rises from £8 to £10 once the Western extension is scrapped (up 25%)
• Pay-as-you-go Oystercard bus fares rise from £1 to £1.20 (up 20%) although cash fares are frozen
• A seven-day bus pass rises from £13.80 to £16.60 (up 20%)
• Most Pay-as-you-go Oystercard tube fares rise by 20p

The paper reports that overall, bus fares will rise by 12.7% and Tube fares by 3.9%.

Boris Johnson has written for the paper, saying he had no choice but to raise fares in order to ensure that improvements and repairs to the system can be funded:

"We are coping with the colossal costs of the failure of Metronet and the disastrous PPP, and we are dealing with the costs of years of irresponsible politically motivated jiggery-pokery in setting fares. That is why I am announcing these rises today. They give me no pleasure whatever. But I believe passionately that they are reasonable and in the best interests of London."

"London Underground has already shed 1,000 backroom positions. We have cut £220 million on consultants and £130 million on accommodation costs, as part of a programme that will take £5 billion out of TfL's budget by 2018. We have taken some very tough decisions to slow down projects such as some station renewals and step-free access because it is there that we can find savings that do not compromise the great prize: to increase capacity, and to allow more people to travel in speed and comfort on public transport. We have been ruthless in finding savings, and that is why we have been able today to restrict the scale of the fare increases."

"Even when these rises come into effect, from January, average bus fares will be 10 per cent lower than in 2000, and Tube fares have not kept pace with the rise in earnings. The simple fact is that in a bitter recession, and with such huge pressure on public finances, we cannot keep providing a service at a price so far below cost."

The mayor adds that he has been urged to abolish the free travel afforded to certain groups - but that he resisted doing so:

"With almost 40 per cent of bus passengers allowed to travel for free, I have of course been urged to take those benefits away. I have been told that 60 is too young to have the right to 24-hour free travel. I have been advised that we should take back free travel for kids. I disagree. I believe those concessions are valued by Londoners of all ages. Together with our help for those on income support and those in search of work those schemes are especially important now, in a recession, and I will not take them away."

He concludes:

"Having cut costs to the bone, having begun the painful process of shedding thousands of employees, we are then faced with a clear choice. We could flunk the test, and expand the black hole in TfL's finances. We could cancel vital infrastructure projects and do long-term damage to the prospects of this city. We could impose new charges on the young, the old and those on benefits. It is obvious that none of those options is right for this city. That is why I am today announcing a package of measures that is fair, that protects the vulnerable, and will allow us to get on with the vital infrastructure investment we need."

Jonathan Isaby

Boris Johnson cleared of wrongdoing over "Greengate"

Boris Johnson has today been cleared of any wrongdoing over the communication he had with Damian Green on the day of the Tory MP's arrest.

The report by solicitor Jonathan Goolden states that he "did not fail to comply which the Code of Conduct of
the Metropolitan Police Authority" and "did not disclose confidential information, improperly confer and advantage or disadvantage or bring his office or authority into disrepute".

Boris Johnson released the following statement:

“I welcome the report of Jonathan Goolden. He concludes that I did not fail to comply with the Code of Conduct of the MPA and GLA and that I did not disclose confidential information, improperly confer and advantage or disadvantage or bring my office or authority into disrepute. I will now reflect on suggestions for the future on how to deal with extraordinary situations when they arise.

"I have cooperated fully with Mr Goolden’s investigation and am pleased that it has moved so swiftly to deal with the issues that were raised. I am however disappointed that this investigation has so far cost the taxpayer in excess of £11,000. I am happy to engage in the adoption of a protocol to cover the management of information by senior police officers, senior members and officers of the MPA and I in relation to a critical incident.

"What rightly matters to Londoners is what we do to make our streets safer from knife crime and violence and how we support businesses and individuals through the downturn and that is what I am giving my full attention to.”

Jonathan Isaby

 

Boris unveils winners of competition to design a new Routemaster bus

Boris Johson today made further progress in fulfilling another pledge from his London mayoral campaign - getting a 21st Century Routemaster bus onto the streets of the capital.

During the mayoral campaign, he took great pleasure in reminding voters that Ken Livingstone famously said in 2001 that "“only some ghastly, dehumanised moron would want to get rid of the Routemaster” - before promptly doing just that himself.

So on his election as London mayor, Boris launched a competition to design a new version of the iconic vehicle, which attracted 700 entries, of which the following two are the joint winners (each receiving £25,000), according to the Evening Standard:

1. A streamlined space-capsule bus designed by Todd Hutton, a collaboration between car-maker Aston Martin and architect Lord Foster

2. A Fifties-style vehicle designed by Alan Ponsford of Capoco

Boris Johnson said of the results:

"When I launched the competition, I asked for stylish and imaginative designs which would resonate with Londoners.  We have had a phenomenal response, with ideas submitted from around the globe, and we now have, in our joint winners, two stunning designs that allow us to go forward and produce a truly iconic bus fit for 21st century London. I know that, like me, Londoners will be waiting eagerly to see how these ideas evolve into the final design that will appear on our roads."

The first of the vehicles is expected to be on the road by 2011.

Update: There is more information on the designs at the TfL website

Jonathan Isaby

Boris signals the beginning of the end for bendy buses

Today has seen Boris Johnson begin fulfilling yet another of the pledges he made during the mayoral campaign - to rid the streets of London of so-called "bendy buses".

A first tranche 83 of the vehicles (on routes 38, 507 and 521) will be replaced with conventional single-decker and double-decker buses next autumn when current contracts come to an end.

The frequency of buses on the routes will be increased to cope with the fact that conventional buses have a lower capacity than the bendies.

Boris Johnson said:

"During the election, I promised that I would phase out bendy buses, and today I can announce their demise has begun, which means the first bendy buses being removed from our streets next summer.

"Many Londoners, particularly cyclists, see the awkward elongated bulk of the bendy bus as completely unsuitable for the city's streets, and during the election this became a huge issue.

"I am making sure the buses are removed in the most cost-effective way, and today's new contract announcement marks the beginning of the end for the bendy bus in London."

Boris unveils his transport spending plans

Huge announcement from the Mayor of London Boris Johnson on his transport expansion plans for the next ten years. There are some big changes in priorities from the previous Ken Livingstone plans. Some costly schemes are scrapped including the Thames Gateway Bridge. But there will be air-conditioning on the tube, increased capacity with carriages increased from six to seven, a cycle hire scheme, Cross-Rail, the return of the Routemaster, expansion of river transport with more piers, more charging locations for electric vehicles, measures to improve traffic flow, hydrogen buses, etc, etc. The full thing is here.

Boris said of the Thames Gateway Bridge:

Given the pressures on TfL funding and concerns over local traffic impacts, TfL will no longer be pursuing he proposed Thames Gateway Bridge. It has become clear to me that it is highly unlikely that the scheme will ever truly be acceptable to all those affected and it is right that the £90m we are currently spending on it be redirected.

Other projects that Boris believes have merit (Cross River Tramlink, Croydon Tramlink) have been shelved for the time being because of cost. So there are some tough choices. I suspect Londoners won't mind the odd prestige project being delayed or abandoned if it means they will cease to be treated worse than cattle when using the tube.

Opposing the opposition

Roger Evans is the London Assembly Member for Havering & Redbridge and the London Assembly Conservative Spokesman for Budget & Administration. Here he explains how his role has changed since the arrival of Boris Johnson.

The fantastic vote which propelled Boris Johnson into office in May also produced a historic result for Conservatives in London government. Our London Assembly group increased from nine to eleven members – the largest single political group ever elected to City Hall. During the count, as the results became clear, one Labour member sourly remarked ‘You are about to discover that Assembly Members are lower than dirt on the Mayor’s shoes.’

Thanks to a more collegiate approach from Boris, this prediction has not come to pass, however it casts an interesting light on the relationship between the Mayor’s office and the group which shares his politics but has a responsibility to scrutinise the executive – the key question being ‘What is the point of the Conservative Group?’

The most visible element of our role is the monthly Mayor’s Question Time. For two hours the 25 Assembly Members get to pose questions and follow up with carefully planned supplementaries.  The opportunity for detailed discussion is much greater than is afforded by PMQs and the obvious danger for the administration is that they slip into the sort of sycophantic questioning that Labour MPs indulge in every week. ‘Can I congratulate the Mayor on (insert latest statistics)?’ is not going to win us any friends or cast the authority in a good light. Instead, we should use the opportunity to focus on constituency matters. Since the election our postbags have ballooned and Londoners who voted for change are understandably keen to see things improve. Questions provides the chance to get publicity for key issues and to focus the attention of our family members (eg TfL) on the small things that matter to residents.