Green Party's radical plan to scrap London travel zones and replace with flat fare

Pippa Crerar5 January 2016
WEST END FINAL

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Green mayoral candidate Sian Berry has unveiled radical plans to scrap London’s travel zones and eventually bring in a single flat fare across the capital.

The City Hall hopeful also proposed introducing a one-hour ticket that could be used across buses, the Tube and trains - including between nearby stations.

In addition there would be a daily Oyster cap for part-time workers that matched the much lower rates paid by monthly season ticket holders.

The far-reaching measures would be paid for by raising cash from motorists including putting up the congestion charge from £11.50 to almost £20 a day.

Ms Berry said: “We’ll level the playing field to make everyone’s journey to work cost the same, removing the hidden penalties if you live in outer London, work part time, need to take two buses, or change between tube, bus and train on your way.”

There would be an immediate merger of zones 3 and 4, as well as 5 and 6, to create lower fares for the suburbs. By 2025 there would be a flat rate across the whole capital, with the Greens claiming they would not put up fares above already planned rises to achieve this.

She also pledged to integrate the capital’s bike hire scheme with TfL’s Oyster and contactless payment system although work to do this is already underway.

Transport for London claimed the flat fare structure would reduce its income by £1 billion a year at a time when it faced deep Government cuts and most needed to invest in the network.

A spokesman for TfL said: “Zones were introduced in London to make paying for travel as fair as possible, meaning those travelling shorter distances pay less than those making longer trips.”

The transport body said the one-hour ticket would cost an additional £40 million a year while the part-time workers cap would cost £50 million.

But Ms Berry claimed it would not be necessary to cut TfL’s budget or scale back improvements as the Greens would raise extra funds from motorists instead.

As well as increasing the C-charge, by 2019 there would be a new “smarter” system of road user charging which would reward motorists who didn’t drive in central London and avoided busy times.

She would also introduce a workplace parking levy and extend the ultra-low emissions zone across a wider area.

The Greens would lobby for a share of car tax to pay for London’s red routes and a share of fuel duties to be spent on improving alternatives to driving.

Ms Berry said the system would be fair as by 2017 a total of £5 billion would come from farepayers with just £300 million by motorists through the C-charge.

She added: “It’s not fair that people in outer London pay so much more to get to work.”

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