Four ways to cut fares
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EIGHT public meetings are to be held by the Greater London Cour in the eight London Transport bus operating areas to give the put a chance to discuss how promised LT fare cuts are to be imp mented.
LT, whose chairman, Sir Peter Masefield, has been invited to stay on until the end of the year, sees the GLC requirement of a 25 per cent overall fare reduction as the chance of a breakthrough in simplifying bus and tube fares. It has set out four options as to how the cuts can be made and submitted these to the GLC.
Two of the options are acrossthe-board reductions on current fares, and the extension of zonal fares.
On all four options the Outer London bus flat fare of 25p is reduced to 20p. The first option is based on an introduction of four bus zones — the suburban outer zone with a flat rate of 20p; an inner London zone; a central West End zone; and a central City zone, each with a flat fare of 15p.
Travel within two zones would cost 30p and travel in three or four zones 40p — short journeys crossing a boundary would be charged for one zone only.
With a similar system extended to the Underground network, LT believes this operation would boost business by some 450m passenger miles a year — which is an increase of about nine per cent.. It would cost about £115m for the scheme to be implemented.
With option two, zones would remain the same as in option one, with a 20p fare in all cases. Existing 12p fares would be duced to 10p, some special fares would apply for cert journeys which just overlap fare boundary.
A one-zone bus pass would priced at £2.
Including Underground fa LT say this option would c £105m a year and should crease business by about 351 passenger miles a year.
Option three is to reduce I 25p suburban flat fare to 2 and cut other fares by about per cent to obtain a fare scale 10p stages from 10p to 60p. T would cost about £100m a should boost business by abc 270m passenger miles.
Option four is to reduce fares by about 25 per cent uniformly as is consistent witl practical fare scale. This t would cost about £100m a could generate 280m extra p senger miles.
LT expects the GLC to mak' decision on the fares by prot sals by the end of June so tl the chosen option can be int duced in October or Novembe
Whichever option is choser will not please Transport Sec tary Norman Fowler who 1invited GLC Leader Ken L ingstone and transport ch David Wetzel to meet him ti week. He is expected to ask tht to retract their proposed fi cuts.