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LRT fares hike rejected
Page 19
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• The House of Commons Transport Select Committee has rejected the idea that London Regional Transport (LRT) should curb overcrowding on the Underground by raising fares, causing passengers to transfer to buses. "Buses are the only form of transport which can increase service in the short term, but unless traffic congestion can be alleviated this option will be unattraclive," says the committee.
The Select Committee report stops short of recommending bus lanes and traffic priority measures, but it highlights uncertainty about who is responsible for co-ordinating transport in London as a whole as "a clear weakness". It follows evidence given to the Transport Committee earlier this month in which LRT chairman Wilfred Newton said that major capacity improvements on the Underground could take place only in the middle to late 1990s, and in the short term overcrowding could be curbed by pricing.
An LRT spokesman said last week that pricing above inflation was only a concept and there was no firm plan. Differential fares would not affect travelcards as there were already separate bus-only passes. If a surplus was generated, money could be switched to bus improvements.
LRT thought it could keep the expected 5 to 6% increase in Underground usage down to 4% over the next few years. But the committee says those willing and able to pay the higher fares "would enjoy a level of overcrowding still only marginally short of intolerable."