Free London travel unlikely
Page 24
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
• A resolution passed this week by the Labour-controlled London borough of Lewisham demanding that the principle of free travel be introduced in London is unlikely to meet with any success, a GLC spokesman said on Wednesday.
The Lewisham resolution had said that "the free fare system is a necessary first step towards solving London's traffic problems and would be the correct solution on economic, social and environmental grounds". The present policy of making London Transport a profitable concern had been "a lamentable failure".
After the GLC published a Green Paper on the future of LT more than a year ago, various bodies gave their views. Many, particularly the Labour-controlled boroughs, favoured a free travel scheme — a principle rejected by the Tory-governed GLC. One borough — Hackney — which asked for a free travel experiment was told that this was not possible as the annual cost in lost revenue would be about £36m.