Boris Fares Bombshell

Commuters faced with unprecedented "kick in the teeth" fare rises

Londoners going back to work after Christmas were greeted with a New Year girft from Mayor Boris Johnson: huge public transport fare rises.

Labour Assembly Members were out in force to protest against the huge rises which will hit the worst off hardest.

"A great deal of Londoners are suffering financially and this is yet another burden for them" Val Shawcross, Labour

Low-paid Londoners are hardest hit by Boris's eye-watering fare rises. An average couple who both rely on buses to get to work face shelling out £263 a year extra.

What Boris's fare rises mean for you

• A single bus journey by Oyster UP 20% to £1.20 (up from 90p before Boris became Mayor)
• A weekly Oyster bus pass UP 20% to £16.60
• Six-zone peak single Tube fare by Oyster UP 10.5% to £4.20
• Five-zone off-peak single Tube fare (outside zone 1) UP 18.2% to £1.30
• Most Oyster pay-as-you-go journeys UP by 20p per trip
• Overall Tube fares will rise almost 4% and bus fares by almost 13%

These are fare rises made out of choice. Boris Johnson's transport decisions are costing Londoners dear and he is asking public transport users to pay the price.

Boris's costly mistakes 

• Halving the size of the congestion zone
  COST: £70 million a year in lost income

• Cancelling the higher congestion charge for gas guzzlers
  COST: £50 million a year in lost income

• Replacing bendy buses with lower capacity single and double deckers
  COST: £28 million extra a year

While hard-working Londoners bare the brunt of Boris's fare rises, Transport for London paid out a staggering £17,244,651 in staff bonuses. And while Boris Johnson rejected transport workers' claims for a 5% wage increase as "wildly unrealistic, his own salary went up from £137,579 to £143,911...or 5%.

Val Shawcross, Labour's Assembly transport spokesperson, told BBC London: "We know that those who use the bus to get around tend to be on lower incomes. At this time as the country is struggling with recession, slapping massive fare increases on people is outrageous. A great deal of Londoners are suffering financially and this is yet another burden for them."

John Biggs, Labour's budget spokesman on the Assembly, said: "This is a massive kick in the teeth for hard pressed Londoners at a time when many are struggling with the recession. Not putting up council tax will save people pennies but this will hit them hard. Londoners will rightly wonder why Boris can apparently find £5bn of TfL savings but can't keep down their fares"