Val backs Fare Deal for Londoners

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Val backs the �Fare Deal� campaign to cut fares for Londoners, which was launched on Tuesday 8^th November with a series of major campaign events and initiatives that directly contacted hundreds of thousands of Londoners in just 24 hours. The event culminated with a fare ride rally at Brixton.

 

 

Branded �Fare Deal�, the fairer fares campaign will be a key plank of the Labour campaign in the London election next year, aiming to contact millions of Londoners in the coming months. Under Boris Johnson fares are planned to rise by 2 per cent above inflation every year. 

 

 

New figures confirmed the positive impact of Ken Livingstone�s pledge to cut fares and the significance of today�s date. Whilst Boris Johnson is committed to year on year fare increases at 2% above inflation for 20 years, Ken has pledged to cut fares and keep them lower than Boris Johnson�s plan.  A comparison of the effects of the two policies after four years confirms 

Londoners would not pay any fares after Nov 8th compared to Boris Johnson's 'high fare' policy which would see Londoners pay fares to the end of the year. Ken�s Fare Deal will see the average Londoner saving �800. 

 

 

Val said:

 

 

�The fact it now takes thousands of Londoners three or four weeks just to earn enough to get to and from work shows exactly why Ken�s pledge to cut the fares is so necessary. 

 

 

�Fares have spiralled out of control under Boris Johnson, with a single bus fare up a whopping 56% in just four years. It�s increasingly apparent that the Conservative Mayor doesn�t understand what it is like for millions of ordinary Londoners who are having to deal with his fare increases in addition to other rising costs. We need a Mayor who will put ordinary Londoners first, not just a privileged few.� 

 

 

Ken Livingstone said: 

 

 

�The choice in London is fares rising above inflation every year for 20 years under the current plans, or a �Fare Deal� for Londoners that cuts them and keeps them lower. Our alternative vision for London is all about being on the side of ordinary Londoners, instead of a just a few. 

 

 

�New figures show that under my Fare Deal, Londoners would effectively stop paying their annual fares costs by this week in November. Like Labour�s proposed VAT cut it would put money in peoples� pockets and purses and into the economy, and help relieve the financial squeeze the majority of people are facing. 

 

 

�Fares are rocketing and so is the frustration of Londoners. Each year London fare payers pay far more in fares than even the Mayor�s own budget projections say they will. Last year alone that excess profit was over �700 million. Without touching either future investment budgets, reserves, or existing operating budgets we can put the excess money to work for Londoners by holding down their fares. It�s crazy to keep taking more money off people than we need to. 

 

 

�At a time when millions of Londoners are struggling, I do not believe enough is being done to help them. This Fare Deal plan will make a difference to millions.� 

 

 

 

Ends. 

 

 

 

Notes 

 

�        Fares Freedom Day is a calculation of the number of free days travel from Ken Livingstone's lower fares policy after 4 years in office. Every 1% cut in fares means travellers effectively travel free for the last 3.65 days of the year (1% of 365 days). 

�        Boris Johnson' policy is to raise fares by 2% above inflation over the next 4 years (and for 20 years). Ken Livingstone's policy is to cut fares by 5% in 2012 and to freeze them in 2013. In further years he pledges to raise them only by the level of inflation, or less. (This leads to savings for commuters over 4 years of 5% +5.8% +2% +2% = 14.8%) 

�        The 2012 inflation is assumed to be 3.8% (in line with UK Treasury consensus forecasts) and Boris Johnson's fares increase will therefore be 2% higher at 5.8%. Both of these are lower than this year's 5% inflation and his fares hike of 7%. 

�        In a Leap Year like 2016, 14.8% of the year is 54 days. The last 54 days of the year begins on November 8 . November 8 is Fares Freedom Day.   

 

2.        Ken�s FARE CUT pledge 

If elected Ken will put Londoners first by cutting fares by 5% in autumn 2012, freeze fares in 2013 and pledges in subsequent years ensure they never rise by more than inflation. More: www.kenlivingstone.com/farescut 

 

3.        Boris Johnson�s FARE RISES 

Boris Johnson has imposed huge fare rises which mean Londoners are paying hundreds of pounds a year more to travel by bus, tram, tube and train. More: www.kenlivingstone.com/farescut