Today, Transport for London revealed their £1.6 billion bailout deal which comes into play in the next coming weeks. This comes after Transport for London reported a 90% decrease in income during the nationwide lockdown due to many people not requiring public transport anymore due to working from home and the restriction of travelling unless the trip is essential.
During the nationwide lockdown, Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan made bus travel free, Congestion, ULEZ and LEZ charges were lifted and NHS staff were offered free access to Santander Cycles.
However, the drastic fall in income has forced Transport for London to seek the help of the government in order to save it from collapse, in which they were awarded a £1.6 billion bailout deal.
The new conditions include further fare price increases above inflation, free travel will be temporarily suspended for Freedom Pass and 60-plus card holders at peak times, free travel for under 18’s will be axed and congestion, ULEZ and LEZ charges will be put back in place with congestion charges increasing and being extended over the coming weeks.
In a statement issued by Mayor, Sadiq Khan he has accused the Department for Transport of “making ordinary Londoners pay the cost for doing the right thing on Covid-19”. In an interview with Sky News, Sadiq Khan stated “this is not a deal I wanted to do as the mayor of London but the alternative was for our buses and tubes to stop running at a time we need to be maximising the services on our buses and tubes”.
Many people are taking to social media to express their views on the new conditions set out in regards to Transport for London which are set to be put in place by January 2021. Co-Founder of TeacherTapp, Laura McInerney tweeted “@miss_mcinerney: Just seen that Transport for London is stopping free travel for children. This has HUGE ramifications for schools”. In response to the conditions outlined, a petition has been created to ‘Stop TFL from removing free travel for under-18s which has gained over 38 thousand signatures.
Under 18 year olds have had free travel for over 10 years, so this change is a big shocker.
With the fact that children travel to and from school 5 days a week, the free travel was ideal for them but now with this change parents will be forced to pay for their children as well as themselves which could be pose further financial pressure for many. The removal of free travel for under 18 year olds in particular has very high risks as it could lead to less children attending school.
Another group strongly affected by the new conditions set by Transport for London are general commuters. In January commuters already saw a 2.8% price increase in train fare prices in and around London based on inflation. With the fact that it has been said that the fare prices will increase above inflation is worrying for many. A local commuter stated “roughly 30% of my pay check goes towards travel monthly, I can’t afford for my train fare prices to go up anymore, especially with the fact that I will now have to pay for both of my children to get to and from school”
Transport for London’s new conditions have the chance to put a lot of families in London under financial pressure. However, it is now down to the government to either lift or amend these conditions which will be under review in October 2020 which is based on whether or not Transport for London are able to increase their income.
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