Tuesday 17 November 2015

New 2016 London Transport fares



This was when the GLC were battling against the government to keep the LT fares low.
Poster from 1981.
I have good news and bad news for you regarding the new TFL fares for 2016 which will be implemented on 2nd January 2016.

TFL say's that fares are to rise by one per cent putting them in line with the July Retail Price Index, although some fares will be frozen.


"From 2 January, fares on TfL services are set to rise by one per cent, in line with the July Retail Price Index (RPI), however a number of fares, including single bus fares and all but two pay as you go single Tube fares, will be frozen. Travelcard season tickets will increase by slightly less than one per cent.


It is the third year in a row that the Mayor and TfL have been able to provide a real terms fares freeze while balancing the need to modernise the network. The revised changes to fares are expected to raise £43m a year for TfL - an increase of one per cent and a vital step as TfL increasingly looks to cover its operating costs from fares and other income.

Today, the Mayor also unveiled a deal to extend free travel for children under 11 years old on all National Rail services in the capital, and announced that Stratford and a number of its adjacent stations will move from Zone 3 to the Zones 2/3 boundary in a boost to east London.

Hundreds of thousands of families across London are set to benefit every month after TfL committed to provide £500,000 a year to the Train Operating Companies to enable free travel for under 11s. Currently, young people under the age of 11 travel for free on TfL's buses and trams, and on the Tube, DLR, London Overground and TfL Rail services when accompanied by a fare-paying adult. However, there is no similar offer on National Rail services, causing frustration and confusion for customers with fares differing at neighbouring stations. From 2 January, all National Rail services in London will be free for Zip photocard holders who are under 11 years old after TfL agreed to cover the cost.

In a move to recognise the shifting economic map of London towards east London, the Mayor has also announced that Stratford and a number of adjacent stations, including West Ham, Canning Town and Stratford International (DLR), will move from Zone 3 to the Zones 2/3 boundary. Rezoning these stations will benefit more than 100,000 people per week and will ensure customers travelling to Stratford from central London will never require a ticket valid in Zone 3.

Key elements of the 2016 fares package include:

·    The pay as you go single bus fare is frozen at £1.50 while the one day bus cap increases by 10p to £4.50, the same as the cost of three single fares. The overall increase in bus fares is 0.8 per cent.
·    On the Tube, London Overground, the DLR and TfL Rail, pay as you go single fares in Zones 1-6 are frozen, with the exception of Zone 1 only and Zone 1-2 off-peak fares, which will increase from £2.30 to £2.40. The overall increase on these services is 1.1 per cent.
·    All other current concessionary fare schemes will be maintained in their current forms.
·    The all day caps, which were reduced last year to 20% of the 7 Day Travelcard price in Zones 1-6, will increase by 10p.
·    The Off-Peak Zones 1-6 Travelcard and the Anytime Zones 1-4 Travelcard will increase from £12 to £12.10 while the Anytime Zones 1 to 6 Travelcard will increase from £17 to £17.20.
·    Travelcard season ticket prices increase by just under one per cent on average in line with the guidance from Secretary of State for Transport that no regulated National Rail fare should rise by more than RPI next year.
·    On the Emirates Air Line, the single fare for adult pay as you go users and Travelcard holders is increased by 10p to £3.50. All other Emirates Air Line fares - including child fares and cash fares - are frozen.

The new fares will come into effect from 2 January, and customers will be able to buy tickets, including season tickets, at 2015 prices until 1 January 2016.

Last year the fare package included a significant restructuring of one day fares to make it fairer for part-time commuters or people on zero hours contracts who could previously pay significantly more per day than Travelcard season holders. The lower all day pay as you go caps are now benefitting over 200,000 part-time commuters a day and over 700,000 a week.

TfL is increasingly covering its operating costs from fares and other income. It has cut costs by 15% while delivering a £16bn savings and efficiencies programme over the duration of its business plan to 2020/21. TfL also has ambitious plans to generate £3.4bn in non-fares commercial revenue by 2023 to reinvest in London's transport, supporting jobs and economic growth."

The Stratford’s adjacent stations are Stratford, Stratford High Street, Stratford International DLR station, West Ham and Canning Town, Star Lane and Abbey Road and will be rezoned as boundary Zone 2/3 from Zone 3.
According to the GLA’s document on fare changes, TFL will pay £500,000 to Train Operating Companies in order to provide free travel for Zip card holders aged 5 to 10.

You can see some of the fare changes below which I have taken from the document:

Bus and Tram fares in 2016

2015
2016
Increase
PAYG - single
£1.50
£1.50
-
PAYG - daily cap
£4.40
£4.50
2.2%
7 Day Bus & Tram Pass
£21.00
£21.20
0.9%
1 Day Bus & Tram Pass
£5.00
£5.00
-
Tram cash single
£2.50
£2.60
4.0%

Travelcard seasons – 7 Day ticket prices
Number of zones
2015
2016
Change
Including Zone 1



2
£32.10
£32.40
0.9%
3
£37.70
£38.00
0.8%
4
£46.10
£46.50
0.9%
5
£54.70
£55.20
0.9%
6
£58.60
£59.10
0.9%
Excluding Zone 1



2
£24.10
£24.30
0.8%
3
£26.60
£26.80
0.8%
4
£31.90
£32.20
0.9%
5
£40.10
£40.50
1.0%

Adult PAYG fares on TfL rail services
Number of zones
2015
2016
Increase
Peak
Off Peak
Peak
Off-peak
Peak
Off-peak
Zones inc Zone 1






1
£2.30
£2.30
£2.40
£2.40
4.3%
4.3%
2
£2.90
£2.30
£2.90
£2.40
0.0%
4.3%
3
£3.30
£2.80
£3.30
£2.80
0.0%
0.0%
4
£3.90
£2.80
£3.90
£2.80
0.0%
0.0%
5
£4.70
£3.10
£4.70
£3.10
0.0%
0.0%
6
£5.10
£3.10
£5.10
£3.10
0.0%
0.0%
Zones exc Zone 1






1
£1.70
£1.50
£1.70
£1.50
0.0%
0.0%
2
£1.70
£1.50
£1.70
£1.50
0.0%
0.0%
3
£2.40
£1.50
£2.40
£1.50
0.0%
0.0%
4
£2.80
£1.50
£2.80
£1.50
0.0%
0.0%
5
£2.80
£1.50
£2.80
£1.50
0.0%
0.0%

PAYG Daily caps in 2015 and 2016

Zones
All day caps
2015
2016
Change




1-2
£6.40
£6.50
1.6%
1-3
£7.50
£7.60
1.3%
1-4
£9.20
£9.30
1.1%
1-5
£10.90
£11.00
0.9%
1-6
£11.70
£11.80
0.9%

Day Travelcards in 2015 and 2016

Day Travelcards
2015
2016
Change
All day 1-4
£12.00
£12.10
0.8%
All day 1-6
£17.00
£17.20
1.2%
Off-peak 1-6
£12.00
£12.10
0.8%

I haven’t seen any fare changes for the yearly Travelcard’s at the moment.

Most of the fare rises concern the Travelcard and Pay As You Go caps, although some of the fares are frozen.

Historically, back in 1997 the price of a Zone 1-6 One Day Travelcard was £4 whilst a single ticket for a Zone 1-6 fare for the Underground was £3.20. Hence the reason that Travelcards were popular during the 1990’s because it was one of the options for cheap travel.

Back in late 1996, London Transport stated on one of their 'facts' that “London’s fares are relatively high, but unlike most major cities LT receives no operating subsidy.” That was when LT had to rely on fares as their income to operate their service. So history repeats itself.

Despite the transport fares rising we can see that the same problem happens to many transport systems around the world.

Here are some of the cities where their transport system proposed/approved fare rises:

And some which are not raising their fares:

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