London Evening Standard/London
The mayor yesterday revealed that the charge to hire a Boris Bike will double as he announced fare rises across the transport network. Boris Johnson outlined above inflation increases averaging 4.2% for the Tube, buses, DLR and overland rail from January.Critics leapt on the timing of the announcement — coinciding with the US election result — suggesting he was “burying” bad news.But Transport for London sources insisted the clash was a “genuine coincidence” and the board meeting at which the fares rise was made public had been in the diary for months.The surprise news that Boris Bike charges will double from £1 to £2 a day, £5 to £10 a week, and £45 to £90 a year is certain to anger regular users.TfL said the increase — the first since the cycle hire scheme was introduced in July 2010 — was required to make improvements.But there have been questions over whether key sponsor Barclays should be contributing more than up to £5mn a year.A TfL spokesman said the rise was “absolutely nothing” to do with the banking giant’s funding.However, he refused to reveal how much of the £50mn by 2018 promised had already been paid, citing commercial confidentiality.LibDem leader in London, Caroline Pidgeon, said: “Quite shamefully Boris Johnson has decided to bury bad news. Such steep rises would not be necessary if the mayor had secured a far better sponsorship deal with Barclays. As they obtain immense benefits from the sponsorship deal they should be the first people to dig deep in the pockets to help fund the scheme.” Johnson promised in his 2008 manifesto to bring in the scheme —which was expanded east to Canary Wharf this year and will extend to south-west London by 2014 — at no cost to the taxpayer.The mayor insisted he was keeping transport fares as “low as possible” while continuing with crucial investment in the network.City Hall sources revealed there would be “significant investment” in the road network to be announced next month. This year’s rise is lower than feared following a £96mn bailout from the government.On London’s buses, the Oyster pay-as-you-go fare rises by 5p to £1.40 while the cash fare will rise by 10p to £2.40.When the mayor took over in 2008 a single bus fare was 90p. On the Tube and London Overground, a single zone 1 PAYG fare rises by 10p and a zone 1-6 single fare by 20p during the peak, or 10p for off-peak. Cash fares rise by 20p.The daily PAYG cap — £8.40 for zone 1-2 peak and £7 off peak— will be frozen at 2012 levels. However, a paper daily travelcard rises by 40p to £8.40 peak and is up 30p to £7.30 off-peak.A weekly travelcard for zone 1-2 will go up £1.20 to £30.40 and a monthly one up £4.60 to £116.80. All free and concessionary travel is protected, including the new 60+ Oyster card.