Proposals include abolition of zones and ‘ONE Ticket’ to end extra payments changing from mainline, DLR or bus to Tube.
On the day transport fares go up throughout the country, activists from Greenwich and Lewisham Green Parties will today hand out #FairFares postcards to commuters at Overground, DLR and mainline stations across the two boroughs revealing their party’s radical plans to flatten fares across the capital and make transport fairer for all Londoners.
The party’s three key measures, announced today by Green mayoral candidate Sian Berry, are: the phased introduction of a flat fare structure, making zones a thing of the past; a daily cap for part-time workers that matches the rates paid by monthly season ticket holders; and a one-hour ‘ONE Ticket’ across all modes which will close the gaps for people who pay twice when changing from bus or train to the Tube as well as ensuring that people changing buses pay only once for their journey.
“These measures would make a massive difference to commuters in our two boroughs,” says Imogen Solly, Green candidate for the Greenwich & Lewisham constituency in May’s London Assembly elections.
“Anyone living in zone 4 – from Woolwich or Plumstead to Beckenham Hill and Lower Sydenham – would benefit from an immediate fare cut in 2017 under our plans to gradually abolish the zones by 2025.
“And for boroughs where the Tube service is virtually non-existent, our radical new ONE Ticket would make a massive difference. It will allow travellers to change between any buses, trains and Tubes without paying again. This is good news for pretty much every commuter to central London from Greenwich or Lewisham.”
“At the moment people in our part of the London pay more to get to work because we have a longer distance to travel. Flattening the zones and eventually abolishing them will make a huge difference to people’s monthly budget.”
Notes to editors:
- Sian Berry is a former principal speaker of the Green Party. NB: Siân is now co-leader of the Green Party with Jonathan Bartley since 2018. She previously stood as the party’s candidate for Mayor of London in 2008. A councillor in the London Borough of Camden, she is also the Green Party’s lead candidate for the London-wide section of London Assembly and until recently worked for the Campaign for Better Transport.
- Imogen Solly is the Green Party’s candidate for the Greenwich & Lewisham constituency in the London Assembly elections. A lifelong Lewisham resident, she is a member of the community group A Better Lee Green and commutes to work in central London.
- The Greens came third in the last election for Mayor of London in 2012. They currently have two members of the London Assembly, Darren Johnson and (Baroness) Jenny Jones, both of whom are standing down in May 2016. NB: We still have two members of the London Assembly, now Siân Berry and Caroline Russell.
- An embargoed briefing with more details of the Green Party’s #FairFares proposals for London, including full costs and Frequently Asked Questions, can be found at http://www.sianberry.london/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/EMBARGOEDFaresBriefingJan2016LondonGreenParty.pdf
Details of the policy will be available online from 00.01 on 4 January at: http://www.sianberry.london/fairfares