New research suggests high fares damage access to opportunity across London

Many working Londoners spend many extra hours a week – and, in some cases, many extra hours a day – commuting, to avoid expensive trains and use cheaper but slower buses, says campaign group

London’s high public transport fares obstruct access to employment opportunities, education and reasonable living standards, a briefing published today by Fare Free London shows. 

The briefing urges the Greater London Authority and the Mayor’s office to consider how the impact of high fares affects policy goals including those in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy and policies on tackling social inequality.

It urges that these issues are included in discussions about the funding basis of Transport for London, to “consider how this can be changed, to reduce and eventually abolish reliance on fares income”. 

Nearly half of our respondents said they worry about costs every time they use public transport. More than half said they use cheaper modes of transport because better ones are too expensive. This often meant people taking long journeys by bus instead of tube

Working Londoners spend many extra hours a week – and, in some cases, many extra hours a day – commuting, to avoid expensive trains and use cheaper but slower buses. 

Students tangle with trade-offs between housing costs, which are lower outside the capital, and travel costs that are much higher.  

London’s tube and train fares are among the world’s highest. They exacerbate social isolation and mental illness among the most vulnerable Londoners. They obstruct people’s ability to socialise, to take their children places, and to access London’s cultural treats. 

The briefing, Fares Unfair: London public transport and the cost of living crisis, is based on the results of a survey conducted over the summer by volunteer researchers. 

Pearl Ahrens of Fare Free London said: “We did not have the intention, or capacity, to survey a demographically representative group of Londoners. We focused on the way that the relatively high cost of public transport in London affects lower-income households, whose views are often least heard.

“Nearly half of our respondents said they worry about costs every time they use public transport. More than half said they use cheaper modes of transport because better ones are too expensive. This often meant people taking long journeys by bus instead of tube.”

Respondents’ quotes in the survey are a stark reminder of the yawning gap between London’s wealthiest and poorest households.