MORE THAN 150MILLION FARES DODGED IN LONDON SINCE LIVINGSTONE TOOK OFFICE

9.00.00am GMT Wed 17th Nov 2004

The Liberal Democrats will later today quiz the Mayor at Mayor's Question Time on shocking new research revealed by Liberal Democrat London Assembly Transport Spokesperson, Lynne Featherstone, which reveals that up to 153million fares have been dodged since Ken Livingstone became Mayor.

New figures obtained from Transport for London, showed that fare dodging is estimated to be running at 2.2%. With almost 7billion bus journeys having been taken between April 2000 and September 2004, up to 152million could have been evaded. In that same period, Revenue Protection Inspectors have caught just 246,000 people who had not paid the appropriate fare.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the Mayor to double the penalty fine for getting caught without a valid ticket to £20 to reduce the incentive for fare dodging.

Originally, Mayor Livingstone had told the Assembly that between 1.5% and 2% of fares were evaded. However, in a letter to Transport Spokesperson Lynne Featherstone, the Managing Director of Transport for London's surface division, puts the figure at 2.2% or 132,200 per day - an increase in evaded fares of between 12,000 and 42,000 per day on the figure previously quoted by the Mayor.

Lynne Featherstone said:-

"With the increasing numbers of bendy buses coming on to London's roads, there may be people who think that it will be even easier to fare dodge. It is vital that the Mayor and Transport for London target persistent offenders and, when they are caught, stop them getting away with giving a false name and address.

"Fare dodgers are no better than shoplifters and it is time that the Mayor and Transport for London came down hard on people who try to avoid paying for a ticket.

"Millions of pounds is lost each year to people who are breaking the law. The failure to tackle fare-dodging hits the pockets of law-abiding commuters who pay extra fare increases to make up for those who get something for nothing. Cracking down on fare evasion would crack down on fare rises.

"The Mayor must look at dramatically increasing the penalty charge to deter fare dodgers getting away scot-free from paying for a ticket. It is time that fare dodgers received punishment that fitted the crime."

ENDS

Notes to editor

The figures have been taken from Mayoral Answers and Transport for London Statistics. Links and reference are shown below. The fare evasion rate has been taken at a constant of 2.2% over the last 4 ½ years. Transport for London have said that fare evasion has been declining since the mid 1990's, so these figures may under-represent the number of fares evaded.

Estimated number of fare evasions since April 2000

Financial Year Number of bus journeys (million) Fare evasion rate (%age) Number of fares evaded (million)

2000/01 1,354 2.2 29.788

2001/02 1,430 2.2 31.46

2002/03 1,534 2.2 33.748

2003/04 1,702 2.2 37.444

04/2004 - 10/2004 915 2.2 20.13

Total 6,935 2.2 152.57

The number of bus journeys made for financial years 2000-2003 can be found at:-

http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/tfl/ltr2003/overview-transport-trends.shtml

The number of bus journeys made for the financial year 2003/04 can be found at:-

http://www.transportforlondon.gov.uk/tfl/about/report-library/annual-reports/2004/london_buses.shtml

On the 26th October 2004 Mr Livingstone announced that passenger growth had reached 7.5% over the previous year.

http://www.london.gov.uk/view_press_release.jsp?releaseid=4504

· In a letter to Lynne Featherstone of the 3rd November 2004, Peter Hendy, Managing Director of Surface Transport for Transport for London states:-

"London buses annual fare evasion survey indicates average fare evasion at 2.2%"

· The Assembly answer on fare evasion rate is taken from a Mayoral Written Answer:-

Bendy buses (revenue protection)

Question No: 1228 / 2004

What do you estimate the rate of fare evasion to be on bendy buses and what is being done to minimise this? What proportion of revenue protection officers' time is dedicated to bendy buses?

Currently, 83% of bus passengers pre-pay for their bus travel. The current detected fare evasion rate for services across the network is running at between 1.5% - 2%, with some sections of routes obviously producing rates either side of the average.

Check rates vary across all bus routes, depending on the fraud levels observed. This applies equally to those routes operated with articulated buses. These routes are checked mainly by Revenue Protection Inspectors (RPI) working in groups to ensure that TfL better identify fare evaders. Checks are also conducted using Inspectors in plain clothes.

The proportion of Inspector's time varies depending on the strategy outlined above. However there is currently additional resource dedicated to articulated buses as they are introduced to ensure passengers understand and adhere to the fare payment system.