Paddick urges bus driver action

Brian Paddick says bus drivers cannot ignore disorder on the buses

Bus drivers should take action to deal with crime on their buses, rather than wait until the last stop, Lib Dem mayoral hopeful Brian Paddick has said.

But they should "choose which crowd to take on. If it's smaller children then they should do something," he said.

London Mayor Ken Livingstone says he would use 11 local "safer transport teams" to tackle bus crime.

Tory rival Boris Johnson has promised to pay for 440 more police community support officers on buses.

Mr Paddick spoke out about bus crime as he answered questions from viewers of the BBC News Channel.

What I've also said is that bus drivers have got to take some responsibility...if they see something happening - they've got to take action Brian Paddick

Mr Johnson will do the same on Tuesday and Mr Livingstone, the following day, ahead of Thursday's London mayoral and local elections.

Asked in response to the murder of a man on a London bus by the schizophrenic Anthony Joseph, if he would re-introduce conductors on all routes, Mr Paddick said: "What I've pledged to do is for the top worst bus routes, the top 10 bus routes, to make sure there is a uniformed presence on those routes to make it safer for people.

"But what I've also said is that bus drivers have got to take some responsibility.

"Even if they just monitor from the safety of their cab, monitor what's going on, if they see something happening - they've got to take action, rather than just ignoring it and trying to get to the end stop in time, which seems to be their only goal at the moment."

The former police commander added that he would introduce a £10 "boundary charge" for commuters who travel a long distance into London to work.

'No gimmicks'

He said the estimated £3bn that would raise would be ploughed into public transport.

Meanwhile, Mr Livingstone said London would spend £39bn on transport in 10 years.

He said: "The first decisive test of the mayor's ability to run the city in the interest of Londoners is to take the right decisions on this huge programme which dwarfs all other spending in London

"In each of the key choices in this the decisions I have taken were proved to be right and Boris Johnson has supported the wrong one."

He has promised more money for police intelligence and operations targeted at gangs, as well as an extra 1,000 officers next year for counter-terrorism and neighbourhood policing.

"Hardcore crimes will not be reduced by gimmicks but by building on the methods that have reduced overall crime in London," he said.

'Tackling intimidation'

Mr Johnson says he would divert funds from the mayor's "publicity budget" to pay for 440 more police community support officers on buses and pay for more police officers to patrol railway platforms.

He also says he would encourage union bosses to agree not to strike on the London Underground and would scrap bendy buses in favour of Routemasters - which would have conductors and disabled access and be run on environmentally friendly fuel.

He would tackle the intimidation felt by Londoners on the buses by teenagers "acting up".

"I want to challenge the assumption that there is nothing cooler than the gangs," he said.

And he would target low-level disorder, such as fare evasion, which he said would make a "real difference" on crime.