Mayor defends 'unjust' fare rise

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London Mayor Boris Johnson has defended his above-inflation bus and Tube fare rises, saying he is "absolutely certain" it is "the right thing to do".

Labour London Assembly (LA) members queried his decision to increase bus fares by 12.7% and Tube fares by 3.9%.

Deputy Chair Jennette Arnold said: "Londoners feel that this fare increase is unfair and unjust."

But Mr Johnson said: "Our buses are considerably cheaper than buses elsewhere in this country."

Last week the mayor announced that bus and Tube fares would rise by more than the rate of inflation in 2010. Oyster card pay-as-you-go bus journeys are to rise from £1 to £1.20.

Ms Arnold said this would "hit the poorest and the hardest-working Londoners" with "one of the largest fare hikes ever".

Funding 'gap'

But Mr Johnson told the assembly's transport committee: "The decision was taken after a great deal of research and a great deal of thought.

"I only did it because I was absolutely certain it was the right thing to do and indeed it would be possible for people to be able to take advantage of a system that remains by comparison for instance with 2000, fares on buses will still be around 10% lower in real terms."

He added: "When you have got a gap in your funding of £1.7bn and you have got falls in ridership and other effects of the economic downturn which are costing you £900m and you have got Metronet costing you £550m you have really got to take steps to plug the hole in the budget."

Transport commissioner Peter Hendy told the committee that he expected the number of bus passengers to drop by 1% to 3% as a result of the fare increase.

Despite repeated questioning, the mayor said he was unable to confirm whether a future Conservative government would financially support the £16bn Crossrail project if elected.