London mayor calls for continued free travel for Under-18s

By Masood Sattar Khan
(Pakistan News & Features Services)

The mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has urged the government to allow Under-18s to continue to get free travel after demands for its withdrawal were made part of £ 1.6 billion lockdown bailout conditions. The children are currently entitled to Oyster cards allowed free or cut price travel, depending on their age.

The mayor has reckoned that stopping it under the social-distancing guidelines on overcrowding would hit the poorest hardest, according to a BBC report. 

The government had indicated that it was working with transport authorities to reduce demand. The Transport for London previously announced that free travel for children would temporary end under conditions of the government's continuing £ 1.6 billion deal. 

In exchange for the emergency funding, transport bosses also agreed to start collecting fares again on buses, restore a full tube service as soon as possible, and temporarily suspend free travel for over-60s during morning peak hours. The congestion charge was also brought back earlier this month and it will be subject to a rise in cost, from June 22.

In a letter to the Transport Secretary, Grant Shapps, the mayor of London observed that while he agreed with the need to reduce the numbers of children using bus services in particular but felt suspending free travel was not the right thing to do. 

"It is abundantly clear that losing free travel would hit the poorest Londoners hardest at a time when finances are stretched more than ever," he wrote. 

The transport department has also calculated that about 30% of children who currently travel by bus to school would still be eligible statutorily for free travel, according to the mayor. 

He added that the significant cost of this would fall on local boroughs while also undermining the effectiveness of introducing bus fares for children as a way of reducing bus usage.