Sadiq Khan was last night accused of “taking his eye off the ball”, after new figures revealed a dramatic surge in the number of fare dodgers on the TfL network on his watch.
In an answer to a question from the GLA Conservatives transport spokesman, Keith Prince, the Mayor confirmed that the number of fare dodgers prosecuted or issued with a warning had jumped from 87, 948 in 2016/17 to 112,266 in 2018/19 – an increase of nearly 30 percent.
The stats show that the number of warnings issued has almost doubled over the three-year period, while 84,832 penalty fares were issued in 2018/19 – a 21 percent jump. The number of prosecutions was up by nearly 50 percent.
City Hall Tories said that the Mayor’s mismanagement of the TfL finances could mean that he was unable take a robust enough response to fare dodging.
Commenting, Keith Prince AM said:
"This eye-watering increase in the number of fare dodgers on the TfL network will comes as a slap in the face to the millions of Londoners who would never dream of breaking the law in this way.
"This criminal behaviour wouldn’t be acceptable at any time, but it is especially abhorrent at a time when Londoners are having to pay more and more each year for their season tickets.
“It’s of course the case that these new figures only illustrate the number of people who have been caught fare dodging, meaning that there is likely to be many more who are not paying their fares and getting off scot free.
"This all demonstrates that Sadiq Khan has once again taken his eye off the ball when it comes to crime. Perhaps if the Mayor hadn’t destroyed TfL’s finances, he could beef up the British Transport Police and take robust measures to stop people from even considering not paying their fare in the first place."
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