London Assembly calls for end to 'unfair' Oyster bus charges

Date: 22/10/2009

A motion calling on London mayor Boris Johnson to change Oyster pay-as-you-go rules for buses has been agreed by the London Assembly.

Currently, any person changing from one bus to another has to swipe their Oyster card again.

However, new plans would enable passengers who use more than one bus in a 60 minute period to only pay £1, rather than doubling the fair should they change.

Assembly member Caroline Pidgeon said that the new system would "make sense" as the same currently exists on the London Underground.

"It really is unfair that people who use Oyster pay as you go have to pay a new fare every time they change buses," she said.

Similar bus ticket systems run in Rome, Paris and Brussels

Fellow assembly member Richard Tracey, said that although it would be "beneficial to Londoners", it needed to be "examined closely and costed".

Earlier this week London received the first delivery of an air conditioned tube train, which will go into service on the Metropolitan line.