An overwhelming majority of Londoners are worried about the impact of the pandemic on Transport for London  

Over two thirds (69 per cent) of Londoners were worried about the impact of the pandemic on Transport for London’s finances, while only 25 per cent were not.   

People with children under 18 were more likely to be worried or very worried (51 per cent compared to 42 per cent for people who don’t have children under 18), possibly reflecting concerns over the future of free travel for young people.   

People who have a disability were more likely to be ‘very worried’ about the impact of the pandemic on TfL’s funding (26 per cent, compared to 16 per cent for people who do not have a disability). 

A majority of both Labour and Conservative voters were worried about this issue, though concern was higher among Labour voters. 

Charges for drivers were the top preference to pay for public transport 

When presented with options for Transport for London to increase revenue due to loss of income since the pandemic, the top choice was increasing charges to drive in parts of London, with more than one in four choosing this.  

This was followed by cutting services, which was chosen by 15 per cent of Londoners as their preferred option. Further down the list of preferred options were fare increases, a nationwide tax increase, and an increase in taxes in London. 27 per cent of Londoners didn’t pick a preferred option – either because they didn’t support any of them or because they didn’t’ know which to choose. The survey was conducted as Transport for London’s fares increased and as inflation for other goods and services reached highs not seen for decades, which may contribute the feeling that fares shouldn’t rise further. 

It is worth noting that support for road user charging was higher, when asked specifically about this – see below. 

More Londoners supported than opposed the introduction of pay-per-mile road user charging 

Londoners were asked whether they would support the introduction of pay-per-mile road user charging as an alternative to the existing road charges in the city (ULEZ, and the Congestion Charge).  

42 per cent of Londoners said they would support this change, while 26 per cent said they were opposed. Nearly a third didn’t express a view either way (23 per cent would neither support nor oppose it, and 9 per cent didn’t know).  

Labour and Conservative voters were equally as likely to support the introduction of road user charging (44 per cent were in favour in both groups). Of particular significance is that car owners were also as likely to support the introduction of road user charging as people who don’t own a car (43 per cent and 41 per cent respectively), yet car owners were also more likely to oppose (30 per cent, compared to 20 per cent among people who don’t own a car).