Mayor of London election: Where do the major candidates stand on transport?
With the 6 May mayor of London election now just weeks away, Morning Wire is producing a four-piece series on where the four leading candidates stand on different issues. Today, we look at the transport policies of the candidates from Labour, the Conservatives, the Green Party and the Liberal Democrats.
Sadiq Khan
Khan said he would continue to lobby the government for a long-term funding solution for TfL, after the transport body has had to rely on rolling short-term grants to survive the effects Covid-19.
TfL saw its revenues plummet by 90 per cent at the start of the pandemic and they have not recovered since as the body primary relies on passenger fares to survive.
Khan said he would “ensure TfL continues to be lean and efficient, minimising expenditure on consultants and agency workers” as a part of “achieving long-term financial sustainability”.
The incumbent mayor has also promised to roll out 4G on every Tube line and to name the six London Overground lines, while also pledging to ban gambling advertising on the Tube.
The three major transport infrastructure projects Khan would prioritise in a second term in office are the DLR Extension to Thamesmead, the Bakerloo line extension and Crossrail 2.
Khan will also extend the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) to the north and south circulars in October if re-elected.
Shaun Bailey
Bailey has pledged to create a new City Hall-owned infrastructure bank to help fund transport projects in the capital.
His manifesto says that his plan would “attract private sector finance into large scale, costly infrastructure projects” in order to get projects like Crossrail 2, the Hammersmith Bridge repairs and the Bakerloo extension funded.
He has also said on numerous occasions he would be in a better position to get a more sustainable TfL funding settlement with the government due to his association with the Tory party.
The Conservative candidate has also promised to open the Waterloo & City line after 12 months of closure and create a new “West End Weekend Pass” in 2021 eligible for one weekend.
The pass is a part of Bailey’s plan to get people back into central London post-Covid.
He has also pledged to cut a swathe of taxes, including the Congestion Charge and Khan’s recent 9.5 per cent council tax rise.
Bailey will also cancel the planned extension of Ulez if elected.
Sian Berry
One of Berry’s key offerings on transport is a new road charging scheme that would eventually replace Ulez and the Congestion Charge.
Her manifesto says she would expand Ulez to the whole of London by 2022, before scrapping it the next year and replacing it with a “smarter, fairer, privacy-friendly road pricing plan” that would be “based on the distance driven, vehicle emissions, time of day and location”.
This comes as a part of her broader target to reduce all traffic miles by 40 per cent by 2026 and 60 per cent by 2030.
The Green Party candidate has also pledged to reduce cost differences between the Tube’s zones, before merging the whole city into one single fare zone for all of London within two mayoral terms.
Berry’s manifesto also includes promises to make all TfL roads next to a pavement 20mph, to develop more car-free zones and to ban cars from central London by 2030.
She would also cancel the planned £2bn Silvertown Thames crossing that is due to link Greenwich and the Royal Docks.
Luisa Porritt
The Liberal Democrat candidate has also pledged to cancel the Silvertown Tunnel project as she believes it is “incompatible with [City Hall’s] aim to reach net zero carbon emissions by 2030”.
Porritt’s manifesto says she will also introduce a smart road pricing scheme if elected mayor of London, with motorists charged depending on things like distance driven, the time of day and how environmentally friendly their car is.
The former MEP also pledged her support for yet to be approved infrastructure projects such as Crossrail 2 and the extension of the Bakerloo line, while also pledging to spend more on the repair of the closed Hammersmith Bridge.
Porritt also pledges to create more cycling infrastructure and to pedestrianise Oxford Street and Parliament Square.
Her plan would see the Santander Cycle hire scheme be made free on every Sunday for a year.