Extend the Congestion Charge to the M25 at the same time as making all public transport free at the point of use. When the GLC brought in their ‘Fares Fair’ policy in 1981 there was a massive uptake. Thousands of people abandoned their cars to travel on affordable public transport.
Couldn’t have that now, could we. A transport scheme that actually offered people cheap travel. A system that was taking cars off the roads. No we couldn’t; and so, the car industry, tyre manufacturers and petrol companies got into their tame poodles in government and when wealthy Bromley Council won a case on the grounds of fiduciary duty against ‘Fares Fair’ it scuppered any chances London had of having a decent public transport system and less congested roads.
The year following the scrapping of the scheme saw an increase of 6,000 serious accidents. Nobody will ever know how many, hundreds of thousands possibly, extra cases of asthma the short-term-ist scrapping caused.
Vested interest is a hard one to fight. When it comes to the few protecting their narrow interests through the structures and mechanisms of state and beyond the rest of us don’t stand a chance.
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