In message
-septe
mber.org, at 06:09:52 on Thu, 9 Jun 2016, Recliner
remarked:
Roland Perry wrote:
It is being reported that the "no ifs not buts" transport fares freeze
has en exposed as undeliverable.

Only applying to journeys made exclusively on TfL metals.

I have no idea how they plan to implement that for interavailable trips
like the one I did earlier this week: Kings Cross St Pancras to
Blackfriars, which you can do both by tube and Thameslink (albeit using
different gatelines at both ends).

I presume the freeze will apply only to fares set by TfL. I always assumed
that the freeze would only apply to TfL services, as Khan has no ability to
control non-TfL fares.

The impression I get is that it's worse than that, because while TfL may
"set" some fares, they don't get to decide what the non-TfL component
costs. That's an external input.

Thus, another journey I do from time to time - Vauxhall to Westminster
-the ORCATS-alike determinator which much surely exist to apportion the
fare between SWT+TfL (via Waterloo and Jubilee Line) or pure TfL (via
the Victoria and Jubilee lines) must have a component whose revenue
stream is outside their control, viz the National Rail leg from Vauxhall
to Waterloo.

The further out you go, to places like Richmond or Wimbledon, the more
this effect will kick in.

I also see he claims to have found enough savings to pay for the first two
years of the freeze, though most of the areas look a bit woolly (apart from
the senior exec pay freeze). For example, reducing agency workers sounds
good, but what happens if you can't replace their presumably valuable
expertise in-house? Do you end up wasting even more money through bad
decisions?

https://www.london.gov.uk/press-rele...ings-found-to-
fund-mayors-fares-freeze

And if you do things like lay off 100 agency IT contractors, who does
that work? Presumably it's too difficult to recruit permanent
replacements, even that's a category exempt from the hiring freeze.

My own observations of organisations with hiring freezes is that
generally they are too fierce and result in work not being done. This
may have implications for things like further enhancements to the
contactless payments back office.
--
Roland Perry