Over the last six years the system of charging for public transport in London has been gradually restructured with finely graduated point-to-point fares being steadily replaced by inter-modal tickets and zonal fares. After briefly describing these developments, the paper will focus on their estimated effects on costs, patronage and travel patterns and the implications for such issues as: the nature of the benefits of integrated fares; the contribution that an active pricing policy can make to public transport's competitiveness; the relationship between real fares level and optimal fares structure; long term and short term elasticities; greater competition amongst public transport suppliers.
Abstract