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Already struggling to keep your Oyster card topped up all month? We’ve got some bad news – if you regularly travel into Zone 1, your finances could be about to get an extra kick in the nuts, courtesy of soon to be Ex-Mayor Boris Johnson.
Yup, it seems ol’ Bojo has saved his most controversial decision to last, as he unveiled plans this morning to introduce a congestion charge on pedestrians entering the West End.
The new FootFare scheme, set to launch next year, will see a perimeter of tube station-like gates installed along roads enclosing Covent Garden, Soho and Mayfair. Travelling into the West End by tube? Not to worry – the extra fare will be taken from your Oyster or contactless card as you tap out at any station within the new zone. Delivering the news from a beach in Mexico, Johnson said:
‘With footfall through central London set to rocket with the introduction of Crossrail, FootFare is the best viable option to keep pedestrian traffic at a safe level. Plus we still haven’t finished paying for that bloody cable car.’
In other bonkers rip-off news, someone is selling jars of Shoreditch air for £20 a pop.