I don’t think they do get free travel. But there are range of concessionary fares which apply across all forms of transport using the Octopus card (HK’s RFID card) on top of the already low fares.

I think Livingstone is doing well with implementing concessionary fares etc, but I would say the general pricing is relatively high. I don’t envy his task in sorting out London public transport. But he’s made a start.

The Hong Kong tube, incidently, is unified system: one company owns the whole system, run on a commercial basis, but with the govt owning 51%. It’s one of the few (the only?) of the comparable networks that actually makes money. The model differs quite considerably from London Underground.

HK has natural advantages over London regarding transport because of its extremely compact, infrastructure heavy nature. Everything just works.

But I think the key is to build a critical mass using public transport, building it into the culture, and then prices will stabilise. I think Livingstone is trying to do that. If he can succeed, his will have a fine legacy.

Do under 18s have free bus travel?

Compared to Hong Kong, and to many other developed economies I would suggest, London’s public transport is backward and degraded, although Livingstone is making some progress.

Perhaps in ten to twenty years it may be up to acceptable first world standards. Now, however, it’s still a rip-off.

It is annoying when the left attacks Ken for raising cash fares, when the more complex reality is that Ken has implemented a fares policies that has slashed off peak tube fares, radically shifted to the long awaited smartcard system of integrated ticketing and cut transport fares for poorer families by abolishing bus fares for under 18s.

Revenue increases caused by tourists and lazy people continuing to buy cash fares are being spent on a massive public transport investment programme that is going to lead to a revolutionary expansion in public transport infrastructure over the next decade. Ken is not getting the credit he deserves for pro-public transport policies that are working (amongst other things an unusual modal shift from car to bus and dramatic increase in cycling).

The rest of the country needs such radical policies. (what a shame that unlike other European countries we don’t have a constitutional mechanism to shift regional leaders to being a candidate for head of government). In the meantime we need to sell Ken’s agenda as the left working rather than criticising him for arguable compromises, ideological impurities and factual inaccuracies.