Boris Johnson’s £60m cable car was branded “pitiful” today as it was revealed that it is being used by just four regular commuters.
Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act showed the “Emirates Air Line” service between Greenwich Peninsula and the Royal Docks attracted just four Oyster card holders using it more than five times a week, triggering the regular users’ discount.
The figures, obtained by 853blog.com, also show that the number of weekly users in the second week in October were 23,000 compared to 42,500 for the same week last year.
On Sundays - the cable car’s busiest day - users dropped to 6,300 from 16,200, suggesting the cable car’s novelty as a tourist attraction is fading.
On top of the four regular Oyster commuters, just 18 multi-trip passes – allowing users to pay in advance for 10 journeys across a year – were sold, compared with 41 last year.
Travelcards and Freedom Passes are not valid on the cable car, with Oyster card-carrying passengers charged £3.20 each way to use it.
Caroline Pidgeon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat London Assembly Group, said: “The cable car is attracting a pitiful number of regular commuters. For people that need to cross the Thames every day there are clearly cheaper and quicker options open to them. Quite frankly if you have a zone 3 travelcard why pay again to use the cable car when the DLR is a far better way to get to work?
“In addition to not attracting regular passengers it is also clear that the cable car can’t generate enough passengers and income from one off visitors, including tourists. Clearly fundamental questions now have to be asked about its ticketing strategy. Having poured so much public money into the cable car the Mayor should now finally accept that the only way it will generate a reasonable number of regular passengers is by becoming an integral form of public transport. People with a Freedom Pass or a travelcard should not be charged at all and the standard fare for a person with an Oyster card should be the same as a bus fare. Pretending that nothing has to change is no longer an option for the Mayor and TfL”.
Transport for London said in a statement: “Passenger numbers fluctuate due to a wide range of factors from week to week, however overall numbers this year are in line with forecasts. Since opening in June 2012 the Emirates Air Line has carried nearly three million people and as a vital new crossing in east London it continues to play a key role in attracting investment to this strategically important part of the capital.”
