• WHEN I was in Athens some years ago, tickets for the bus network were sold in booklets and individual passengers had to validate their tickets in a machine on entering the bus, so they could not be reused.

There were two rear entrances and tickets could be validated at the rear entrances too. From what I saw, fewer than half of the passengers actually did so.

When the three-door “Boris (Johnson) buses” were introduced, many people wondered if there would be a problem with passengers not touching in Oyster cards at the rear doors.

And, sure enough, Transport for London has just announced they are to be converted to single-entry because of fare-dodging.

After spending millions designing and building the Boris bus, meant to speed up public transport in central London, it now has to be redesigned to be functional.

It is a pity that Johnson, then Mayor of London rather than prime minister, was so concerned with a personal vanity project that he did not bother to think his proposal through in detail.

Now prime minister, Johnson’s idea that the United Kingdom can abandon European Union standards, meant to ensure a level playing field, and have a trade deal with the EU, suggests the implication is true – he simply does not think plans through.

While not having an immediate answer to the EU conundrum, however, I can at least suggest an easy solution to fare-dodging which would allow all the doors to be kept open.

If the Johnson government made a realistic grant to Transport for London and made the buses completely free, there would be no fares to dodge and the reputation of these buses could be restored.

It would also make sense to increase the use of public transport and help reduce our carbon footprint.

MIKE CROWSON
Islington Green Party