Sadiq Khan has been accused of using “bulls****” when discussing fare evasion statistics in London. Conservative London Assembly Member Neil Garrett confronted the Mayor, alleging that his claims about cracking down on fare dodging and the success of his plan are untrue.
Fare Evasion Costs and Targets
Fare evasion, a criminal offence, reportedly cost an estimated £190 million over 2024 and 2025. Mr Garrett told The Express: “What I’ve uncovered is that, basically, the Mayor is just bulls****** Londoners about all this fare evasion stuff.” He revealed that a target to reduce fare evasion by 1.5% by 2030, announced in April 2025, actually dates back to 2023. “So it wasn’t new, and claims about record prosecutions, also bulls****, because they’re running at currently about 14,000, which sounds like a lot, but it was basically double that in 2017, 2018. Why they can’t be prosecuting more people is unclear.”
Question Time Exchange
During Mayor’s Question Time at City Hall, Mr Garrett told Sir Sadiq: “Your plan was to get fare evasion down to 1% by last year, but it was more than three times that. And your plan failed and you never told anyone that. You never even mentioned the plan again. Instead, you relaxed the target to 1.5%, and you pushed the deadline back 6%, and then you announced it as a bold new plan to tackle fare evasion.” He added: “But now after a full year of that bold new plan, fare evasion is 3.5%. But it was also 3.5% the year before. It made no difference despite all of the hard work of those frontline staff who put themselves in danger often to deal with this. So on Wednesday when you decided to tell Londoners new figures show that it's working, that wasn't true, was it?”
Mayor's Response
Sir Sadiq said he had not been given notice of Mr Garrett’s question and did not have all the data in front of him. He offered to “find information and write back to” Mr Garrett. The Conservative then noted that only 46% of fare evasion fines were paid last year. Sir Sadiq replied: “According to the members’ own figures a short while ago, he said prosecutions had increased and the number of revenues raised had increased, and indeed the numbers of those not paying had gone down. So, one would expect from those numbers that it seems to be working.”
Conviction Rates and Data
Mr Garrett added that his research suggests convictions have halved compared to before the COVID-19 pandemic—from 29,113 to 14,406. Sir Sadiq, who is also Chair of TfL, said he aims to reduce fare evasion to 1.5% within five years. He stated: “I'm also aware that's far less than it is in other parts of the country and other parts of the globe. Some users of TfL's services don't pay for their journeys. It was 3.9% last year, 3.5% this year. So the trajectory is in the right direction.” However, AM Garrett retorted that this is incorrect: “It was 3.5% last year and it was 3.5% the year before. Those figures are on TfL's website. What concerns me is obviously your excuse for refusing to engage on the fact of your failure this morning is that you haven't been briefed.”
TfL Enforcement Data
On June 10, TfL released new data showing enforcement activity has increased significantly. From April 2025 to March 2026, TfL issued 69,001 penalty fares (up 9%), issued 21,533 irregularity reports for possible prosecution (up 18.7%), checked 6.9 million contactless payment cards (up 50.6%), generated £5.4 million in Revenue Inspection Charges (up 141.6%), checked 3.3 million bus passengers (400,000 more), secured 14,406 convictions (955 more), and increased court awards by 24.6% to £2.6 million.
Official Statements
Siwan Hayward, TfL's Director of Security, Policing, and Enforcement, said: “The overwhelming majority of customers pay the correct fare, and it's unfair that a minority avoid paying. That's why we are strengthening our capability to detect and deter fare evasion, as shown by the significant increases in enforcement activity across our network. Fare evasion is not a victimless crime. It robs Londoners of vital investment in a safe, frequent and reliable transport network. We are committed to ensuring that those who evade fares face the consequences of their actions.” Deputy Mayor for Transport, Seb Dance, added: “The vast majority of those using TfL services pay their fares correctly. The small minority that evade paying are committing a criminal offence. As part of our crackdown, we've expanded our team of professional investigators and invested in cutting-edge technology to target persistent offenders. These new figures show that our approach is working.”
