London mayor race: fares must be starting point of big transport debate

The next boss of City Hall should offer a broad, coherent vision of public transport's role in London's future and Londoners' lives

Two mayoral candidates have made bold New Year pledges to lessen the cost of traveling round the capital aboard its lifeblood public transport modes. Labour's Sadiq Khan, who looks to have edged ahead in the race for City Hall, has restated his promise to freeze fares across the board throughout a four-year term and to lower the price burden on multiple bus-users with a "hopper" ticket valid for an hour. The Green Party's Sian Berry has unveiled a radical plan involving abolishing the capital's concentric pricing system in favour of "flat fares" that help the suburbs.

Both initiatives have strengths and their champions insist they are affordable. Both should also be just the beginning of a much broader debate about the vital part transport plays in the life of the capital and how it shapes the kind of place London is. They have that potential.