IN THE Gazette of January 8, Councillor Bassam Mahfouz drew attention in a letter to the 20 per cent rise in a single journey bus fare.

In the Gazette's January 15 Letters, Valerie Shawcross, London Assembly Labour spokeswoman on transport, drew attention to the same issue.

Of course, as politicians and as proponents of the electronic age they and others are trying to force the public into, they were both economical with the truth. Both failed to tell readers that the increase applied only to those passengers who pay by the electronic Oyster card.

For those passengers who pay by cash, the single journey bus fare remains at £2. They have not incurred an increase and it will go some way to closing the gap between the excessive fares paid by cash payers as opposed to card users. However, the one-day bus/tram pass for cash payers has been withdrawn.

All the information about the quite complicated changes in the fare structure for buses, trams and Underground services are available only on the internet.

For the first time no public leaflet has been produced by Transport for London detailing the changes. This is a matter of some concern for the 30 plus per cent of the public who do not have access to the internet, and a matter which should be occupying the minds of our local politicians.

JOHN GASHION Committee member Ealing Passenger Transport

Users' Group