ES News email The latest headlines in your inbox twice a day Monday - Friday plus breaking news updates Enter your email address Continue Please enter an email address Email address is invalid Fill out this field Email address is invalid You already have an account. Please log in Register with your social account or click here to log in I would like to receive lunchtime headlines Monday - Friday plus breaking news alerts, by email Update newsletter preferences

London's army of part-time workers will save hundreds of pounds a year on the cost of travelling by Tube and bus under a new flexible fares system announced today.

Mayor Boris Johnson today said he wanted to help the estimated 600,000 part-timers rather than offering the best deals only to those who commuted five days a week.

It will be the equivalent of one fifth of the cost of a weekly travelcard to zone 1, so the part-timer enjoys the discounted rates of a five-days-a-week traveller.

In a £20m giveaway, the mayor said this new priority is tailored to the needs of 22 per cent of London’s workforce which is part-time, and many others who have flexible working patterns and do not know how many days or hours they will work each week.

Passengers on pay-as-you-go travelling between zones one to two will pay no more than £6.40, a saving of £2 per day, or £270 annually if travelling three days a week. The biggest winners will be Londoners travelling between zones one to five who thanks to a reduced daily cap of £10.90 will save £4.90 a day, or £661 annually based on three days a week travelling.

Today’s announcement also underlines a longer-term trend away from hitting single journey passengers with high fares to subsidise season ticket holders.

Overall, Tube and bus fares will rise by 2.5 per cent, the rate of inflation, from 2 January 2015 in line with the cost of national rail tickets, a real-terms “freeze” announced by the London mayor and chancellor George Osborne in the summer.

Mayor Boris Johnson said: “This fares package delivers on my commitment to address the needs of flexible and part-time workers. By overhauling our fares structure we will put money back into the pockets of hundreds of thousands of hardworking people who make such a vital contribution to London’s economy. Freezing overall fares in real terms for next year allows us to hold down the cost of travel, while maintaining our vital programme of modernisation. This will ensure that the capital remains a competitive global city and a fantastic place to live.”

By introducing flexible fares now, the mayor has stolen a march on the government which has yet to deliver on its promise of a trial for fares for part-time commuters on national rail into London.

The mayor has come under pressure from the London Assembly to introduce flexible fares in line with discounts on monthly and annual season tickets, but TfL estimates this would cost £200m per year.

The £20m cost will be met by hiking the price of paper one-day travelcards typically sold as a supplement to a national rail fare to day-trippers. A zones 1-4 paper one-day travelcard will cost £12 compared to £9.20 pay as you go cap.

Following the fares “freeze”, bus fares will rise by 2.3 per cent with a 5p hike in the single fare to £1.50 with the bus-travel only daily cap held at £4.40.

On the Tube, pay as you go single fares will increase by 10p but the cost of all off peak single fares outside zone 1 will be frozen.

No travelcard season ticket will increase by more than 2.5 per cent and the average increase is 2.3 per cent.

Janet Cooke, Chief Executive of London TravelWatch said: “We are pleased that the Mayor has recognised that many people in London are finding it hard to bear continued fare increases. It is also good news that TfL will be lowering the daily Oyster PAYG fare cap to help those who work part time, removing the need for anyone working five days or fewer to buy a weekly Travelcard to get the cheapest fare.”

London Assembly Liberal Democrat leader Caroline Pidgeon said: “This hike in overall fares exceeds any rise that most people will see in their payslips, just as has been the case for a number of years under this mayor. TfL have recognised that the days when they can fleece part time workers and people who work flexibly must now come to an end.”