London mayor Boris Johnson’s commitment to London buses was called into question yesterday following claims that he would slash bus subsidies by about £150 million over the next nine years.

Member of the London assembly transport committee, Val Shawcross, has raised doubts about the mayor’s commitment to encourage people out of cars and bus users counted the cost.

The Conservative mayor is chair of the Transport for London, and lauded the capital’s bust service earlier this week, claiming that it was the envy of the world.

However, cutting back subsidies to bus companies could potentially see fares on the rise.

Given the overall bus fare rise of 12.7 percent planned for early next year, Shawcross told the London assembly that he mayor could come to regret this decision.

The Labour member gave her comments during a debate on a motion to the mayor, urging him to investigate the possibility of allowing bus tickets to cover a one-hour period, rather than forcing passengers to purchase a ticket for each bus.

She said that a £150 million cut to bus service subsidies would mean that London’s buses would be running 26 metres fewer kilometres per year as passengers can expect to pay over and above inflation increases for tickets every year.

The London assembly has since backed the motion requesting TfL to look into the cost implications of one-hour bus tickets.