government stepped in. Two days later, TfL announced it was furloughing around 7,000 employees, about a quarter of its staff, to help mitigate a 90% reduction in fare revenues. On 7 May, Transport for London, the capital's transport authority which Khan chairs, requested a £2 billion government bail-out to keep services running until September 2020. Without an agreement with the government, deputy mayor for transport Heidi Alexander said TfL might have to issue a "Section 114 notice" – the equivalent of a public body going bust. On 14 May, Khan and UK Government agreed a £1.6 billion emergency funding package to keep Tube and bus services running. To achieve the bailout package, Khan had raise TfL fares by 1% above inflation, which went against a pledge he made during his mayoral election campaign to not increase fares. Transport Secretary Grant Shapps MP blamed Khan for the "poor condition of TfL’s financial position" during his four years as Mayor. From 22 June 2020, Khan has implemented an increase in the London Congestion Charge to £15 a day, from £11.50. Its hours of operation have also been extended to 7am – 10pm every day, including weekends. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers, police officers, firefighters and transport workers are also included in the charge, despite a campaign by the Metropolitan Police Federation to exempt them. Khan began discussing with local leaders plans for further restrictions in London in late September 2020, and delivered a plan to the central government to introduce measures to curb the worsening outbreak and called for a "circuit-breaker lockdown" of London on 13 October 2020, citing advice from SAGE. The plan was not used; a second national lockdown was not introduced until 31 October. He declared a "major incident" due to a need for emergency coordination to mitigate the major strain on London's healthcare system in January 2021. According to polling in March 2021, 42% of Londoners agreed that Khan had handled COVID-19 "well", and 39% "badly". In July 2021, Khan maintained a face mask requirement on London transport, despite the government removing the requirement nationwide, citing the risk of virus transmission. He later expressed frustration at the subsequent fall in compliance and TfL staff's inability to enforce these rules, and said he would lobby the government to introduce legal backing for the rule. Housing policies In his first weeks as Mayor, Khan criticised foreign investors for treating homes