Today saw changes to the contactless pay as you go Oyster card, giving customers a flexible travel option with the added benefit of easily touching in and out and only paying for journeys made and now with the added benefit of daily and weekly capping.

Passenger numbers are increasing on public transport with Wednesday the 22nd of September seeing 2.4 million Tube journeys made, which is the highest midweek number since before the pandemic.

New research suggests that 8 out of 10 journeys on the Tube are made using pay-as-you-go rather than Travelcards or single tickets. 

The new improvement comes following major technical developments and also successful negotiations with train operating companies and will mean that regular users of the popular smartcard will not need to plan how to pay for travel each week as the system is designed to give them the best available fare for their journeys made from Monday to Sunday.

Daily caps are set at 1/5 of the price of a weekly cap for Tube and rail services. For customers who travel more often, weekly caps mean they won’t end up paying more than the equivalent weekly Travelcard.  Along with the weekly capping, the brand new technology will make it even easier for accidentally missed taps to be refunded. 

For customers with Zip cards or using other discounts, weekly capping is expected to come into play during 2022 once further technical development allows.

London is a world leader when it comes to the development of transport ticketing technology. The first trials of smartcard technology eventually lead to the Oyster card in 1992 and this made it possible for Transport for London (TfL) to put in place wider development of ticketing using contactless payment via bank cards which first took place on the bus network in 2012 later moving into Tube and rail services.

For further information about pay as you go, please visit 

www.tfl.gov.uk/fares

Mike Tuckett, Head of Customer Payments at TfL, said: “Pay as you go has been a huge success for London and following the pandemic, we are seeing how the flexibility and convenience that it offers is benefiting those whose travelling habits might have changed.

“Following significant technical development and successful discussions with the train operating companies, we are pleased to now be able to extend weekly Tube and rail capping to Oyster customers, meaning that they can now benefit from knowing they won’t pay more than an equivalent weekly Travelcard for their journeys across London.”

Andy Bagnall, Director General of the Rail Delivery Group, said: “It’s great to see train operating companies and TfL working together to make fares easier and better value in London, which is crucial to encourage more people onto trains, boost local businesses and protect the environment from polluting traffic jams.

“We want to be able to offer this type of flexible ticketing to people in towns and cities beyond the capital, including tap-in, tap-out with a price cap for commuters, which is why we have long called for government to undertake wholesale reform of the regulations that underpin the fares system.”

Ros Morgan, Chief Executive, Heart of London Business Alliance, said: “Automatic capping for pay as you go Oyster users is a fantastic initiative that will incentivise people to travel around London, visit restaurants, bars and cultural institutions and support the local economy in doing so.

“London is an interconnected ecosystem so by encouraging visitors and office workers to travel around the city, TfL is playing a vital role in helping it get back on its feet.”

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