New analysis by Transport for London (TfL) shows that more people are using contactless via a mobile phone or smartwatch to travel on the London Underground than before the pandemic.

In a four-week period from the end of July to late August, a mobile device was used about 485,000 times a day to travel on the Tube. Before the pandemic around the end of January 2020 around 400,000 contactless journeys a day were made using a mobile phone or smartwatch.

An advantage of pay-as-you-go with contactless is that customers do not need to queue at ticket machines or top-up their Oyster card, but only need to touch in and out at the start and end of their journeys. The system then automatically calculates the best value fare based on the customer’s specific daily journey history. Customers are charged at the end of the day, and always pay the lowest appropriate fare, which means they can also save money compared to buying a Day Travelcard.

In recent years, pay-as-you-go with contactless has grown in popularity as more people are using the latest smartphone technology. Across London, contactless travel on bus, Tube, and rail services has increased by about 40 per cent from around 31 per cent in 2016. Contactless can be used on all Tube, bus and tram services, train services extending from Gatwick Airport in the south, Luton Airport and Welwyn Garden City in the north and Reading, Marlow, and Henley-on-Thames in the west, and on the Uber Boats with Thames Clippers and the IFS Cloud Cable Car.

In a move to encourage customers to move away from paper tickets and the need to queue to more-convenient, smarter ticketing, Google Pay is running a creative campaign across five of the most high-profile Tube stations for six months. Signs within these stations prompt customers to add a debit or credit card to Google Wallet.

When customers have added the card to the app, they no longer need to queue at ticket machines but simply pay with contactless with Google Pay. Signs on ticket readers at Tube stations have also been revised to make the contactless options clearer alongside the traditional Oyster card.

Andrew Anderson, Head of Customer Payments at TfL, said: We are committed to making travel in London as easy as possible. Millions of journeys in and around London are now made using contactless every day – with close to half a million now made using mobile devices rather than a bank card. Working with Google Pay, we are helping promote the benefits of smart ticketing over queuing to purchase traditional paper tickets, making travel more convenient and accessible for all.”

Further details about pay-as-you-go with contactless can be found at www.tfl.gov.uk/contactless