TRANSPORT FOR London says half of all pay as you go journeys made on the London Underground and rail services in the capital are now regularly made using contactless payment cards or mobile devices.
Contactless payment was first introduced on London’s buses in December 2012, followed by tube and rail services in September 2014.
Since the launch 1.7 billion journeys have been made, with usage now up to around 17 million journeys a week. TfL notes some stations are consistently seeing more than 60% of pay as you go journeys made using contactless payment, while around one in eight contactless journeys are now made using a mobile phone or smart device.
The contactless ticketing system, developed by TfL in partnership with Cubic, calculates the best value fare based on a passenger’s journey and charges them at the end of the day.
Passengers using contactless also benefit from weekly price capping, currently unavailable on the Oyster smart card but due to be expanded to this medium later this year. TfL has signed a deal with Cubic allowing the company to adapt the system used in the capital, since when New York, Sydney, Miami and Boston have all announced plans to introduce contactless payment systems.
