WIREDGOV

Mayor introduces new part-time worker fare deal as part of real terms fares freeze 

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, yesterday set out a step change in Transport for London's (TfL's) fares for 2015, giving flexible and part-time workers, including those with unpredictable hours, access to lower fares.

The new fares reflect modern-day travel patterns and deliver on a commitment by the Mayor to the London Assembly to address the specific needs of part-time workers in the capital.

Overall, TfL fares will be frozen in real terms, with an average increase of 2.5%.     

Flexible and part-time travel

London's workforce has changed.  Twenty two per cent of Londoners now work part-time, while many others have flexible working patterns and do not know how many days or hours they will work each week.  

In response the Mayor is cutting pay as you go daily caps dramatically so they become one fifth of the cost of a 7 Day Travelcard to Zone 1. This produces a much fairer commuting cost for many part-time workers and will mean that those with unpredictable working patterns can simply use pay as you go Oyster or contactless payments with the new guarantee that they will pay no more in a day than one fifth of the cost of a 7 day Travelcard ticket. Bringing daily caps in line with the cost of monthly and annual tickets would cost more than £200m per year.  

Daily fares capping allows customers using Oyster or contactless payments to make as many journeys as they need to in a single day, but caps the amount they pay for their travel at a set level. Once the total of all the fares reaches a certain amount the customer will not have to pay any more for their journeys for the rest of the day.  

The all-day cap for Zones 1-2 will be cut by £2.00 from £8.40 to £6.40; and for Zones 1-6 by over £4.00 from £15.80 to £11.70. This means that part-time workers using pay as you go will pay similar daily rates as full time commuters using a 7 day Travelcard. As an example, for someone who uses a Zone 1-2 7 day Travelcard (£32.10 in 2015) to travel 5 days a week, their travel will cost £6.42 each day - similar to the new £6.40 pay as you go daily cap for those who travel less frequently.  

The potential savings will be considerable, ranging from £200 to over £600 per year. When a 3 days a week customer travels between Zones 1-5 in 2015 they will pay a maximum of £10.90 a day, rather than the current maximum of £15.80, saving £4.90 a day, or £14.70 a week.  Over a year (for example 45 weeks) the savings are over £600.  

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: `This fares package delivers on my commitment to address the needs of flexible and part time workers. By overhauling our fares structure we will put money back into the pockets of hundreds of thousands of hardworking people who make such a vital contribution to London's economy. Freezing overall fares in real terms for next year allows us to hold down the cost of travel, while maintaining our vital programme of modernisation. This will ensure that the capital remains a competitive global city and a fantastic place to live.`

Maximum savings possible due to the cheaper all day PAYG caps

TfL estimate that over 600,000 customers will pay lower fares over the course of a typical week.   

Paper One Day and annual Travelcards Part-time workers and visitors will continue to get the best value fare by using Oyster or contactless payments.

The cost of the paper One Day Travelcard ticket will increase to help fund the new fares for part time workers.

These customers too can benefit from the new daily caps if they switch from paper tickets to Oyster or contactless payment.

• The all day 1-2  Day Travelcard (£9.00) will be discontinued
• The all day 1-4 Day Travelcard will increase from £11.40 to £12.00
• The off peak 1-5 Day Travelcard, bought primarily by occasional users, will increase from £8.90 to £12.00
• The all day 1-6 Day Travelcard will be frozen in price at £17.00

TfL estimate that at least 25% of existing One Day Travelcard users will transfer to pay as you go on Oyster or contactless in 2015.   

Buses

Overall, bus fares will increase by 2.3%.  

A One Day Bus & Tram Pass costing £5 will be reintroduced designed for occasional bus users and visitors to London. It was previously abolished in 2009 as there was no market for it. Now, with cash free operation on buses there is a small but important need to provide an affordable means of travel for those wishing to use the bus but not in possession of an Oyster card or a contactless card.  

It will be a lightweight single use Oyster card that will not require a deposit and will be available to buy at over 4000 Oyster Ticket Stops and our Travel Information Centres at major transport hubs. It will also be available at London Underground, National Rail stations and Heathrow Airport to benefit people arriving at Heathrow outside Tube operational hours.  

The pay as you go single bus fare will increase by 5p to £1.50 but the daily 'bus travel only' cap will be frozen at £4.40.  This means that someone making three bus trips a day will see their fares increase by only 5p from £4.35 (= £1.45 x 3) to the new cap of £4.40. A customer making four or more trips will see no increase at all. The 7 Day Bus & Tram Pass will increase by 80p to £21.00.  

London Underground

On London Underground most pay as you go single fares will increase by 10p but all off peak single fares outside Zone 1 will be frozen. Cash single fares, which now make up just 1% of daily journeys, will increase by 10p, except for zones 1-6 which will increase by 30p to £6.00. No Travelcard season ticket will increase by more than 2.5% and the average increase is 2.3%.

Concessionary travel  

ZIP Oyster photocard concessions will all be maintained with no change.  All under 11s accompanied by an adult will continue to travel for free on TfL services - currently benefiting 15,000 young people a day.  

TfL has invested in creating an online process for applying for concessionary photocards to make it easier and quicker for customers.  Each of these photocards are now valid for longer, with the 16+ cards valid for two years rather than one, the 18+ cards up to three years rather than one and the 60+ cards for six years rather than one year when they were launched in 2012.  The application fee for the 16+, 18+ and 60+ Oyster concession photocard will increase from £10 to £20 from 1 June 2015.  The charge for the under 16 card will increase from £10 to £15. These application fees have not been increased since 2011.  

More than 85 million Oyster cards have now been issued.  Nearly one million cards are issued every month and nearly a quarter are returned for a refund.  Many of these returned cards were only issued a few days beforehand.  To encourage customers to keep their card and reduce costs associated with providing and issuing cards, those who return a card within a month of purchase will pay an early return charge of £3.00 from their £5 deposit.  

TfL does not make a profit from fares - every penny is invested in delivering and improving transport. As well as meeting the needs of the modern London workforce this fares package will ensure that the unprecedented investment in London's transport network will continue. The current investment programme includes upgrades to the Tube, rail and road networks and the delivery of Crossrail. It also helps pay for one of the most extensive, reliable and green bus networks in the world and on making the transport system more accessible to everyone.  

Travel for visitors

The Visitor Oyster card will continue to be available and is a great solution for international visitors to London. It can be bought online via TfL's Visitor Shop before travelling to London. The card will continue to cost £3 plus postage. Visitors can also take advantage of the reintroduced One Day Bus & Tram Pass.  

A 34% discount on off peak Day Travelcards will be introduced for visitor groups of 10 or more. This will cost £8 for adults and £4 for under 16s (currently off-peak Day Travelcards cost £8.90 for adults and £3.60 for under 16s). These discounts will also be available to Railcard holders. Under 11s accompanied by an adult will continue to travel free on all TfL services.  

Visitors from within the UK will also be encouraged to use their contactless payment cards to avoid having to top-up their credit on their trip and avoid the £3 deposit charge for an Oyster Card.

• A full fares table for 2015 can be found attached in PDF format here.
• A 34% discount on off peak Day Travelcards will be introduced for visitor groups of 10 or more. This will cost £8 for adults and £4 for under 16s (currently off-peak Day Travelcards cost £8.90 for adults and £3.60 for under 16s). These discounts will also be available to Railcard holders. Under 11s accompanied by an adult will continue to travel free on all TfL services.
• The Visitor Oyster card will continue to be available and is a great solution for international visitors to London. It can be bought online via TfL's Visitor Shop before travelling to London The card will continue to cost £3 plus postage.
• Customers travelling into central London during the evening peak on National Rail services will pay an off peak fare, rather than a peak fare.  This will benefit 5,000 customers a day.  This benefit already applies to London Underground journeys. The maximum saving travelling in the evening peak from Zone 6 to a London Underground station in Zone 1, for example, Romford to Covent Garden would be £2.40 - the difference between the peak fare of £7.60 and the off-peak of £5.20.
• The ZIP off peak pay as you do daily cap will be maintained and will benefit 20,000 under 16 users a day.  A new half price discount for pay as you go travel for under 16s will be introduced for visitors to London which will benefit around 5,000 young visitors a day.