Finally,
after the long wait, London Mayor Sadiq Khan announces the new London Bus
hopper fare to launch on Monday 12th September 2016 as part of his
election promise.
·
New fare
will save millions of bus and tram passengers money every year
·
‘Hopper’
provides two journeys for the price of one within an hour, making it cheaper
and easier for people to travel around London
·
An
estimated 30m annual bus journeys will now become free.
·
From 2018,
Londoners will get unlimited bus journeys within an hour
Travelling on a bus in London will become
cheaper and more convenient for millions of Londoners from next week as the one
hour ‘Hopper’ fare will begin on Monday 12 September, the Mayor of London Sadiq
Khan has announced.
The new fare will mean an estimated 30m bus
journeys currently costing £1.50 will
now become free every year.
From Monday it will allow passengers to
change onto another bus or tram for free within one hour of touching in at the
start of their journey. It will be automatically given to anyone who uses ‘pay
as you go’ with Oyster or contactless payment cards.
The fare will particularly benefit Londoners
on lower incomes who often rely on the bus network to get around. Using the
‘Hopper’ fare, passengers could make extended journeys across London for just
£1.50 for a standard adult fare if the second journey begins within an hour.
These include:
·
London
Bridge to East Croydon using the route 133 to Streatham and then changing at
Streatham Hill station onto a 109 to West Croydon.
·
Victoria
Station to Wembley stadium using the Route 16 to Edgware Road station and then
changing onto a route 18 to Wembley Central station.
·
The fare
will also be given to passengers switching from bus to tram, tram to bus or tram to tram within an hour as well.
TfL
is now working on delivering unlimited bus and tram transfers within one hour, which is not currently possible due to
limits with the existing technology. Plans are for TfL to deliver unlimited bus
and tram journeys in an hour from 2018.
In addition to this, from 2018, passengers
who travel on a Tube or train between their two or more bus or tram journeys
will also be eligible for the Hopper fare.
The ‘Hopper’ fare will further encourage
people across London to switch from their cars back to public transport – helping reduce congestion and harmful
pollution.
London already has Europe's largest fleet of
hybrid buses and both the Mayor and TfL are committed to further reducing
vehicle emissions through new ‘Low
Emission Bus Zones’ and procuring
only hybrid or zero-emission double-decker buses from 2018.
Sadiq
Khan -
“From my first week as Mayor, I was
determined to get on with the job of cutting the cost of transport in London.
I’m delighted to announce that from next Monday, the ‘Hopper’ ticket will allow
Londoners to change buses for free within an hour, cutting travel costs for
millions of bus users.
“Fares in London have risen for eight years
in a row – and for people who have to change buses to get to work, the system
simply isn’t fair. We must ensure that everyone can afford to travel around our
city, and for people on low incomes, the cost of travel must never become a
barrier to work or study.
“The new ‘Hopper’ ticket means 30 million
bus journeys every year will now become free – journeys that currently cost
people £1.50. Alongside our commitment to freeze all TfL fares, the start of
the Hopper next Monday is a key part of our plans to make it more affordable to
live and work in London.”
London’s Transport Commissioner, Mike Brown,
said: “I’m delighted we have been able to deliver this key commitment to London
by the Mayor swiftly, enabling us to better meet the needs of those Londoners
who live or work in areas which aren’t as well served by Tube or rail
services.”
From press release notes:
·
The
‘Hopper’ fare will also apply to customers who pay discounted pay as you go fares
(Bus & Tram Discount, Jobcentre Plus Travel Discount, Young Visitor
discount and some Zip Oyster photocards).
·
Customers
who travel on a Tube or train between their two bus or tram journeys will not
currently be eligible for the Hopper fare. But from 2018, passengers who travel
on a Tube or train between their two or more bus or tram journeys will also be
eligible for the ‘Hopper’ fare.
·
The
‘Hopper’ fare will not be applied at the time of travel to journeys by Oyster
customers exiting the Tram network at Wimbledon and subsequently catching a
bus. Oyster customers who “miss out” in this way at Wimbledon will be sent
automatic refunds.
·
The
introduction of the ‘Hopper’ fare comes ahead of the Mayor’s previously
announced four-year fares freeze on all TfL services. The fares freeze, which
comes into force in January 2017, will put money back into the pockets of
Londoners. An average household will save around £200 over the four years.
·
For
example, regular users of the 7 Day Bus & Tram Pass will save around £400
over the four year term. In 2020, a bus journey will still cost £1.50 and a
Tube journey from Finsbury Park to Oxford Circus will still cost £2.90 in the
peak and £2.40 at all other times.
I would like
to add that regarding the journeys mentioned in the press release, it will
depend on the traffic; and due to London having gridlocked road conditions, if
the passenger is stuck on the first bus for over an hour, they would have to
pay for the journey on the next bus route.
I do believe
this will reduce the number of buses in various areas such as Central London which is mostly
gridlocked with buses.
This scheme
will only apply to the red London Buses and the problem is they will not apply
to any non-London bus routes; for example, passengers changing buses from London Buses Route 96 to a Fastrack
route A at Dartford have to pay for a separate ticket to use the Fastrack
service.
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Image Attribution
By Matty - Flickr: Showbus 2012 - Arriva London, Wright Routemaster (LT7 ~ LT12 GHT), CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=22009756