The Hopper Fare was launched on
12th September 2016 and has enjoyed great success with more than 10
million journeys being made so far. TFL and the London Mayor’s office have now
unveiled their top 20 ‘hopper’ fare
routes.
More than 10 million journeys have been made
using the Mayor's new bus ‘Hopper’ fare, Transport for London (TfL) confirmed
today.
The new fare enables passengers to take a
£1.50 bus or tram journey and then change onto another bus or tram for free
within one hour of touching in at the start of their journey.
It is automatically given to anyone who uses
pay as you go with a contactless bank payment or Oyster card. The ‘Hopper’ is
of particular benefit to Londoners on lower incomes who rely on the bus service
to get around.
The 10 millionth ‘Hopper’ journey was made
at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon on bus route 332 - which runs from the Tesco in
Brent Park to behind Paddington Station.
The most popular bus to ‘Hop’ onto is the
Route 18, which runs from Sudbury & Harrow Road station to Euston Station
via Kensal Green.
Around 200,000 journeys also involved the
London Tram network in south London, with 80,000 switching from a bus to a tram
and 65,000 changing from a tram to a bus.
Other
popular routes for passengers using the ‘Hopper’ fare include:
- The 279 from Waltham Cross Bus Station to Manor House Underground station
- The 53 from Orchard Road in Plumstead to Horse Guards Parade in Westminster
- The 207, from the Hayes By-Pass near Southall to White City Bus Station in Shepherds Bush.
- The most popular bus stop to ‘hop’ at is Brent Cross Shopping Centre, where more than 20,000 ‘hops’ have taken place.
Also, the
article talks about ‘notes for editors’.
- The bus ‘Hopper’ fare also applies 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 bus ‘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 bus ‘Hopper’ fare.
- The bus ‘Hopper’ fare is 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 are sent automatic refunds.
- The Mayor has also announced a four-year fares freeze on all TfL services which comes into force in January 2017. 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.
- Contactless bank payment cards have been accepted on London buses since December 2012, with the technology expanded to cover Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, and most National Rail services on 16 September 2014.
- The top 20 ‘Hopper’ routes are below (indicates the 2nd free journeys ‘hopped’ onto most frequently)
Here’s the
map of the top 20 ‘hopper’ routes:
Routes 38,
78 and 149 use the 3-door 2-staircase buses known as the New Routemaster. Hopefully this scheme is helping to reduce fare
evasion on the open-boarding New Routemaster buses. Also, route 253 is now
operating with New Routemaster buses.
Lastly, a
short update regarding the 2-door 1-staircase SRM which uses the Volvo B5LH
hybrid system. The VHR45203 recently entered service on school route 618 and a
photo of the bus in service can be seen here.
As always,
you can follow me on Twitter and Google Plus which is @CLondoner92