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London Buses’ one-hour Hopper fare
was launched back in September 2016 and now TfL have given us an update in their news section on the
continuing success of the scheme.
From TfL news
The fare, which was introduced
on 12 September, enables passengers to take a £1.50 bus or tram journey and then change onto another bus or tram for free within an hour. The Hopper fare is
automatically given to anyone who uses pay as you go with a contactless bank payment or Oyster card.
On average, around 300,000 Hopper journeys are being made
every weekday, with the most popular bus stop at Brent Cross Shopping
Centre station, where more than 12,000
hops took place during February alone.
It's hoped that the continuing
success of the Hopper fare will encourage
people across London to switch from their cars to public transport -
supporting the Mayor's wider campaign to clean up London's toxic air.
Mayor Sadiq Khan said: 'Six
months after its launch I'm delighted and proud that our Hopper fare continues
to be such a huge success. The cost of transport must never be a barrier to
study or work, and hitting 50 million
journeys this week shows the difference the Hopper is making in cutting the cost of travel for Londoners
all across our city.'
'Alongside our TfL fares freeze,
the continuing success of the Hopper will put money back into the pockets of
millions of Londoners and encourage more people onto public transport, helping
to tackle congestion, and improving our city for everyone.'
The introduction of the service
formed part of the Mayor's wider fares package to make life easier for
Londoners, which included a four-year
fares freeze on all TfL services which came into force in January this
year.
TfL is now working on delivering
unlimited bus and tram transfers within
one hour, which is not currently possible because of existing technology
limitations. It's hoped this will be possible
from 2018.
Also from next year, passengers
using the Tube or train between two or
more bus or tram journeys will also be eligible for the Hopper fare.
London Buses narrowly avoided deregulation
during the 1990’s, so this shows that a regulated bus network has enabled a
scheme like the one-hour Hopper fare
to become a reality.
It’s also worth noting that the one-hour Hopper fare is only valid on
the red London Bus services.
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Image attribution
By Peter Trimming, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=31766396