TfL has released their own mobile phone app to enable passengers to top up their Oyster card ‘on the go’.
From TfL press release
Oyster card users can now check their pay as you go balance and top up their card with just a few quick taps of their smartphone after Transport for London (TfL) today launched its new app.
The new app, which was designed by TfL and developed by Cubic Transportation Systems, is free to download via the Apple App Store and Google Play Store and enables customers to use their smartphone to quickly add pay as you go credit or Travelcards to their Oyster card. These can then be added after 30 minutes by simply touching the Oyster card on the yellow card reader at any Tube or rail station, tram stop or River Bus pier as part of a journey.
Later this year, customers will be able to collect their top up by touching their Oyster card on the yellow card readers on any of London's 9,000 buses.
The app also enables customers to view the last eight weeks of their journey history, check how much pay as you go credit they have on their Oyster card and provides, for the first time, a 'low balance' alert direct to their phone to help ensure they have enough pay as you go credit before they travel. Additional functionality will be added, including the ability to apply for refunds for incomplete journeys.
In order to use the new TfL app, customers need to have an Oyster online account, which can be set up in a few minutes directly within the app or by visiting oyster.tfl.gov.uk. As well offering access to the new app, having an Oyster online account gives access to email updates on service changes on their regular route and protects their Oyster card against any loss or theft.
Sadiq Khan, Mayor of London, said: `London continues to lead the way using new technology to improve our transport network, and I'm delighted that our new app will make topping up your Oyster card much easier and more convenient. We've all had to top up our Oyster card when we're in a rush or queue at a ticket machine, so being able to add money quickly using your phone will make a real difference to busy commuters.
`As we continue to build a world-class, affordable transport network across our city, we will make sure we utilise the very latest technology to improve the experience for every passenger.'
Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at TfL, said: "Pay as you go with Oyster and Contactless has delivered greater convenience for our customers, and we are constantly trying to make further improvements. As smartphones become an increasingly essential part of our customers' lives, we are introducing this app to make the process of buying and checking travel products as quick and convenient as possible."
Janet Cooke, Chief Executive of London TravelWatch, said: "These latest improvements will help passengers ensure they get the best value for money from their Oyster products and satisfy a demand we identified in our 2013 Value for Money research. They will also make it much more convenient for passengers to top up, removing the need to queue at a ticket machine."
Roger Crow, Executive Vice President and Managing Director, Europe, Cubic Transportation Systems, said: `This project exemplifies our strong partnership with TfL to innovate and deliver solutions that benefit the ultimate end user - TfL's customers. This important step forward utilizes Cubic's leading-edge technology and builds on the mobile ticketing solutions we have developed for our US and German customers.'
The new TfL app is the latest in a range of improvements to help make travelling using public transport in London as affordable and convenient as possible. Last month, TfL introduced a number of improvements to the Oyster online system allowing anyone who tops up their pay as you go credit or buys Travelcards online to collect their purchase from any Tube or rail station, tram stop or River Bus pier when they touch in, rather than having to nominate a station when they make the purchase.
Throughout 2017 and 2018, further improvements to the Oyster and Contactless system will also be introduced, including:
- Expanding the Mayor's 'Hopper fare' to allow unlimited journeys on buses and trams within an hour from 2018;
- Adding the ability to view journey history for Contactless payments through the TfL app;
- Introducing pay as you go to cover the Elizabeth line, which once fully open will see services running from Reading and Heathrow in the west to Shenfield and Abbey Wood in the east by December 2019;
- Making Bus & Tram Pass season tickets available to purchase online and via the app;
- Introducing weekly capping on Oyster to bring it in line with Contactless.
To download the TfL app onto your mobile:
For Apple products - itunes.apple.com/gb/app/tfl-oyster/id117942008
For Android products - play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=uk.gov.tfl.oystercontactless
The technological advances form a key part of TfL's action plan to address concerns raised in the London Travelwatch report into the closure of ticket offices at London Underground stations, which was published last year - london.gov.uk/transport/rail-and-underground/tube-ticket-office-closures-and-improving-customer-experiences
Any customers with a first-generation Oyster card, which were predominantly issued prior to 2010, will need to upgrade their Oyster card to one which has a "D" in the bottom left hand corner on the back of the card - tfl.gov.uk/first-generation-oyster. TfL is currently contacting regular Oyster card users with a first-generation card through Oyster online to encourage them to upgrade their card to take advantage of the new app.
Also newsworthy today is TfL’s pilot to collect depersonalised Wi-Fi data from passenger’s mobile devices – collecting information about their journeys.
From TfL press release
Data reveals 18 different routes taken by customers between King's Cross St Pancras and Waterloo - and many people don't use the shortest route changing Tube lines.
TfL now working with the Information Commissioner's Office, privacy campaigners and consumer groups about how the data collection could be undertaken on a permanent basis
Tube journeys could be improved through TfL harnessing Wi-Fi data to make more information available to customers as they move around London, new research has shown.
The four-week TfL pilot, which ran between November and December last year, studied how depersonalised Wi-Fi connection data from customers' mobile devices could be used to better understand how people navigate the London Underground network, allowing TfL to improve the experience for customers.
The pilot focused on 54 stations within Zones 1-4 and saw more than 509 million depersonalised 'probing requests', or pieces of data, collected from 5.6 million mobile devices making around 42 million journeys. The data collected was depersonalised, so that no individuals could be identified, and no browsing data was collected from devices. No data collected through the trial was made available to any third parties, and the pilot included clear communication with customers about how to opt out should they wish to do so.
These journeys were analysed by TfL's in-house analytics team and broken into different aggregated 'movement types' to help understand what customers were doing at particular points of their journeys - such as entering or exiting a station, changing between lines or just passing through the station while on a train.
By using this data, TfL was able to get a much more accurate understanding of how people move through stations, interchange between services and how crowding develops.
The pilot revealed a number of results that could not have been detected from ticketing data or paper-based surveys. For example, analysis showed that customers travelling between King's Cross St Pancras and Waterloo take at least 18 different routes, with around 40% of customers observed not taking one of the two most popular routes.
The data collected through the Wi-Fi pilot could have a number of benefits for TfL and its customers, including:
- Allowing staff to better inform customers of the best way to avoid disruption or unnecessary crowding
- Helping customers plan the route that best suits them - whether based on travel time, crowding or walking distance
- Enabling greater sophistication in proving real-time information to customers as they travel across London
- Helping further prioritise transport investment to improve services and address regular congestion points - ensuring the maximum benefits to customers
- Providing a better insight on customer flows which could increase commercial revenue from companies which advertise or rent retail units on the transport network
While the usual ticketing data for major interchange stations such as Oxford Circus can show the levels of people entering and exiting the stations, it cannot show the huge numbers of people interchanging during peak hours, or precise local areas where crowding occurs on platforms or around escalators, whereas Wi-Fi data can.
TfL has now begun discussions with key stakeholders, including the Information Commissioner's Office, privacy campaigners and consumer groups about how this data collection could be undertaken on a permanent basis, possibly across the full Tube network.
Val Shawcross, Deputy Mayor for Transport, said: "We're determined to use the latest technology to improve the experience of every passenger using transport in London, and I'm delighted the trial has been a success. The analysis of secure, depersonalised Wi-Fi data could enable us to map the journey patterns of millions of passengers and understand in much greater detail how people move around our transport network. It will provide real benefits helping TfL tackle overcrowding, provide more information for passengers about their best journey route, and help us prioritise new investment where it's most needed."
Lauren Sager Weinstein, Chief Data Officer at Transport for London, said: "Technology is transforming our lives, from how we work and enjoy our leisure time to the way we travel. This pilot has revealed useful insights into how people criss-cross London using the Tube, and the potential benefits this depersonalised data could unlock, from providing better customer data to helping address overcrowding, are enormous.
"We are now working closely with key stakeholders to examine our next steps and, as with the pilot, will keep our customers informed while also respecting their privacy and offering a way to opt-out should they wish."
Sue Daley, Head of Programme for Cloud, Data, Analytics and AI, techUK, said: "The TfL Wi-Fi pilot is a powerful example of how data collection and analysis can make a real difference to our everyday lives. By applying big data analytics and machine learning technologies, TfL gained real-time understanding of how people are using the Capital's transport system and these insights will help reduce overcrowding, improve service efficiency and customise information for travellers.
"The transparency and openness shown by TfL is to be applauded. The steps taken to make customers aware of the data collection and its purpose should be seen as a blueprint for others. If UK organisations are to realise the full potential of real-time data-driven decisions, it is vital that we bring the public on this journey by building a culture of data trust and confidence."
Dr Hannah Fry from the Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis at University College London, said: "By doing this study, TfL have demonstrated the very real way that big data can benefit us all. Using Wi-Fi to understand how people are moving through underground stations gives us the chance to choose what we want from our journeys. Prefer a less busy train and don't mind waiting an extra five minutes? Have a massive bag you need to carry through the station and looking for the emptiest route between platforms? By knowing where people are, TfL can offer those alternatives and, in turn, change our experience of using the Tube.
"The Wi-Fi data offers a completely new way to view what's happening underground. It exposes the pinch-points in the network and can help TfL to understand how and why overcrowding happens - an essential step to making the Tube as safe and efficient as possible. As a Londoner whose journeys are no doubt included in the data collected, I was impressed by how far TfL have gone to take how we feel about our privacy seriously, at every stage they have preserved our anonymity, been transparent about the way the data is used and offered us the option to opt out. Their study serves as an exemplary model of how to treat your customers in the era of big data."
For more information, and to download the full report, please visit tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/wifi-data-collection
Here’s a news update from LOTS:
1) Transport for London has announced that Leon Daniels Managing Director, Surface Transport is to leave TfL "towards the end of the year".
TfL has also issued a statement on the resignation of Leon Daniels.
After nearly seven years as the Managing Director of Surface Transport, Leon Daniels has decided to leave Transport for London towards the end of the year.
Mike Brown, London's Transport Commissioner, said: `Leon had intended to retire in 2015 but agreed to stay on after my appointment as Commissioner. He has made a very significant contribution to TfL and London and has done this critical job for longer than any of his predecessors. Our progress under his leadership has been considerable. This includes building a bus service that is the envy of all world cities, laying firm foundations for radical change in walking and cycling and helping focus us on improving road safety and air quality to help secure our city's future.
`Leon led our Surface teams through the most successful Olympic and Paralympic Games and, as head of our resilience functions, has provided leadership and support at difficult times. I am very grateful for the advice and support he has given me, and we will all be wishing him the very best for the future.'
I should point out here that this is not a political site. I know there are people from the Unions and also workers that disagree with Leon Daniels on various issues regarding transport.
I will give credit to him though for improving the style of London Buses by requiring operators to have 100% red liveries with roundals, reinstating white text on destination/route blinds and also refurbishing the AEC Routemasters on route 15H and thus restoring their original interiors. He was also responsible for the rollout of the three-door, two-staircase hybrid bus known as the New Routemaster.
This also marks the end of the rollout for the New Routemaster bus. So 2018 will be a new era for London Buses as well as the rest of London Transport due to the launch of the Crossrail Elizabeth Line and the completion of the Thameslink programme. This is history in the making and the new changes are part of the inevitable progress we continue to see as technology advances.
Here’s the rest of the news from LOTS:
2) The last few EHs for Go-Ahead routes 5 and 115 are now here, so the batch EH131-161 is complete. Treatment of LTs to the East London Transit livery progresses rather slowly, and conversion of WVLs to single door for route X26 is even slower, with just two so far. Go-Ahead has been taking in new StreetLites (WS81-90) with many more to come, although none of the first ten are yet in service. Similarly, new Arriva HVs and Metroline VWHs are spending many weeks in store awaiting commissioning. Meanwhile, withdrawn stock at Arriva, Metroline, Stagecoach and Tower Transit continues to pile up for eventual sale or end-of-lease.
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