Weekly Capping Being Introduced for Oyster on Tube and Rail

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Measure means it is no longer necessary to buy a weekly Travelcard

79% of passengers now using an Oyster card or contactless

Weekly capping on Oyster cards for adult pay as you go customers is set to go live next Monday (27 September). This means that anyone travelling regularly on Tube and rail services across London will no longer need to buy a weekly Travelcard to minimise cost.

The new arrangements make it easier for passengers who commute flexibly and will accommodate those working from home for part of the week.

The change means that those who regularly use the smartcard to travel around London will no longer need to plan how to pay for travel throughout the week, as TfL says the system will give them the best possible fares for all their journeys made between Monday and Sunday.

Daily caps on Tube and rail services are set at one fifth of the price of a weekly cap, and if customers travel more frequently, weekly caps ensure they don’t pay more than the equivalent weekly Travelcard.

Weekly capping is already available for those using pay as you go with contactless, and Oyster customers who only travel on bus and tram services across London.

As well as providing weekly capping, the new technology will also make it easier for taps that have been accidently missed to be refunded.

Weekly capping for those with Zip cards and other discounts is expected to launch during 2022 following further technical development.

Ridership continues to increase on London’s public transport network, new analysis shows that eight out of ten fare paying passengers travelling on the Tube are now doing so using pay as you go with contactless or Oyster, rather than more traditional Travelcard or paper single tickets.

Almost four million different people travelled on the Tube last week, compared to five and a half million people pre pandemic. At least two million journeys are being made every weekday and on Wednesday 22 September there were 2.4 million journeys made - the highest weekday since the pandemic began. Analysis of journeys made in recent weeks showing that around 79 per cent used pay as you go with contactless or an Oyster card – with the number of contactless journeys continuing to grow significantly.

On buses, the proportion of fare paying customers using pay as you go is currently around 72 per cent. Bus ridership is currently at around four and a half million journeys a day across London.

Mike Tuckett, Head of Customer Payments at TfL, said, “Pay as you go has been a huge success for London and following the pandemic we are seeing how the flexibility and convenience that it offers is benefiting those whose travelling habits might have changed.
“Following significant technical development and successful discussions with the train operating companies, we are pleased to now be able to extend weekly Tube and rail capping to Oyster customers, meaning that they can now benefit from knowing they won’t pay more than an equivalent weekly Travelcard for their journeys across London.”

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September 24, 2021