TfL celebrates a decade of contactless payment on London’s buses

Transport for London (TfL) is marking ten years since contactless payment using a bank card was first introduced as a new way to pay on London's buses, making it easier and more convenient for millions of customers.

The system, which evolved from TfL's successful Oyster card system and was developed in partnership with the wider banking industry, allows customers to benefit from the ease and convenience of using their contactless bank card or mobile device, rather than having to pre-purchase anything. The system also allows for daily and weekly (Monday to Sunday) capping, meaning customers never pay more than the equivalent 7 Day ticket.

On its first day, only 2,061 customers made 2,586 bus journeys using contactless bank cards, although this was impressive given how few of the cards were in general circulation. Since then, the popularity of contactless, both as a means to pay generally and also as a method of paying for travel, has risen exponentially. A year after launching, TfL had seen more than 6.5 million journeys (around 33,000 bus journeys a day) being made using a contactless payment card and by December 2017, more than half a billion journeys had been made (with TfL seeing around 900,000 bus journeys a day made using contactless.)

Following the pandemic, bus ridership is now at around 80-85 per cent of pre-pandemic levels, with more than five million journeys a day being made - with around 1.7 million of those made using pay as you go with contactless. Around 70 per cent of all pay as you go journeys on buses are made using contactless payment cards or mobile devices - with the most popular bus route for contactless use the route 149 from London Bridge to Edmonton with around 100,000 contactless taps a week.