Number of people paying for travel using mobile technology will increase in 2016

Last month, we explored how the convenience and expediency of contactless technology was always going to become a massive hit with commuters who need to get to their destinations as quickly as possible and without any hassle. Tapping in and out without having to worry about topping up your account removes so many potential hold-ups so it is unsurprising that contactless technology accounted for over a quarter (27 per cent) of all pay-as-you-go TfL journeys.

Aside from the convenience of using contactless technology another perk is the fact that TfL  provide ‘Monday to Sunday’ capping which automatically limits the cost of travel over this period to the price of a weekly travelcard.

 

300 million contactless journeys

Now, Transport for London has released more detailed figures about people’s usage of contactless technology. Contactless payments 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 in London in September 2014.

Since the launch, more than 300 million journeys have been made using contactless technology, over a million a day. What’s interesting is that according to TfL, 25,000 new cards are used on the network every day.

 

Mobile technology on the rise

But it’s not all about cards. Contactless technology has evolved to include our mobile phones and around 3.5 per cent of all contactless journeys are now made using mobile technology, with around an extra 7,000 devices now seen on average every week.

Since July 2015, more than 3.2 million journeys have been made using mobile devices on London’s transport network. Transport for London predicts this figure will increase even more throughout 2016 as more devices come onto the market and more people adopt them and other contactless technologies such as watches and wristbands with Near Field Communication (NFC) capabilities.

The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “It’s wonderful Londoners and visitors from around the world are embracing the use of contactless technology right across our network.

“Passengers clearly love using their bank cards and mobile phones to travel, and why not – it’s quick, easy and gets you the best fare. It’s another fine example of how we are innovating and investing to make getting around the Capital as easy as possible,” he added.

Related reading

Leave a comment