London buses: Hopper fare now valid for 3 or more journeys

[Romilly]

I have had an email today from TfL which says:

Launched today, the improved Hopper fare now allows you to make unlimited pay as you go bus and tram journeys within one hour of first touching in, all for £1.50.

Hopper fares apply to adult rate and discounted pay as you go journeys.

This is part of the Mayor, Sadiq Khan’s commitment to make travel in London more affordable.

You must use the same card to touch in on all journeys.

All the old Hopper-fare threads seem to be locked.

 

[Bletchleyite]

Good stuff. A worthwhile move towards a truly integrated fares system.

Next stop to true integration Mr Khan...free bus journey(s) associated with either end of a Tube journey? (I recognise why London specifically needs a cheaper bus-only fare - but no reason it shouldn't be "bus only" and "everything else" as only two fare systems)

 

[Astradyne]

Good stuff. A worthwhile move towards a truly integrated fares system.

Next stop to true integration Mr Khan...free bus journey(s) associated with either end of a Tube journey? (I recognise why London specifically needs a cheaper bus-only fare - but no reason it shouldn't be "bus only" and "everything else" as only two fare systems)

Don't go giving him ideas as to how he can bankrupt TfL even quicker

 

[Mikey C]

As a current PAYG user this benefits me

I do worry about the effect on TfL's finances though. It's all very well giving bus users cheaper fares, but at a time when TfL are very cash strapped and cutting bus routes and frequencies, I wonder whether it's a good use of resources.

 

[Bletchleyite]

As a current PAYG user this benefits me

I do worry about the effect on TfL's finances though. It's all very well giving bus users cheaper fares, but at a time when TfL are very cash strapped and cutting bus routes and frequencies, I wonder whether it's a good use of resources.

It can have financial benefits. If people are no longer penalised twice for having to change bus (financially and temporally), there's much less of a case for running direct buses from everywhere to everywhere. So you can simplify the network and save that way.

Even if it results in bus fares going up sooner, it's still fairer. Particularly on a social inclusion level - it's very often people going to minimum wage jobs at unsocial hours miles from where they live who were being penalised financially by having to change.

I really congratulate Sadiq on this. It's at least 30 years overdue. As ever the naysayers on here said it couldn't be done - but done it was.

 

[Domh245]

It's odd to see the trams mentioned. I'd been under the impression that they had been a "use as many as you want within an hour" since forever - I certainly don't think that it would have been policable to ensure that everyone touched in after changing trams unless you had an RPI team around. Unless of course in this context it mean that you can go from tram to bus and v.v. without double charging?

 

[Busaholic]

There's a daily cap after three bus journeys anyway, so more spin/hot air than anything else. Won't fool too many Londoners. With the way London bus speeds are going, it'll soon be physically impossible to get three journeys in within the hour in any case.

 

[ag51ruk]

There's a daily cap after three bus journeys anyway, so more spin/hot air than anything else. Won't fool too many Londoners. With the way London bus speeds are going, it'll soon be physically impossible to get three journeys in within the hour in any case.

Of £4.50 - this is three journeys for £1.50 within an hour. Feels like an improvement to me, not sure where spin comes into it?

 

[Busaholic]

Of £4.50 - this is three journeys for £1.50 within an hour. Feels like an improvement to me, not sure where spin comes into it?

Yes, if your daily bus usage is two (or three, or more) journeys within an hour or so, and nothing else, then it's an improvement. As the justification for the introduction of the Hopper fare was the person who needed to get to and from work/college/whatever, that would imply a two-way journey at two different times of the day, so that's 2x£1.50 for a start. Then if you consider the consequences of TfL's attempts to restructure many bus routes in the central area, which the Mayor is not demurring from as far as I can see, many present 'through' journeys will not be possible and, if a change needs to be made to a second bus in future, that may not be possible within the time allowed, in one direction anyway. This is because of the fatal flaw in the Hopper scheme, being that the timings are all based on when you board that second bus, not how long you're actually on it or, even, the theoretical time you should be on it. So, many will, in future, have to pay two fares in one direction and one in the other, so 3x£1.50 and their supposed saving is an illusion.