Thursday, November 14, 2024

TfL data gives first look at whether cheaper Friday travel worked

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Transport for London (TfL) ridership data has suggested that there was a small change in the number of journeys on the Underground during Sadiq Khan’s off-peak Fridays trial. The scheme, whereby fares remained cheaper during the last working day of the week, was launched on March 8.

It lasted until May 31 and cost £24 million. Now, it is as you were during the last working day of the week, as prices have been reverted back to normal.




But we have to wait a while until we know what impact the scheme had on people’s travel habits. This is because public organisations are not allowed to release any important data that might influence how people vote at the General Election on July 4.

READ MORE: TfL ticket inspector ‘pushed over and repeatedly kicked’ by passenger at London Underground station

Passengers enjoyed cheaper prices on Fridays between March 8 and May 31(Image: Adam Toms/MyLondon)

This is called the pre-election period, or purdah. Even if a national poll were not happening, it has not been clear as to when TfL would have published the data. MyLondon understands that officials are ‘continuing to analyse’ the numbers.

Documents for the next meeting of TfL’s board, scheduled for June 12, state: “After the end of the trial, we will use a combination of public transport ridership data, research into customer perceptions, and feedback from the business community to evaluate the cumulative impact of implementing off peak fares on Friday. This will then be used to inform future decision-making or other potential innovative approaches to fares across London.”

Publicly available ridership data

But, what we can have a peek at is the authority’s public ridership data, which it publishes regularly.

This shows us that, in March, 16,294,000 journeys were made on the Tube on Fridays. In April, this decreased to 13,313,000.

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