New analysis by transport operator Transport for London (TfL) has revealed an increase in the number of people paying using their mobile phone or smart watch on the London Underground compared to pre-pandemic levels.
The data shows that, during a four-week period from the end of July to late August 2022, around 485,000 journeys a day on the tube network were paid for using a mobile device, equalling around 35% of all tube adult pay as you go journeys paid using contactless. TfL says this represents 25% of all adult pay as you go journeys.
According to TfL, at around January 2020, approximately 400,000 journeys were paid for using a mobile phone or smart watch, representing 26% of all pay as you go with contactless journeys and around 16 per cent of all adult pay as you go tube journeys.
Pay as you go eliminates the need to use an Oyster card or day travelcards and is designed to offer customers a best-value fare. This means of paying reportedly constitutes around 71% of all pay as you go journeys on buses, tube and rail services in and around London, compared to around 31% in 2016.
Andrew Anderson, head of customer payments at TfL, said: “We are committed to making travel in London as easy as possible.
“Millions of journeys in and around London are now made using contactless every day – with close to half a million now made using mobile devices rather than a bank card.
“Working with Google Pay, we are helping promote the benefits of smart ticketing over queuing to purchase traditional paper tickets, making travel more convenient and accessible for all.”
What’s more, Google Pay recently launched a six-month campaign to encourage more people to switch to contactless journeys.