But tangerine tickets still popular
The rise of digital ticketing was the focus of this year’s Transport Ticketing Global show at Kensington in January. Transport for London had some interesting statistics, claiming it is now at three billion contactless journeys annually and growing. EMV (bank cards and phone payment) is now more popular than Oyster, accounting for 57% of pay-as-you-go (PAYG).
TfL aims to grow EMV as it cuts costs by turning the responsibility for providing the medium over to the banks and phone providers, but Oyster is proving a stubborn survivor. One reason for this is that there is a significant number of people in London who exist hand-to-mouth financially and only top up Oyster cards with enough cash for their next journey. On the buses these people benefit as a last ride is allowed on any positive balance.
