please empty your brain below
And then there's Freedom Passes and O60+ Oyster Cards, which you get to keep if you move out of London, because TFL won't know. A huge saving when visiting the capital.

OldGuy | 14.09.19 - 7:53 a.m. | #

The commute into work can be a huge waste of time (and money), if it takes around an hour each way, then that's 10 hours a week, or more than a 6th virtual working day added to the actual 5 working days.

Technology (and the relative cheapness of it) means that if you have the sort of job where you don't need to physically be there to do it (other than the odd meeting), then why bother, it saves time and money.

Still Anon | 14.09.19 - 7:54 a.m. | #

If single fares remain frozen but travelcard prices continue to rise with inflation, eventually it might no longer make sense to buy travelcards at all. Which would arguably be fairer in that part time workers (disproportionately women) and those unable to afford the upfront costs would no longer be paying proportionally more.

Frankie Roberto | 14.09.19 - 8:56 a.m. | #

Another reason why Z7+ tickets sell in tiny numbers is that there are vastly fewer stations in these zones. It might be interesting to divide all the figures by the number of stations in the highest numbered zone covered.

Malcolm | 14.09.19 - 9:02 a.m. | #

I wonder how many users of Z23 and Z234 season tickets take advantage of free Z1 bus travel? My sister did when she commuted from Z4 to Z2 on tube and then caught a bus to Z1. The money saved in not having an annual Z1234 ticket saved her £800.

MA | 14.09.19 - 9:42 a.m. | #

“Technology means that if you have the sort of job where you don't need to physically be there to do it, then why bother, it saves time and money.”

I really this is one of those pervasive myths. There is no ‘technology’ which can come close to replicating the amount of information transferred in person-to-person interactions. There are many people where the loss of that information might be a good trade-off for people *sometimes* because there is lots of value in flexible working, but the idea that is ‘just as good’ to be working remotely and there’s no trade-off is just not true for jobs which involve teamwork.

Try gauging the tone of an interruption, chatting through a knotty problem over tea, taking a team for post-work drinks or reading the subtle body language of a busy person without actually being there.

This is, after all, why big cities are what they are!

Dominic Self | Homepage | 14.09.19 - 10:17 a.m. | #

I'm guessing that something these figures don't include is season tickets from outside London with travelcard included - as far as I can find these are always Z1-6. Obviously the number of these can't be FoI-d from the TOCs that sell them, wonder if TfL have any sort of record of them?

AL_S | 14.09.19 - 10:45 a.m. | #

Don't forget annual tickets bought via national rail stations include a free annual gold card plus the opportunity to get a partner network card so discounted travel across the whole of the old Network South East area. SWT also used to include 6 free weekend tickets to travel anywhere on their trains. Sadly their replacement SWR doesn't.

ap | 14.09.19 - 10:58 a.m. | #

Once upon a time I had a Zone 1 travel card... From the yable above, it looks as though it no longer exists...

Southern Heights (Light Railway) | 14.09.19 - 11:28 a.m. | #

In Merton and Sutton, the spread of Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) continues with two large areas in Z4 being targeted. There are people who commute in who will be displaced to Z5, etc, to park their cars en route to Z1. If this is being replicated in other boroughs then there will be a noticeable shift.

Ken | 14.09.19 - 11:32 a.m. | #

of course the "weekly capping" is actually Monday to Sunday capping ... so if you happen to be away, and arrive back into london midweek - you shouldn't reply on capping.

ADS | Homepage | 14.09.19 - 1:40 p.m. | #

when I was working. every employer I had offered interest-free loans for annual travelcards, so as long as you were employed it wasn't difficult to obtain one. Has all that stopped now that there are different types of ticket?

amber | 14.09.19 - 6:07 p.m. | #

Interest-free and deducted from gross salary so there was less income tax to pay. Fab.

Pimlico Pete | 14.09.19 - 11:03 p.m. | #

To enlarge on what MA says, one of the reasons why the weekly Z23 and Z234 numbers are so high (together they come to more than Z123 in second place) is that all season tickets cover buses throughout Greater London as well.

In Bermondsey, where I live, hordes get off the tube and then continue their journey to the area between Tower and London Bridges by bus. You can't do this with pay-as-you go, as you'd pay two separate fares.

Even more important, I guess, is that the immense employment area of Canary Wharf is not in Zone 1. So, from the North-east, the East and the South-east (via the overground to Canada Water) of London, you don't need a zone 1 ticket to get there.

Martin | 15.09.19 - 8:45 a.m. | #

I am very surprised by how few annual seasons TfL sells! Yes, they are pricey, but all companies I have ever worked for in London (ranging from 200 to 5000+ employees UK-wide) offered their employees an interest-free season ticket loan, with installments then docked automatically from your salary each month. I thought this was standard practice in most office jobs.

straphan | 16.09.19 - 12:26 p.m. | #

Worth mentioning that the annual bus pass also covers the trams.

I used to have one of these when I first moved to London, as a) I was poor, and it was a lot cheaper than a travelcard, and b) my commute to work was usually just as fast by bus as it would have been by tube.

As a newcomer to the city, travelling everywhere by bus, although slower, gave me a much better idea of the geography of the city.

Moogal | 16.09.19 - 1:18 p.m. | #

I think part of the reason for low uptake of annual seasons is that once you take out all annual leave (incl. bank holidays), all probable sick days, and then factor in that a lot of the people who could afford an annual work from home on occasion... There just isn't a savings any more. I'm on 8 weeks holiday and can work from home, there's no way it would be sensible from my standpoint.

Chz | 16.09.19 - 2:33 p.m. | #











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