Surprise, surprise, the project failed - so badly that the numbers travelling actually FELL during the project....
From
Daily Fail via MSNTfL» data reveals Off-Peak Fridays had 'negligible' impact on journeys
Three months ago it was hailed by Sadiq Khan as a 'groundbreaking' scheme.
But the London Mayor's £24million trial to cut Underground and train fares on Fridays by making them off-peak has had a 'negligible' impact on journeys.
The scheme between March 8 and May 31 reduced travel costs for passengers using contactless and Oyster▸ cards in the Greater London area, in an attempt to get more people commuting post-lockdown and boost the hospitality and cultural industries.
But Tube ridership data from Transport for London (TfL) showed the 13-week trial appeared to have resulted in only a 3 per cent increase in usage compared to 2023.
Some 40.6million Underground journeys were made on Fridays during the trial - excluding Good Friday, which is always off-peak all day because it is a bank holiday.
But ridership during the same set of Fridays last year - again excluding Good Friday -was only slightly lower, at 39.4million journeys.
And the 3,330,000 Tube journeys made on the final Friday of the scheme - May 31 - was 54,000 fewer than the 3,384,000 on March 1, the Friday before the trial began.
The ridership data does not reveal the full impact of the scheme because it does not include Elizabeth line, Overground, Docklands Light Railway and National Rail services within the London area – all of which were also included in the trial.
But a TfL finance report earlier this month revealed total journeys across all services had increased by 6 per cent compared to 2013. This suggests that the 3 per cent rise on Fridays might have happened without the trial.
Tube ridership numbers also appeared to have been reduced by National Rail industrial action on two of the relevant Fridays last year.
Keith Prince, City Hall Conservatives' transport spokesman, said: 'The mayor's latest TfL experiment was nothing but an expensive election bribe.
'Off-peak Fridays will end up costing the taxpayer an estimated £24million, despite having a negligible impact on passenger numbers.'
He suggested that the cost could instead have been spent on funding new zero-emissions buses, improving the service on the beleaguered Central line or buying new rolling stock for Croydon's tram network.
Critics have also pointed out that the scheme saved some commuters heading into Central London just £1.20 a week, with those travelling from Zone Two to Zone One saving 60p each way.
Green Party assembly member Caroline Russell told the Evening Standard that Mr Khan should reinstate free travel for older people before 9am, which was also in place during the trial. This applied to the 1.2million Londoners with a 60+ Oyster or Freedom Pass.
Jon Tabbush, senior researcher at the Centre for London think-tank, told the Financial Times that the effects and scale of the trial were limited, but it was a useful experiment and there were 'political reasons for doing it'.
He added that the reduction in costs was not enough to get people commuting again, but it was 'good for the whole country for cities to be able to test out these ideas and monitor their results'.
Nick Tyler, director of the Centre for Transport Studies research centre at University College London, told the FT that the ideal was to have a 'more civilised life by freeing up the working day, away from the 19th-century factory model', by encouraging flexible working and spreading out journeys across the day.
He added that officials should 'figure out how to make the transport system fit with the people rather than force the people to fit the transport system'.
A TfL spokeswoman said: 'We continue to analyse the impact of our trial of off-peak pay as you go fares on Tube and rail services on a Friday, which ended on 31 May 2024.
'This analysis will take into account a number of aspects including assessing changes to both morning peak ridership and overall daily ridership, as well as the impact to businesses across London.'
TfL added that the publicly-available data only shows total ridership, and therefore cannot be used for analysing changing journey habits during the rush-hour periods of 6.30am to 9.30am then 4pm to 7pm – which were the times affected by the trial.
Officials also cited how the trial covered periods around Easter, school holidays and bank holidays – when ridership can often be changeable.
TfL has previously revealed that Tube usage on Fridays is at only 73 per cent of pre-pandemic levels as many people work from home. This is compared to midweek usage at 85 per cent.
Mr Khan told the State of London Debate last week that comprehensive analysis of the trial is expected to be published within the next few months.
He said: 'The pre-election period has slowed things down a bit, but I'd hope that in the next couple of months, we'll have the results of the off-peak trial.'
Peak pay-as-you-go fares apply on Tube and rail services in London on weekdays between 6.30am and 9.30am, and between 4pm and 7pm.
Someone commuting by Tube from Zone Six in outer London into Zone One in the centre at peak times currently pays £5.60 per journey. Under the trial, this was cut to £3.60 on Fridays.
Speaking when he launched the trial on March 8, Mr Khan said: 'Off-peak Fridays are here. I'm delighted that this groundbreaking trial is now up and running and that there will also be special hospitality, business and entertainment deals taking place on Fridays.'
Examples of other London discounts introduced for Fridays included 20 per cent off the bill at Gaucho restaurants, off-peak prices to see musical Wicked and half-price tickets for the Turn It Up exhibition at the Science Museum.
