Request ID: FOI-0141-2223 Date published: 19 May 2022
You asked
1. Please can you detail the cost savings that you have made since the introduction of cEMV open loop payment. Cost savings should include any business case made to add this functionality back in 2012. This should cover reduction in Oyster costs (card stock, ATMs, staff sales costs etc), improved dwell times for buses etc
2. Associated cost savings in the closing of ticket offices and deployment of staff
3. Total reduction in cost of ticketing which is publically quoted as being 14% in 2007 to a figure not around 6/7%?
Thank you.
We answered
TfL Ref: 0141-2223
Thank you for your request received by us on 21 April 2022 asking for information about cost savings associated with cEMV loop payments, also known as contactless ticketing.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold the information you require. You asked:
Please can you detail the cost savings that you have made since the introduction of cEMV open loop payment. Cost savings should include any business case made to add this functionality back in 2012. This should cover reduction in Oyster costs (card stock, ATMs, staff sales costs etc), improved dwell times for buses etc
Some of the information you asked for is available on our website, by using the following link to The Future of London’s Ticketing Technology report at: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/ppp-20140226-item04-future-ticketing.pdf, which states: ‘We run the world's most successful smartcard ticketing system. Since its inception in 1998, the Oyster card system has reduced the cost of revenue collection by more than one third and has been central to improving customer service and customer satisfaction.
Advances in technology and the rising expectations of our customers are driving many changes in this area: further development of Oyster; the Future Ticketing Programme; the proposed Fit for the Future – Stations programme; and ITSO, sponsored by the Department for Transport (DfT). This paper provides a summary of the changes’.
The introduction of CPCs was seen as a significant opportunity to find new ways for customers to pay for their travel without the need to get a ticket from us first. This enables us to reduce ticketing costs while also improving the customer experience (compared to Oyster) because information is held in an intelligent back office system rather than on the card itself. 5.3 The FTP will: (a) make ticket purchase and after sales processes simpler, faster and more accessible; (b) reduce the total journey time, through removing the need to make a transaction prior to making a journey; (c) reduce commission charges through promoting customer self-service as the primary retail channel; (d) reduce the overall cost of revenue collection by moving away from Oyster’s propriety technology; and (e) make refunds and other adjustments easier to deliver: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/ppp-20140226-item04-future-ticketing.pdf
Associated cost savings in the closing of ticket offices and deployment of staff
As stated in the London Underground Ticket Office Review Board Paper: In November 2013, we announced our modernisation plans for the Tube, including the Fit for the Future – Stations (FftFS) programme. The objectives were to deliver an improvement to the way our customers experience our services and to reduce operating costs. 3.2 Following extensive consultation with stakeholders, staff and trade unions, the phased transformation of stations began in February 2015. All ticket offices, except a small number that are regulated by the Department for Transport, were closed by December 2015. These closures were accompanied by the introduction of a new station operating model, which came into full effect in April 2016. 3.3 The new operating model puts more staff out in our ticket halls, at ticket machines, at gate lines and on platforms where they are more readily available to help customers. Our staff have received comprehensive customer service training to support them to deliver a world-class service to all our customers. Staff have been equipped with new uniforms and the latest handheld technology, giving them immediate access and up-to-the-minute information to assist with customer queries. We have also improved station environments, upgraded ticket machines and put in place better customer information. 3.4 The programme is delivering significant cost savings of £50m per year to 2022/23. These cost savings are being reinvested to improve transport for our customers: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/board-20161215-item14-ticket-office-review-final.pdf
In accordance with section 21 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply you with a copy of the requested information as it is already accessible to you elsewhere.
3. Total reduction in cost of ticketing which is publicly quoted as being 14% in 2007 to a figure not around 6/7%?
Please find attached the latest copy of the Cost of Revenue Collection Report – 2018-2019 to 2019-20. The purpose of this paper is to provide an update on progress towards reducing TfL’s cost of fare revenue collection since 2012/13. The paper also summarises planned initiatives which are likely tocontribute to further reductions in future years. The earlier edition of the Cost-Revenue Collection report for 2013-14 to 2015-16 is also attached.
Please note that in accordance with TfL’s obligations under Data Protection legislation some personal data has also been removed, as required by section 40(2) of the FOI Act. This is because disclosure of this personal data would be a breach of the legislation, specifically the first principle of Article 5 of the UK General Data Protection Regulation which requires all processing of personal data to be fair and lawful. It would not be fair to disclose this personal information when the individuals have no expectation it would be disclosed and TfL has not satisfied one of the conditions of Article 5 which would make the processing ‘fair’.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal as well as information on copyright and what to do if you would like to re-use any of the information we have disclosed.
Yours sincerely
Jasmine Howard FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
