Request ID: FOI-0389-2122 Date published: 02 June 2021
You asked
Dear Transport for London,
I would like to make a FOI request for London underground station usage figures (entries and exits) from start of 2020 until the latest available. I have found useful information from https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/station_usage_figures but I was wondering if I can request for more recent and specific data from underground stations instead of rail stations.
The request is for my master's research dissertation in investigating patterns of tube traveling due to the pandemic so it would be useful if you can provide me with the latest figures to date starting from the pandemic back in 2020 in the form of excel spreadsheet.
We answered
TfL Ref 0389-2021/22
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 26 May2021 asking for information about London underground station usage figures.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do holdthe information you require.
As part of our coronavirus reporting we have used data from our ticketing system (Oyster and Contactless Payment Card taps) to provide an overall picture of how customers are travelling across our Tube and bus networks. The report is available via a link on https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/coronavirus-publications. However this information starts on the 13 January 2020 due to the availability of data and analysis as part of our response to coronavirus.
Please note that 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.
Additional instructions:
Please select ‘Network demand reports and data’ then select ‘Tube and bus travel demand reports using ticketing data’ and follow the arrows to the ‘Demand by Travel Mode’ page and select ‘Demand by Station Type’, select one or more London Underground stations of your choice from the table on the right. This will produce a graph illustrating the ‘Number of Taps Per Day’ for the chosen location. Additionally, by hovering your mouse along the base of the graph, a pop-up message will feature stating the date and number of daily taps recorded for the selected station. As part of our coronavirus reporting we plan to update this report weekly.
If you are considering submitting a further FOI request please think carefully about whether the request is essential at this current time, as answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. Where requests are made, please note that our response time may be impacted by the current situation.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any 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
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
