Request ID: FOI-0580-2425 Date published: 13 June 2024
You asked
Thank you for your Freedom of Information response, (your Ref: FOI-3741-2324) to my request in which you concisely replied -
“We are not currently looking at dynamic fare pricing.”
In December, the Standard featured an article:-
TfL considers Taylor Swift-style 'dynamic pricing' for Tube journeys. Website details -
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/transport/tube-underground-cost-fare-london-tfl-transport-dynamic-pricing-taylor-swift-b1128002.html
Excerpts are reproduced below. Please copy me all releasable research you have carried out to date (in 2023 and 2024) and advise (with objectives, completion date) which projects on this topic are currently live or proposed within the current financial year.
This is a Request under the Freedom of Information Act and Environmental Information Regulations (EIR), please acknowledge and advise if you are raising a new FOI reference number.
Transport for London is considering whether to introduce Taylor Swift-style “dynamic pricing” to get more people travelling by Tube.
TfL chiefs and Sadiq Khan’s top transport advisor were asked whether dynamic pricing, when prices fall or rise with demand, could be used to address changing commuter travel patterns resulting from hybrid or home working during and since the pandemic.
Seb Dance, Mr Khan’s deputy mayor for transport, was asked by Lib-Dem Caroline Pidgeon at a London Assembly meeting on Tuesday whether TfL might introduce “more differentiation between types of services”, such as “dynamic fare pricing”, when the annual fares review happen next March.
Mr Dance replied: “It’s a decision for the mayor but it’s also on the advice of TfL as well, as well as my own [advice].
“In terms of dynamic fare pricing, there are many different variations of what that looks like, and TfL has indeed been tasked with looking at various options.”
Pressed by Ms Pidgeon on the feasibility of “surge” pricing to address Londoners’ changing travel patterns, Mr Dance continued: “I can assure you that a whole range of options are being looked at.
TfL commissioner Andy Lord said TfL was examining the use of dynamic pricing by other world cities – but warned that the Oyster and Contactless ticketing system was getting dated and may not have the capacity or be flexible enough – without an upgrade - to cope with surge ticking.
But he added: “We are watching closely where some cities and some transport networks have made some changes to their pricing policy and fares policy, to see what impact it’s having.
I look forward to hearing from you on this issue.
We answered
Our Ref: FOI-0580-2425
Thank you for your request received on 19 May 2024 asking for information about research into dynamic pricing on the London Underground.
Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act and our information access policy.
We do not hold the information you have requested. We have recently completed a trial of off-peak fares all day on Fridays. Now that the trial has concluded we will undertake a review of its impact before undertaking any further work on dynamic pricing options.
No world city has trialled dynamic pricing at present. We are aware that Transport Scotland has just published some interim findings of the trial of removing peak fares on rail services in Scotland, but that is the extent of the information that is currently available.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Gemma Jacob Senior FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
