London Underground trip data - entry and exit points
Request ID: FOI-0744-2425 Date published: 01 July 2024
You asked
Hello,
I am conducting research on the relationship between sport and entertainment events and the usage of London Underground transportation. I started using the TFL Network Demand App BI data to observe daily data but I was hoping to obtain granular data for each trip between August 1st 2021 and June 1st 2024. Specifically, I am hoping that you can provide data recording each trip with the entry station and exit station including dates and time stamps.
Data with any personal details such as the card/ticket number will not be included in the analysis and data will be strictly used for the study and protected. Findings from the research will be shared with TFL upon request.
Please reach out with any further questions regarding the request and research.
Thank you,
We answered
Our ref: FOI-0744-2425/GH
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4 June 2024 asking for London Underground trip data.
Your request has been considered under the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and our information access policy.
I can confirm that we do hold the information you require. However, the work required to provide the level of granularity requested would exceed the ‘appropriate limit’ of £450 set by the Freedom of Information (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004.
Under section 12 of the FOI Act, we are not obliged to comply with requests if we estimate that the cost of determining whether we hold the information, locating and retrieving it and extracting it from other information would exceed the appropriate limit. In this instance, we estimate that the time required to answer your request would exceed 18 hours which, at £25 per hour (the rate stipulated by the Regulations), exceeds the ‘appropriate limit’.
Furthermore, we consider that individual trip data, even when pseudonymised, is still personal data and exempt from disclosure in accordance with our obligations under Data Protection legislation and 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 which would make the processing ‘fair’.
I am sorry we are unable to assist you on this occasion. If you are not satisfied with this response please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Graham Hurt
FOI Case Officer FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
