Our Ref:         FOI-1424-2021

Thank you for your request received on 26 October 2020 asking for information about staff taxis.

Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act and our information access policy. I can confirm we do hold the information you require.
 
Scheduled taxi services (which run on pre-determined routes at key locations) provide transport to London Underground staff to and from their place of work outside of Tube operating hours, which are in the early hours of the morning, when there is a significantly reduced transport system. The fewest possible journeys are used for up to five staff members using each cab, with multiple pick-ups and drop-offs wherever possible. The recent social distancing measures have however meant that taxis have had to be single occupancy.
 
This arrangement means that critical operational staff can get to key locations such as depots, stations and control centres for the start of service minimising the risk of trains being cancelled or delayed, or stations not opening on time, which would lead to significant disruption for Transport for London passengers. The average cost of these journeys is around £43.
 
The staff taxi costs for the current financial year (up to September) is £2.8m. Information on the cost for previous years is available on our website:

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-information/foi-request-detail?referenceId=FOI-0899-2021

If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for some reason, please feel free to contact me.
 
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.
 
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

[email protected]