TfL Ref: 1801-2021

Thank you for your email received by us on 4 December 2020 asking for information about public transportation in London during January to June 2020.

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 hold the information you require. You asked for:
The amount of cards and tickets that were validated per day during this period at some central stations in London. In more detail, it would be useful to have the number of the cards/tickets that passengers validated to enter the station and to exit the station, also the time that each card/ticket was validated. There are no specific stations that I am interested in (although the more data I can be given, the better will work for the project)
The information you asked for is available on our website using the following link: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/coronavirus-publications?cid=coronavirus-publications#on-this-page-0 to our network demand reports and data. This uses Oyster and Contactless payment card taps to provide an overall picture of how customers are travelling across our Tube and bus networks. By following the arrows to the ‘Demand by Travel Mode’ page and clicking on ‘Demand by Station Type’, select the London Underground station of your choice and 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 or region such as those that are City based, for example.

In accordance with the FOI Act, we are not obliged to supply data in relation to the time of travel based on ticketing validations at this time as it is subject to a statutory exemption to the right of access to information under Section 22 of the Act. In this instance the exemption has been applied as this information is intended for future publication.

We will be publishing a full breakdown of London Underground passenger usage for 2020 that is categorised on a quarterly hour basis, as per our normal publishing schedule. This will be available at: http://crowding.data.tfl.gov.uk/.

This exemption is subject to a public interest test, which requires us to assess whether the public interest in applying the exemption outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, it is considered that the public interest favours the publication of this information, in context and according to the pre-determined schedule, rather than in response to your request, to ensure the information is provided accurately and in an accessible manner.
The timetable of these stations during the same period of time.
Changes to services and operational times of stations, as well as those that remain closed can be found via the links below:
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/may/tube-rail-and-bus-services-stepped-up-for-people-who-have-to-use-public-transport
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/may/tfl-announces-plan-to-help-london-travel-safely-and-sustainably
https://tfl.gov.uk/tube-dlr-overground/status/#stations-status

https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/restart?intcmp=62808#on-this-page-3

https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/underground-services-performance
Was the number of the public transport's drivers affected by the pandemic? (Were some of the drivers infected with the virus so they couldn't attend work? Was there a decrease in the number of drivers needed to work, because of a reduction at the frequency of the itineraries? etc)
Please see the following link for further information on the various reports available at: https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/coronavirus-publications#on-this-page-1
How many passengers were allowed per square meter inside the means of transport during the lockdown? Which were the guidelines that were applied in the framework of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak?
We have published a number of documents that respond to the Government's requirements in response to coronavirus. They include change assurance plans and risk assessments covering operations in Transport for London's London Underground and Surface Transport areas. Details of travelling guidance for passengers are also covered below:
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/publications-and-reports/coronavirus-publications?intcmp=63157#on-this-page-2 .
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/march/london-s-transport-commissioner-mike-brown-on-our-response-to-coronavirus
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/april/tfl-trials-safer-boarding-on-london-s-buses
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/may/london-s-buses-to-return-to-front-door-boarding
https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/june/tfl-reminds-londoners-of-need-for-face-coverings-from-monday-15-june
https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/buses/bus-changes
Was the revenue of the operation affected by the pandemic?
Please see the following press releases explaining further:

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/march/tfl-update-on-financial-impact-of-coronavirus

https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2020/may/government-support-package-to-help-deal-with-financial-impact-of-covid-19

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.

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.

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 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