Our ref: FOI-2175-1617
Thank you for your email received on 6 February 2017 asking for information about Oyster.
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 some of the information you require.
a) How much funding has been spent by TfL on the Oyster smart ticketing system - including all costs of contracts, IP, infrastructure, technology, communications, station upgrades, ticketing machines, and staffing/training.
We do not hold this information for Oyster specifically, because Oyster is part of a wider system that delivers other services such as contactless & Magnetic Stripe ticket acceptance. However, the attached analysis from the financial year 2013/14 summarises our expenditure more generally on collecting revenue, and comments on our strategy to bring this cost down over time.
b) Take up of the Oyster smart card i) in absolute numbers ii) as a percentage of total travellers and iii) broken down by types of usage (pay as you go/season tickets etc).
The table below shows this for Bus and Underground. Oyster is also valid on Train Operating Company services in London (including those controlled by Transport for London), but we do not hold all the information we would need to answer the question so usage on these services is not shown.
| Calendar year | Bus and Underground |
| Oyster fare payer journeys (m) | Oyster as % of total fare payer journeys | Oyster PAYG journeys (m) | Oyster Travelcard journeys (m) | Oyster Bus Pass journeys (m) |
| 2004 | 420 | 17% | 31 | 284 | 105 |
| 2005 | 706 | 30% | 103 | 428 | 175 |
| 2006 | 1,400 | 61% | 385 | 735 | 280 |
| 2007 | 1,888 | 76% | 604 | 871 | 413 |
| 2008 | 2,048 | 79% | 749 | 839 | 460 |
| 2009 | 2,097 | 80% | 833 | 760 | 505 |
| 2010 | 2,143 | 83% | 881 | 765 | 496 |
| 2011 | 2,272 | 85% | 934 | 848 | 489 |
| 2012 | 2,357 | 86% | 993 | 887 | 477 |
| 2013 | 2,407 | 87% | 1,000 | 939 | 469 |
| 2014 | 2,466 | 88% | 1,029 | 973 | 464 |
| 2015 | 2,372 | 84% | 995 | 958 | 420 |
| 2016 | 2,129 | 78% | 901 | 872 | 356 |
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 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
