Loss of revenue on use of Freedom Pass 60+ pre 9am
Request ID: FOI-2691-2223 Date published: 14 February 2023
You asked
Loss of revenue on use of Freedom Pass 60+ pre 9am
In June 2020 the Mayor of London imposed a temporary ban on the use of Freedom Pass 60+ for capacity reasons.
Last week he announced that this ban would now be permanent for financial reasons. (Obviously, capacity restrictions have been irrelevant for some time.)
I requested how much revenue income had been lost in each of the three years prior to June 2020, i.e. how much would be saved.
I have received a reply that the Mayor's office does not hold this information (strangely, it would seem that the Mayor took this decision without any indication as to the income which was being lost) and to submit this request to you.
I look forward to receiving your advices.
We answered
TfL Ref: 2691-2223
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 23 January 2023 asking for information about the revenue lost by the use of Freedom Pass 60+ pre 9am for the three years prior to June 2020. Your request has been considered in accordance with the requirements of the Freedom of Information Act Regulations and our information access policy. I can confirm that we hold some of the information you require. You asked: In June 2020 the Mayor of London imposed a temporary ban on the use of Freedom Pass 60+ for capacity reasons. Last week he announced that this ban would now be permanent for financial reasons. (Obviously, capacity restrictions have been irrelevant for some time.) I requested how much revenue income had been lost in each of the three years prior to June 2020, i.e. how much would be saved.
We don’t hold the specific information you have requested – we don’t calculate this figure for each year as we primarily provide estimates of revenue foregone on an ad hoc basis to inform decision making relating to changes to policy, so do not have a time series. We can however advise that the approximate revenue foregone based on pre-pandemic demand was c.£40m per year, as is set out in the Mayoral Decision papers which are available at the following link, specifically under the heading ‘Financial comments’: https://www.london.gov.uk/md3014-proposed-permanent-changes-free-travel-arrangements-older-londoners.
If this is not the information you are looking for, or if you are unable to access it for any reason, please do not hesitate to contact me.
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
Sara Thomas FOI Case Management Team General Counsel Transport for London
