Penalty fares issued on Routemaster bus routes
Request ID: FOI-3738-1920
Date published: 25 March 2020
You asked
1) Please can you tell me how many penalty fares were issued by TfL ticket inspectors on all Routemaster bus routes in total in the financial years:
a. 2015-16
b. 2016-17
c. 2017-18
d. 2018-19
e. 2019-20 to date
2) Please can you tell me how much money was collected from penalty fares issued by TfL ticket inspectors on all Routemaster bus routes in total in each of the financial years:
a. 2015-16
b. 2016-17
c. 2017-18
d. 2018-19
e. 2019-20 to date
3) Please can you tell me how many penalty fares were issued by TfL ticket inspectors on all non-Routemaster bus routes in total in the financial years:
a. 2015-16
b. 2016-17
c. 2017-18
d. 2018-19
e. 2019-20 to date
4) Please can you tell me how much money was collected from penalty fares issued by TfL ticket inspectors on all non-Routemaster bus routes in total in each of the financial years:
a. 2015-16
b. 2016-17
c. 2017-18
d. 2018-19
e. 2019-20 to date
We answered
TfL Ref: 3738-1920
Thank you for your request received by Transport for London (TfL) on 4 March 2020 asking for information about the number of Penalty Fare Notices (PFNs) issued and the amount of money collected in respect of these PFNs issued on both Routemaster and non Routemaster buses / bus routes for financial years 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19 and for 2019-20 to date.
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.
Unfortunately, to provide the information you have 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 a request 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. This is calculated at £25 per hour for every hour spent on the activities described.
We have estimated that it would significantly exceed the cost limit to provide a response to your request. This is because in order to extract and collate the information you have requested, we would have to run 185 separate reports which we estimate would take 15 minutes to do for each report. This task would in itself take more than 46 hours to complete.
However in addition, prior to running these reports, we would have to identify the exact date(s) that each bus route began as Routemasters and calculate what percentage of Routemasters as opposed to the usual buses were being used on each of these routes, bearing in mind that some of the bus routes were and still are running mixed services. Some of this information would have to be gathered from individual bus operators.
Further, with regard to the value of the Penalty Fare Notices paid by passengers, we would need to look at each individual PFN to establish if it was in issued and the penalty subsequently collected on a Routemaster or a non- Routemaster bus / route.
Although your request can take the form of a question, rather than a request for specific documents, we do not have to answer your question if it would require the creation of new information or the provision of a judgement, explanation, advice or opinion that was not already recorded at the time of your request.
Please note the Government has announced a series of measures to tackle the Coronavirus. It is essential for London, and in particular for all critical workers, that we continue to provide a safe transport network that enables them to make the journeys they need to.
In current circumstances, we are not able to answer FOI requests readily and we ask that you please do not make a request to us at present.
Answering FOI requests will require the use of limited resources and the attention of staff who could be supporting other essential activity. In any event, please note that our response time will be affected by the current situation.
In the meantime, if you have any queries or would like to discuss your request, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Please see the attached information sheet for details of your right to appeal.
Yours sincerely
Sara Thomas
FOI Case Management Team
General Counsel
Transport for London
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