Cash free buses
Ways to pay
There are different ways to pay for your bus fare:
- A contactless payment card to pay as you go
- An Oyster card with pay as you go credit, Travelcard or Bus & Tram Pass
- A Visitor Oyster card
- A Day Travelcard or a One day Bus & Tram Pass
A pay as you go adult fare is £1.50 with a contactless payment, Oyster, or Visitor Oyster card. If you make another bus or tram journey within an hour of touching in on a bus or tram, your second journey will be free.
UK issued contactless payment cards are accepted, just look out for the contactless symbol. If you're visiting London from overseas then you will need to check if your card will be accepted first.
One more bus journey to get you home
If you don't have enough credit on your Oyster card to pay the £1.50 fare or your Bus & Tram Pass or Travelcard has just expired, you can make one more journey on a bus. You must then top up your pay as you go credit to clear the negative balance before you can use your Oyster card again or before you can renew a Travelcard or Bus & Tram Pass.
Where to get or top up your Oyster card
- Oyster online
- Oyster Ticket Stops
- Tube, London Overground and TfL Rail stations
- DLR stations (top up only at most stations)
- Visitor Centres
- Some National Rail stations in London
- TfL Customer Services on 0343 222 1234*
Auto top-up on Oyster
Auto top-up makes sure you never run out of pay as you go credit by automatically topping up your Oyster card with money from your credit or debit card, whenever your pay as you go balance falls below £10.
Your Oyster card is automatically topped up when you touch it on a yellow card reader at the start of a journey on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, TfL Rail, Emirates Air Line, Thames Clipper River Bus or National Rail services in London.
Set up Auto top-up on an existing Oyster card, or order a new Oyster card online with pay as you go credit included and choose to add Auto top-up.
If you set up Auto top-up on an existing card, you must activate it by making a journey from a station, tram stop, Emirates Air Line terminal or River pier. You will not be able to activate Auto top-up by making a journey on a bus.
Don't forget you can also top up your Oyster card at Oyster Ticket Stops in participating newsagents and shops, or at stations.
Watch out for card clash
Card clash happens when a yellow card reader detects two or more Oyster, contactless payment or other smartcards at the same time. This could lead to you getting a red light meaning you haven't paid for your journey. On buses, where contactless payment cards are accepted, your fare could be charged to a card that you did not intend to pay with.
To avoid card clash, keep your Oyster and contactless payment cards separate and only touch the card you wish to use on the reader.
*Service and network charges may apply. Find out about TfL call charges for details.
