From 6 July You Won't Be Able To Pay For Your Bus Journey In London With Cash

    We have truly entered the contactless world.

    Richard James
    by Richard James

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    From Sunday July 6, London buses will no longer accept cash as payment for fares.

    (Photo: Dan Kitwood / Getty)

    The only way to pay for a bus journey in the capital will be using an Oyster card, paper ticket or contactless debit card.

    (Photo: Peter Macdiarmid / Getty)

    Transport for London (TfL) said the decision to move to cash-free bus travel follows a considerable drop in the number of people paying their bus fare in cash.

    According to TfL, in 2000 around 25% of bus journeys were paid for with cash, today that figure stands at around one per cent and is expected to fall even further.

    The change raises questions over how tourists visiting London will cope.

    (Photo: Darrin Zammit Lupi / Reuters)

    However, TfL claims it won’t be a problem as “the vast majority use Oyster or a prepaid ticket to get around the capital”.

    As well as the no cash policy on buses, a number of other initiatives are “well under way”.

    valeriocarosi/valeriocarosi

    They include a “one more journey” feature on Oyster cards which will allow passengers who don’t have enough money on their card but have a positive balance to make one more bus journey regardless.

    As Londoners and visitors change the way they pay for goods and services in the capital I am proud that we at the forefront of that change. Customers will not only benefit from a quicker, cheaper and more convenient method of paying their bus fare; it will also enable us to save millions of pounds each year - which will be reinvested in further improvements to the capital's transport network.