TfL Day Travelcard: Mayor ‘strongly’ encouraged to keep scheme by disabled-led transport group

A disabled-led transport campaign group said it “very strongly” recommends London’s Day Travelcard remains, as Sadiq Khan weighs up whether to remove the scheme in a bid to increase revenues.

A public consultation on whether to scrap the Day Travelcard, which enables customers to group together unlimited travel across London’s various transport options, was held earlier this year.

In accompanying documents, Transport for London (TfL) said the proposal is being considered as the authority is required by government to generate between £0.5-£1 billion a year of additional revenue from 2023, with the removal of the scheme identified as one way to boost its income.

While it had decided not to withdraw all Travelcard options, the potential to scrap the Day Travelcard, which is largely used by people living outside London travelling into the capital, was progressed.

At a London Assembly transport committee meeting yesterday (July 13), Green Assembly Member (AM) Siân Berry asked what the impact would be if the Day Travelcard is to be removed.

Alex Smith, head of campaigns at London TravelWatch, confirmed the group has responded to the consultation and raised its concerns with TfL.

She said: “We are particularly concerned it will have the most impact on lower income Londoners and those travelling in from outside of London.”

She added this would include not just the digitally excluded, but also families, due to the scheme making it easy to buy multiple tickets and integrate journeys across the capital.

Madeleine Stewart, policy and public affairs lead at Transport for All, said the group has also been in contact with TfL and responded to the consultation, and that they “very strongly encourage that the Day Travelcard remains in place”.

“In general, travelcards are easier and simpler for a lot of people to use. Wheelchair users, for example, you can show a staff member at the barrier [your ticket]…without that, if you’re using pay-as-you-go or you’re tapping an Oyster [card], you have to get very, very close.”

Ms Stewart added for those travelling in from outside of London, it is easy to link the travelcard with a disabled person’s railcard. While this can also be done with an Oyster card, this is not always known by those who do not live in the capital.

She said Transport for All had heard from groups including learning disabled people who prefer to use cash, as it enables them to monitor how much they are spending, and allows for an easier transaction than using their card to tap in and out.

“Also, the tap-out infrastructure is really confusing and inaccessible for some people. They’re not always visible, the colour-contrast of the tap-out readers where there’s no barriers is often essentially the same as the surrounding infrastructure.”

“There are many, many reasons why we would encourage the maintenance of the Day Travelcard,” she said.

Seb Dance, deputy mayor for transport, told the chamber he “appreciates the concerns that everybody has raised”, though added TfL is required to come up with new revenue sources, with the Day Travelcard primarily used by people outside of London.

A decision is due to be made by the mayor on whether to remove the scheme, with TfL saying via its consultation website it is currently “considering the feedback” received.