Transport for London (TfL) will return to collecting fares on 85 routes from Saturday 23 May. The measure will be reinstated on single-door buses, New Routemasters and the BYD ADL Enviro200EVs used by Go-Ahead London on services 507 and 521.
In the latter two cases centre door-only boarding will remain in place. Passengers will be required to use Oyster and contactless card touch points located there.
Partial resumption of fare collection is the first step to returning all of London’s buses to being able to accept payments once further safety measures have been put in place to protect drivers, TfL says.
It suspended the requirement to pay a fare on all buses in the capital on 20 April, the same date that it introduced centre door-only boarding (where applicable) after an earlier trial.
The requirement to once again touch in will be extended to more routes over coming weeks. TfL says that collection of fares will allow the gathering of accurate data on passenger numbers. That will help route planning.
Bus service levels in London increased to 85% of normal in the week prior to the reintroduction of fare collection. TfL says it is working to achieve 100% as soon as possible, but its advice remains that social distancing needs mean that capacity is still “hugely reduced.”
TfL is funding enhanced sick pay for bus staff who suffer from coronavirus COVID-19 symptoms or who must self-isolate for up to 14 days. It says that is to ensure those employees do not feel forced to attend work when they should not.
