Paying for bus tickets with cash has been declining in the capital for some time now, with many commuters opting for cheaper or more convenient ways to make travel payments. As it stands, cash fares make up less than one per cent of all London bus journeys, a figure that is down from 25 per cent in the year 2000. A contributing factor in the consideration of scrapping the payment method altogether, is that the cost of accepting cash on buses is now so high.

Leon Daniels, Managing Director for TfL Surface Transport, said: “It costs £24 million a year to accept cash on buses and with so few customers paying cash it makes sense for us to consider removing it. These savings could be reinvested into further improvements to the capital’s transport network.”

The Oyster Card currently remains the most popular way to pay for travel in London, offering customers the cheapest fare of all. As well as being £1 cheaper than your regular ticket, the card is simply scanned to make payment, eliminating queue time enormously. The new proposal will focus on this point, suggesting that the elimination of cash of buses will make travelling across the city a far quicker process.