It's been two years since the Mayor of London first introduced his Hopper fare — allowing passengers to switch buses without being charged extra, so long as they make the switch within an hour of starting their journey. But, 220 million Hopper journeys later, where have people been making the most hops?
Thanks to brand new data from TfL and the Mayor of London, we can reveal that Bus Stop P, outside Brixton Station claims the title of hottest hop stop, with an average of 7800 Hopper journeys per week. Right behind Brixton, Elephant & Castle occupies both second and third place, with 7750 and 7400 hopper journeys made from their London Road and Underground station stops, respectively. You can check out the rest of the top twenty (and maybe get some inspiration for your next budget-friendly journey) using our interactive map:
The Hopper fare was introduced back in September 2016, sparking fierce competition between transport fanatics to see how far they could get on £1.50 (one Redditor suggested a 35 mile journey from the Royal Albert Hall to Croydon).
At the time, travellers were only permitted to make one change per hour but as of January 2018, you're now entitled to hop to your heart's content — so long as you continue to complete your journey within 60 minutes of first tapping in. So it's perfect for anyone with a chronic inability to follow directions looking to save some pennies. Or if you're like us, and want to see how many buses you can ride in one hour:
Along with the all the Hopper fare info, the Mayor also teased that another initiative to help passengers travel further for less will be introduced very soon. He confirmed today that TfL is in the final testing stages for in Monday to Friday weekly capping for Oyster users. This means anyone tapping in on a week day will have their weekly travel capped at the cost of an equivalent 7-day Travelcard. It is hoped that the upgrade will go live by the end of the year.
