More than 10 million journeys have been made using the Mayor's new bus ‘Hopper’ fare, Transport for London (TfL) has confirmed.

The new fare enables passengers to take a £1.50 bus or tram journey and then change onto another bus or tram for free within one hour of touching in at the start of their journey.

It is automatically given to anyone who uses pay as you go with a contactless bank payment or Oyster card. The ‘Hopper’ is of particular benefit to Londoners on lower incomes who rely on the bus service to get around.

The 10 millionth ‘Hopper’ journey was made at 4pm on Wednesday afternoon on bus route 332 - which runs from the Tesco in Brent Park to behind Paddington Station.

The most popular bus to ‘Hop’ onto is the Route 18, which runs from Sudbury & Harrow Road station to Euston Station via Kensal Green. 

Around 200,000 journeys also involved the London Tram network in south London, with 80,000 switching from a bus to a tram and 65,000 changing from a tram to a bus.

Other popular routes for passengers using the ‘Hopper’ fare include:

• The 279 from Waltham Cross Bus Station to Manor House Underground station
• The 53 from Orchard Road in Plumstead to Horse Guards Parade in Westminster
• The 207, from the Hayes By-Pass near Southall to White City Bus Station in Shepherds Bush.
• The most popular bus stop to ‘hop’ at is Brent Cross Shopping Centre, where more than 20,000 ‘hops’ have taken place

Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan: “I’m delighted that the ‘Hopper’ fare is making such a big difference to the lives of Londoners. We must ensure that everyone can afford to travel around our city, particularly people who rely on public transport to get to work or to study.

“10 million journeys so far exceeds all my expectations, and the amount of people using the ‘Hopper’ shows how vital our buses are to the lives of Londoners all across our city.

“Alongside our commitment to freeze all TfL fares, our ‘Hopper’ fare is a crucial part of our plans to make it more affordable to live and work in London.”

Shashi Verma, Chief Technology Officer at TfL, said: “The ‘Hopper’ fare is helping Londoners across the city save money while and encouraging further use of buses and trams.  We will continue to work tirelessly to make it easy for people to use our services with simple ticketing and the latest real-time travel information. I encourage our customers to use contactless bank cards and Oyster cards with their automatic fare capping, which could save money on paper tickets."

TfL is now working on delivering unlimited bus and tram transfers within one hour, which is not currently possible due to limits with the existing technology. Plans are for TfL to deliver unlimited bus and tram journeys in an hour from 2018.

In addition to this, from 2018, passengers who travel on a Tube or train between their two or more bus or tram journeys will also be eligible for the ‘Hopper’ fare.

The ‘Hopper’ fare will further encourage people across London to switch from their cars back to public transport – helping reduce congestion and harmful pollution.

For more information about TfL fares, or to register your contactless bank card or Oyster card so that you can see your journey history and claim refunds, please visit www.tfl.gov.uk/fares

Lianna Etkind from Campaign for Better Transport said: “It is great that the Hopper fare is making travel by public transport more affordable and encouraging more Londoners to use the bus to get around the city.

“London roads are already at bursting point so we need to see more people on the bus and out of their car, which not only helps with congestion but with the already dangerous levels of pollution in London.”