London:
In London there are multiple ways to get around:
Tube:
Zones (#) | Cash single fares | Oyster single fares Peak (off-peak) | 1 day Travelcard / Oyster daily price cap Peak (off-peak ) [railcard ###] |
1 | £4.00 | £1.80 (£1.80) | £7.20 (£5.60) [5.00] |
1-2 | £4.00 | £2.30 (£1.80) | £7.20 (£5.60) [5.00] |
1-3 | £4.00 | £2.70 (£2.40) | £8.60 (£6.30) [5.00] |
1-4 | £4.00 | £3.10 (£2.40) | £10.00 (£6.30) [5.00] |
1-5 | £4.50 | £3.80 (£2.40) | £12.60 (£7.50) [5.00] |
1-6 | £4.50 | £4.20 (£2.40) | £14.80 (£7.50) [5.00] |
1-7 | £5.50 | £4.70 (£3.40) | £16.20 (£9.00) [5.90] |
1-8 | £7.00 | £6.00 (£3.40) | £16.20 (£9.00) [5.90] |
1-9 | £7.00 | £6.00 (£3.40) | £16.20 (£9.00) [5.90] |
Zones (#) | 1 week Travelcard Adult (Student ##) | 1 month Travelcard Adult (Student) | 1 year Travelcard Adult (Student) |
1 | £25.80 (£18.00) | £99.10 (£69.20) | £1032 (£720) |
1-2 | £25.80 (£18.00) | £99.10 (£69.20) | £1032 (£720) |
1-3 | £30.20 (£21.10) | £116.00 (£81.10) | £1208 (£844) |
1-4 | £36.80 (£25.70) | £141.40 (£98.70) | £1472 (£1028) |
1-5 | £44.00 (£30.80) | £169.00 (£118.30) | £1760 (£1232) |
1-6 | £47.60 (£33.30) | £182.80 (£127.90) | £1904 (£1332) |
1-7 | £50.80 (£35.50) | £195.10 (£136.40) | £2032 (£1420) |
1-8 | £59.40 (£41.50) | £228.10 (£159.40) | £2376 (£1660) |
1-9 | £67.70 (£47.30) | £260.00 (£181.70) | £2708 (£1896) |
# Cheaper fares are available if you don't need to travel through zone 1 (the cost depends on the number of zones through which you need to travel), or if you are a child, 16-17 or a senior citizen.
## If you have a Student Oyster Photocard you can buy travelcards for 1 week or longer at a cheaper price. These cost about 30% less than the equivalent adult prices (there are no special student discounts for single or 1-day tickets). Note that these are only available to people over 18 who are studying in London and requires a special card (you cannot get a discount with an ISIC or NUS card). For details of how to apply for a Student Oyster Photocard, see: Travel/Transport/London/Guide.
### If you have a National Rail Railcard (a 16-25 Railcard or a Disabled Persons/HM Forces/Senior Railcard) and you register this Railcard on your Oyster card (by showing it at the ticket office of a Tube station), your Oyster daily off-peak cap is reduced. A 16-25 Railcard can be bought by anyone aged 16-25 or by any full-time student (even if you are aged 26 or over), and this railcard also allows you to get a third off off-peak travel on the UK train system. The daily price cap is not reduced if any of your travel is during peak times.
## If you have a Student Oyster Photocard you can buy travelcards for 1 week or longer at a cheaper price. These cost about 30% less than the equivalent adult prices (there are no special student discounts for single or 1-day tickets). Note that these are only available to people over 18 who are studying in London and requires a special card (you cannot get a discount with an ISIC or NUS card). For details of how to apply for a Student Oyster Photocard, see: Travel/Transport/London/Guide.
### If you have a National Rail Railcard (a 16-25 Railcard or a Disabled Persons/HM Forces/Senior Railcard) and you register this Railcard on your Oyster card (by showing it at the ticket office of a Tube station), your Oyster daily off-peak cap is reduced. A 16-25 Railcard can be bought by anyone aged 16-25 or by any full-time student (even if you are aged 26 or over), and this railcard also allows you to get a third off off-peak travel on the UK train system. The daily price cap is not reduced if any of your travel is during peak times.
Additionally, with an oyster travelcard (any combination of zones) you automatically get free bus rides throughout London, quite useful when you miss the last tube.
The next form of transport is the bus itself, current prices are as follows:
| Bus fares in 2010 | Adult | Student (age 18+) |
| Single journey (on 1 bus or tram) paid using Oyster card (at all times) | £1.20 | - |
| Single journey (on 1 bus or tram) paid by cash | £2.00 | - |
| Oyster daily price cap (if using buses/trams only, paying using Oyster card) | £3.90 | - |
| 7 day bus/tram pass | £16.60 | £11.60 |
| 1 month bus/tram pass | £63.80 | £44.60 |
| 1 year bus/tram pass | £664.00 | £464.00 |
Next is the new cycle hire scheme. , Like most of Boris's good work, it wasn't his idea in the first place at all and on my visits to Paris, Rome,Vienna, Berlin and .most other big European cities I wondered why they all had public bike schemes and London didn't. Therefore, I was glad on the 30th of July when the public cycle hire scheme was finally introduced.
So what is the cost? To use the bicycles you must pay an access fee and a usage fee. Costs are the same whether you are a member or not, although members are allowed to pay an annual fee of £45, which gets them unlimited access for the year.
Access fees are: £1 = 24hours £5 = 1 week and £45 = 1 year
Usage fees Free = up to 30 mins
£1 = up to 1 hour
£4 = up to 1.5 hours
£6 = up to 2 hours
£10 = up to 2.5 hours
£15 = up to 4 hours
£35 = up to 6 hours
£50 = up to 24 hours (maaximum)
Therefore, if you change your cycle at the multitude of docking stations around london, you can ride around for a succession of journeys (all less than 30 mins) for the whole day for just £1.
The only downside of the scheme is that all the docking stations are within greater London, so you can't really cycle all the way home if you live to far out. Additionally, the bikes themselves are a little heavy (not as if they were going for safety considering Boris never wears a helmet himself and all the advertising for the new cycle lanes seem to show the majority of people without them too)
I will be interested to see what the effect is on congestion.
In conclusion the quickest, most efficient (and considering for a travelcard you get free buses too) is the tube. If you live outside greater London I feel the cycle hire scheme is not really worth it, more of a gimmick than a useful way of travelling to and from work. However, if you are a tourist or are just wanting to get around London, particularly exploring some of London's parks, it is a useful tool to have.
