Sadiq Khan is considering surge pricing on midweek Tube travel to make up lost revenue following the rise in working from home.
The Mayor of London has confirmed so-called dynamic pricing, where prices rise and fall in line with demand, is being considered by Transport for London (TfL) to boost the operator’s recovery from the pandemic.
It comes as another round of fare rises are set to be announced by City Hall before March, on top of a 5.9 per cent increase last year.
Mr Khan told London Assembly Budget and Performance Committee members on Wednesday he had “held meetings” with TfL chiefs about introducing peak fare prices that could go beyond hiked prices during the morning and evening rush hours.
He said that pay-as-you-go travel enabled TfL to “play around” with daily caps on how much passengers are charged to use the city’s transport.
Asked if he was going to bring in dynamic pricing as soon as this year, the Mayor said it was among “some of the options” TfL was looking at, but that he had “not made a decision.”
Surge pricing could see the cost of travel rising on select days throughout the week.
Peak pricing on London’s transport is already in place at the busiest times of the day, with fares on the Tube going up 10pc in Zone One during rush hour.
Seb Dance, Mr Khan’s deputy mayor for transport, previously told the same committee in December that a “whole range of options are being looked at” to address Londoners’ changing travel patterns.
He added: “In terms of dynamic fare pricing, there are many different variations of what that looks like, and TfL has indeed been tasked with looking at various options.”
Since the pandemic workers have increasingly opted for only three days-a-week in the office, causing TfL revenues to dip on Mondays and Fridays.
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