Let’s say you forget to tap your card on the way out of a train station. You might get charged a “maximum fare” of around £8. That’s the penalty for absentmindedness. But on a bus, you only tap once. There is no “way out” tap. This means you can never incur a penalty on the bus. It’s the safest place for your wallet in all of London, except for the actual pickpockets who might be sitting next to you.
And finally, a shocking statistic: London buses carry over 6 million passengers every working day. That is more than the entire population of Denmark. Imagine Denmark all rushing to sit in the back seat of a giant red metal box. The price for your ticket? £1.75. That’s less than a Danish pastry in Copenhagen. So next time you tap that card and hear the cheerful “beep,” remember: you are getting a miracle of engineering, economics, and sheer British stubbornness for less than the cost of a mediocre baguette.
