Transport for London (TfL) has revealed 40% of people are using their contactless payment cards to travel on buses, the tube and London Overground network, rather than loading credit onto pay as you go Oyster Cards, up from a quarter of all journeys in 2016.
A billion journeys have been paid for using contact payment cards on Oyster Card readers since the alternative payment option was introduced in 2012 on buses and in 2014 on the tube and London Overground.
"I'm delighted that we've hit one billion contactless journeys in London," London's Mayor Sadiq Khan said. "The dramatic increase in the use of contactless over the last year shows the real progress we've made making journeys easier and more convenient for busy Londoners and also visitors to our city.
"London continues to lead the way in terms of contactless payment around the world, and the money we make selling TfL's innovation and expertise to other major global cities will allow us to put further money into improving London's own transport network."
TfL added that on average, two million journeys are made using contactless payment cards rather that Oyster Cards every day and one in ten are made using contactless payment technology on mobile devices.
"Contactless payments have completely transformed the way people pay for travel in London and it's great to see more than 1 billion journeys now made across the Capital's transport network," Shashi Verma, chief technology officer at Transport for London, said.
"Our contactless technology is now making it easier for people to travel around the city, whether it's for work, leisure or to visit friends and family. We're committed to continue developing and expanding the system where we can to make it even more convenient for anyone visiting London."
The next stage of London's contactless payment travel system is to introduce contactless payment options on the Elizabeth Line which is due to launch in east London by December 2019.
