Pro tip: If you’re using a contactless card, check your online account later. You’ll see a single charge of £1.75 per bus journey, never more. Unless you accidentally tap off—then you’ll see a weird duplicate entry that corrects itself within 24 hours.
Why do people still think they need to tap off? Blame the Tube’s influence. Londoners are so conditioned to tap in and out for trains that the bus feels incomplete without an exit ritual. I’ve seen tourists frantically patting pockets at the back door, trying to find a reader that doesn’t exist.
Spoiler: there is no reader at the back of a London bus. The tap-on point is only by the driver. On newer Routemasters (the ones with three doors), there are readers at every entrance—but again, you only tap when you board, not when you leave.
First Bus, Ticketer and Littlepay Changing Transit Payments
Here’s a quick sanity check: if you ever see a passenger tap a card on the handrail near the exit, they’re probably just adjusting their headphones or fighting a ghost. It’s not a secret tap-off ritual. Ignore them.
