TfL is proposing to entirely remove the option of paying for bus fares by cash in 2014.

There's already a hefty price differential to encourage the use of Oyster cards or contactless card payments, and so now cash is just 1% of journeys, apparently.

They claim they could save £24m a year by going cashless and that they would reinvest that money in the transport network. I'm personally unconvinced by that figure and by the pledge but I'm no expert.

Personally, I worry about the removal of cash as a "payment of last resort". They are suggesting they might allow people to make "one more journey" if there is insufficient credit on their Oyster card, but I can imagine all kinds of situations where that wouldn't be an adequate alternative (eg, wallet lost/stolen, so no payment card or Oyster card).

They are doing a "consultation" - you can take part by clicking here: https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/cashless