That's not how any metro transport works. The Tube is manic at peak times, because...peak. But everyone mostly pays a flat rate for using the whole system each week (within the zones they travel to at least). This is a solved problem.
Those arriving at Euston in the peak and getting on the Victoria line to Oxford Circus may choose to save £4 return and walk for half an hour instead of taking 15 minutes on the tube.
If they didn't have the saving they may simply add to the crush
I was wondering how widespread travel cards are, since I never bought one personally. If you don't travel much on the weekends you end up paying more.
In 2017 TfL sold weekly, monthly, and annual travel cards covering year-round flat-rate travel for ~0.8m people. Travel card journeys account for about 39% of all journeys.
Maybe it was more common in the past, since travel card journeys dropped around 10% a year from 2015-2017.
https://tfl.gov.uk/corporate/transparency/freedom-of-informa...
Either strategy would increase peak supply by 20%.
Too often, citizens jump to “we need more subways” without exploiting the low-hanging fruit.