On Dec 11, 2:09*pm, MIG wrote:
In any case, TfL could easily ensure that Oyster cards were available
for gbp10 with gbp7 credit and gbp20 with gbp17 credit from vending
machines at all airports, mainline terminals and major Tube stations -
and from behind the counter at hotels, ticket stops, etc, packaged
with a 10-language leaflet on how to top them up. That'd be pretty
straightforward for everyone.

(and very few people would bother getting a refund, which is a bonus
from Londoners' perspective.)

That would mean doing something helpful that takes into account
people's circumstances.

That is not the general approach to the introduction of Oyster so far,
so why should it suddenly change?

Yes it is. See: pioneering daily capping; giving people two years to
get used to touching in and out before imposing penalties; ensuring
that top-up machines were fitted in all stations before abolishing
paper seasons; etc.

I know that you've got an irrational phobia of Oyster, but suggesting
that it's made life more rather than less difficult for people, and
has failed to take into account people's circumstances, is simply
false - and TfL has demonstrably offset

Hell, look at the NR roll-out: it's now clear that the vast majority
of NR stations inside the zones will have Oyster top-ups enabled by
January (against the sneering from here 'oooh, you'll have to get a
permit at a Tube station because NR doesn't do Oyster', etc ad
nauseam).

"TfL could easily" have done a number of things that took into account
reality over the the last few years, but they refused.

The only things TfL could've done to make Oyster more useable would've
required the permission of the TOCs, and with DfT refusing to wield
big sticks at them TfL's hands were tied. OEPs are a massive,
ridiculous pain in the arse, as is the fact that new PAYG lines will
be on rail rather than standard Tube payscales. TfL spent years trying
to ensure that they weren't, but ultimately couldn't.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org