"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
In message , at 21:39:44 on Fri, 20 Jan
2012, " remarked:

Why can't they just introduce one single smart card for the area, the way
they have in London? And there is compatibility between different
operating agencies as Oystercards are accepted not only on TfL modes of
transport, but also on National Rail in Greater London.

That's easier if there are a finite number of players (eg TfL and half a
dozen "Network Southeast area" National Rail companies). Scaling it to
numerous authorities operating independent bridges could be a problem.
Imagine a different operator was charging tolls for every road bridge from
Tower Bridge to Windsor.

Oyster was originally going to be able to be used for other low value
purchases, such as newspapers and cups of coffee, in the way that Octopus is
used in Hong Kong, but this idea fell foul of banking regulation.

Peter