In message , at 20:32:09 on
Wed, 14 Mar 2012, Richard remarked:

I have traveled on railway systems all across Europe using smart
cards and none compare to the sheer complexity and complication
to the Oyster card in London.

And none that I have used yet allow the flexibility of not buying your
ticket up-front. Some would, but have a flat fare on and across all
modes that we'll never have here.

Amsterdam has zones and a card very like Oyster.

You just touch in and touch out.

If only it was that simple!

I think it is *almost* that simple, but in the few places where it is
easy to get caught out, better signage or barriers could be required.
The page on the TfL site that explains when, where and what to touch
is long enough to demonstrate the number of special cases, and has a
whole paragraph for Wimbledon.

http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14870.aspx

I had not seen any mention before of not using yellow validators you
encounter en-route.

"If you don't need to change trains, don't touch any other
yellow card readers during your journey. If you do, you may be
charged for two separate journeys."

Bizarre, isn't it! If you aren't changing trains, why get off, touch,
then get on again? And even if you do why can't they aggregate the
journeys?

Although if you are disinterested in what you've been charged, it's
possible to use it like that.

If you touch in and out correctly, as you know you can't pay more than
a one-day Travelcard.

A peak one, yes; but there are issues to do with time of day, using peak
buses then off-peak trains... and all of this assumes your touches are
100% perfect.

I don't see how it can be both flexible and
obvious what you're paying until you get to that amount. Maybe
machines dedicated to showing just these details, inside the paid
area?

I've often said that they should have kiosks where you can display the
"charge so far", and maybe do some "what if" sums regarding later legs.

--
Roland Perry