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On 18/09/2012 10:44, Graham Harrison wrote:

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On 16/09/2012 23:56, Neil Williams wrote:
Ken Wheatley wrote:

I remember when many London buses had a ticket machine inside the
right-hand leaf of the entrance door, so those with the right money
could
bypass the queue for the driver. The really slow ones were the worst
at
having a go at 'queue jumpers".

It would to me make sense to have an Oyster pad there. Hamburg is
slightly
similar - driver side leaf for paying cash, other side for getting past
while people pay cash (you don't have to show your ticket). It is
extremely efficient, and as London has disabled access at the rear
door the
centre rail could be reinstated to help "marshall" it.

Neil


I have wondered if they would install automatic fare counters on
busses, rather than having the driver count them.

A passenger would simply the deposit coins into a chute, after which a
ticket would be issued.

The counter would be mounted on the interior of the driver's door and
the receptacle would be where passengers now place their coins when
paying for a single fare.

Exact fare only -- no change, no banknotes. Just think of how much
extra revenue would come in from people overpaying their fares.

Or would it just be too much cost in time, labour and maintenance when
so few people pay for single fares?

Ahh, the American model!

The American model in what sense, by having a farebox? They already have
similar things here in the UK, though not in London.

When I first visited San Francisco their PCCs had a glass box on a metal
stand. You put your money in a slot at the top of the glass box so the
driver could see what you'd paid and if it was correct (or more) he pushed a
lever which opened the base of the glass box and allowed the cash to drop
into the metal stand. Later they replaced the glass box with a coin
sorter; you still put your money in the slot at the top, the sorter made a
few clinking noises and if it was the right amount a little bell sounded.
It worked because they had a flat fare system (not even any zones). I
subsequently came across the same system in other American cities. Just as
you described, coin sorter (no note accepter) and if you overpaid, tough.
This was the very early 70s.

I was intrigued by a system I came across several times in Japan a couple of
years ago. You board the bus at the rear and take a ticket which has a
number on it representing where you boarded. At the front of the bus was
an electronic indicator which showed all the boarding point numbers and the
current fare from each boarding point. In the case where I came across it
I had bought my ticket in a vending machine at the start of the route so I
simply gave the driver that ticket and he was quite happy and I took no real
notice of how the fare was collected but the system of the number and fare
indicator intrigued me (I'm NOT suggesting we adopt it).