My local bus in Bucks still has no reader and the driver issues zero fare tickets.

Around here (Portsmouth), the two major bus companies have had ITSO-readers for about a year, but both operate differently. On Stagecoach, the card is placed on top of the machine, and beeps to confirm validity. No paper ticket/receipt is issued. However, with First, the card is offered to a reader on one side of the reciept, and if the card is valid, a zero-fare ticket pops out.

Both systems *should* require no interaction from the driver if the card is valid on that service at that time.