London Banter - View Single Post - Oyster: still an unreliable rip-off

Aurora

On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 18:47:07 GMT, d wrote:

On Thu, 24 Apr 2014 01:14:58 +0100
Paul Corfield wrote:
On Wed, 23 Apr 2014 19:35:10 GMT, d wrote:

On Wed, 23 Apr 2014 18:15:39 +0100
Paul Corfield wrote:
I am amazed that ordinary punters manage to miss those headlines. I
agree it would not be usual fare for tourists to see that info but
then again I've no idea what rip offs there are with the Navigo
smartcard in Paris or Miki in Melbourne.

Most cities don't have to worry about all this nonsense in the first place.
They charge flat fares - problem solved.

And yes it *could* be done in London - its done in new york and moscow, both
of which are larger systems than the underground.

I deliberately ruled out a flat fare as I knew you'd be along to
propose it. :-)

Naturally Because it makes sense.

The government and Mayor are forcing TfL to make their rail services
all run at an operating profit and make surpluses to fund some of
their investment funding. New York's transit funding is notoriously
bad and unpredictable and looking at their current budget there is a
massive operating loss of nearly $6bn just on the Subway and Staten

This time Boltar, I am absolutely with you. Much as I would like to
see TfL replaced with a smarter, more humane, customer focused
organization, starving the Underground, buses et al of funds is no
solution.

Transportation (cue the parish language police) systems are enablers
of other activities. Nowhere is this truer than with urban transit
systems. An affordable transit network is a major boost to the
economy.

You see there you , the usual railway operating at a loss statistic. No one
ever accuses roads of running at a loss - how much money has the M1 made for
itself since it was built? Not a penny. Its the profits made by companies
using the infrastructure that matters, not profits made by the infrastructure
itself. That $6bn pales into insignificance compared to the money that Wall
Street makes every week thanks to employees getting their by subway. And its
the same story in london.

It pales in significance when compared the benefits of enabling
working people to reach decent jobs by safe and affordable means.

September 1, this penny pinching madness will affect the rest of the
UK. Network Rail will no longer be able to borrow against its assets
like a private business. It will be subject to the availability of
funds from HM Treasury. The chancellor will have to balance railway
infrastructure improvements against funds for hospitals and schools.

We have enjoyed a period of continual improvement. Capacity has been
increased with improved junctions and enlarged facilities.

Reading may be the last hurrah. It is back to Penney pinching
decline. Single lead junctions anyone?

--

http://www.991fmtalk.com/ The DMZ in Reno