On Mon, 10 May 2004 17:39:05 +0000 (UTC), TheOneKEA
wrote:

Paul Corfield wrote:
Bus and Tramlink Pre Pay will go live from 16 May 2004.
[snip]
Are you able to divulge why it has taken so long to implement? IIRC, the
original estimates for bus and Tramlink activation were much earlier in
2004.

I haven't spoken to anyone on the project team. My *guess* is that the
problems are a combination of :-

a) accounting and reconciliation of cash value taken from the cards
b) reliability of on bus readers / ticket machines (I am still
encountering buses with defective equipment and this really needs to be
sorted out to prevent huge hassle for bus drivers if someone tenders
Oyster Pre Pay and has no other means of payment).
c) operating procedures in case of equipment failure and also rules for
cashless bendy buses (including non bendy back up vehicles)
d) training of bus staff and Ticket Stop agents.
e) changes to bus fare / bus zone / cashless bus ticketing rules / regs.

I may be completely wrong in my guesses above but the testing process
for the bus equipment has taken far, far longer than anyone estimated
(the testing issue was mentioned on the document I saw). The fact that
the equipment is mobile and not on line (unlike LUL / DLR fixed
equipment) seems also to be factor.

However someone on a 38 bus on Saturday happily made a Pre-Pay deduction
from a very mobile conductor and her little hand held reader machine!!
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!