Graham J wrote:
I like TfL's idea of discounts for Tube-bus or bus-Tube through
journeys, but it may be difficult to implement. There would have to be a
limit on the time allowed for a bus journey to a Tube station, and a
limit on the time allowed to catch a bus after getting off the Tube.


I don't see that as being too difficult, provided you don't try to be too
clever about it and try too hard to limit it to genuine bus-tube or tube-bus
through journeys. Just make it a general case that any tube ticket bought
within a certain time of any bus ticket attracts a discount, and vice versa,
where that time could be extremely generous (say a couple of hours). There
will be those who are actually making two completely separate journeys, or a
return journey, who also get a bit of a discount but I don't see any problem
there at all. Just means a lot more happier people surely?

Indeed you might not need a time limit at all. If you were just interested
in encouraging peak time bus-tube through journeys then make it a peak-time
incentive. If you want to encourage it all day then make it all day. Don't
worry about how long apart the actual journeys are.

Thinking about it, it would be quite hard to abuse the system anyway - I
imagine the number of return trips where one leg is by Tube and the
other leg is by bus are small - except perhaps for when the return
journey is after the Tube stops.

Even so, if you are TfL, then it would be difficult to explain why you
are offering discounts for any bus journey following a Tube journey in
the same day (or vice versa). The main reason behind this idea has to be
to make life fairer or more convenient for people travelling to areas
not well-served by Tube, but still within a certain journey time of a
Tube station. Therefore it would make sense to introduce a reasonably
long time limit for the interchange (as you said initially), rather than
a blanket all-day discount which doesn't really serve any purpose.

A couple of hours between boarding a bus and entering a Tube station, or
between exiting a Tube station and boarding a bus, should be more than
sufficient - it would allow reasonable flexibility, such as visiting a
shop at the interchange point or meeting a friend en route.

The discount system might also encourage use of the suburban bus network
for those who don't usually take buses, which could have a knock-on
effect in increased bus use even when not related to a Tube trip, as
those people become more comfortable with buses.

Applying a similar "relaxed" logic to bus-bus through journeys isn't
necessarily a bad thing either. You could allow people an hour between
boarding one bus and the subsequent bus; enough time for an interchange,
but also for a quick return journey - but the latter would probably be a
minority of journeys anyway, and might even encourage use of the bus
(increasing profits).

--
Dave Arquati
Imperial College, SW7
www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London