In article , Solar Penguin
writes
When zone-based fares are used, it's always possible to find
anomalies.
Yes, it's "always possible". Always possible, because zone based
systems *always* go against common sense.

Rubbish. They're simple and easy to understand.

Then you'd need some kind of honeycomb
zoning system, like they have in certain other mass conurbations.
Well, once you get to things like honeycombs, it's no longer really a
zonal system anyway;

Of *course* it is. Look at the Tyneside system or the one in the
Netherlands - *clearly* zonal, but with a honeycomb rather than
concentric rings.

Would having seperate fares for Waterloo and Mill Hill East lead to
*significantly* increased costs for equipment, staff, gates etc.?

Yes, because if it isn't going to be a zonal system, then you need a
complete fares mesh, which will mean about 40,000 different fares in the
system instead of 12.

And how are people happy when "they can easily understand" that
they're being charged *twice* as much
You mean they aren't happy on the occasions they want to travel
"twice" the distance and it's the same fare? It can cut both ways.
And how many times do people actually want to travel across London on a
long journey? Compare that to the number of times people just want to
travel to Central London. I suspect there are more people getting
ripped off then are getting good value.

On the contrary, given London's physical structure it is very probably
the case that the Z1 to Zn fares are priced about "right" for a radial
journey. Diametric journeys then discounted, but they're relatively
rare.


And you're "charge by crow-flies distance" method is full of anomalies
as well. Golders Green to Highgate would be cheaper than either Golders
Green or Highgate to Camden Town, yet what is the route? And as for West
Ruislip to Ruislip ....

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