To go back to my old chestnut, I see no reason whatsoever
why, within a system like TfL or a Passenger Transport
Executive, a multi-modal or connectional journey should be
any more expensive than a single-modal or non-connectional
one.

You pay for a journey, be it by distance or zonal, the
*system* should provide it. No one mode is more or less
important than another.

The reason which you profess to be unable to see is that,
even if you accept that all modes of transport are of
equal importance, they still cost different amounts (on a
per-mile basis) to run. Thus it is more expensive to
transport a person by tube from Ealing Broadway to White
City than it is to take them they by bus. That is why that
journey by tube costs £1.30 while the bus is only £1.20.

Of course, even if each mode had the same per-mile cost it
probably still wouldn't be possible to offer the same fare
for a multi-modal journey as for a single mode one, because
it would be impossible to reliably define a 'journey'. You
might know that you are going from Ealing Broadway to White
City, but what if you then completed your business there
and so went on to Ladbroke Grove 20 minutes later? Would
that still be a single journey over several modes that
would qualify for a 'through' fare? And how are TfL to
know either way? Could you travel all day making different
transfers from one mode to another and call it one journey?

A system that does not reflect the different costs of each
mode, and pass them on to the passenger, would also hugely
disadvantage the poorest members of the community. If
each mode cost the same then someone existing on benefit
who travels only on buses would be subsidising the cost of
transport for a city banker who uses the tube.

And all that depends on you accepting that every mode of
transport is of equal importance, which I personally do not
believe is the case. I would imagine that the vast majority
of Londoner's find that one or two modes are by far the
most important to them -- I would certainly imagine that
more people find the tube valuable than do so for Tramlink,
just as more people use buses than Dial-a-Ride.

Of course, if you want to make multi-modal journeys for as
little money as possible, may I introduce you to the
Travelcard (a long standing resident of almost every
newsagent in the city) and it's new friend, Oyster PrePay?

With the central line down from North Acton this morning,
I got the District from Ealing to Acton, then Picc to
Hammersmith (same price as to WC). As my destination is
White City, and the H&C isn't the most frequent service, I
decided to get the 72 or 220. Of course I got charged for
it, so as well as taking longer and having to suffer the
scallys that infest Londons busses, I had to pay more too!

Next time, I would suggest that you choose any one of the
many very good transport links available in that part of
London rather than taking the most convoluted route I can
think of and then moaning here about the consequences of
your own inefficiency.

And if you don't want to travel with other people, be they
the "scallys" and "scum" you so vividly describe you might
consider any one of the 20,000 taxis licensed for hire in
London, or the minicab firm just outside Ealing Broadway
station.


Matt Ashby
www.mattashby.com