Ian Jelf wrote in uk.transport.london on Sun, 9 Oct 2005 21:22:04
+0100 :

I think that the concept of cheaper fares on Pre Pay is something very
difficult to explain to the casual traveller.

This is, IME, very true. We've reached the conclusion that we're going
to have to get a couple of prepay Oyster cards to give to our
out-of-town visitors so they can get out and about with us.

Indeed, even the thought
of having to buy tickets from a roadside machine before climbing on a
'bus seems to put off many of my clients!

The arcane art of getting on buses has been something that seems to
elude even people who have lived and worked in London for most of
their life. One friend who has just retired regards the red omnibus as
the work of the devil, despite having a strong preference for public
transport in general.

I don't know why this is; until I lived in London there were lots of
things/locations I didn't know about, spending many a happy hour going
to Notting Hill Gate to take the Circle Line back to Paddington until
I discovered where Lancaster Gate was. But in the general absence of a
tube route, I was still willing to strike out and take a chance that a
bus would get me where I wanted to go, or at the worst that if I
over-shot I could get one coming back, without being eaten by a
lurking grue.

--
hike
- a walking tour or outing, esp. of the self-conscious kind
Chambers 20th Century Dictionary