London Banter - View Single Post

John B · May 3rd 06, 10:27 AM posted to uk.transport.london

wrote:
For any TOCs other than SWT or Silverlink Metro, the decision is still
in their hands, and probably depends on both TfL converting Oyster to
the interoperable standard (ITSO),

Whilst it's frustrating not to be able to use PAYG on NR, I do have
some sympathy with the TOCs regarding the interoperable standard issue.
Why on earth did TfL decide to go with a standalone system?

Because they wanted to implement Oyster without waiting 5 years. When
Oyster was being planned, ITSO didn't exist - TfL decided to press
ahead with its smartcard implementation anyway, rather than spend years
waiting for a bunch of committees to come up with something possibly
workable.

(so why wasn't the ITSO standard based on Oyster, then? for some
reason, the phrase "petty bureaucratic infighting" comes to mind)

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org