On Tue, 12 Sep 2006 09:36:25 GMT, Graham J wrote:

Almost all Oyster fares remain the same except:
-- off-peak bus journeys (from £0.80 to £1.00)

Ouch, 25% fare increase.

Indeed. Especially the way they spin it as being a 2/3 discount on
what it would have been if they hadn't run everything so brilliantly.

- Under-16s get a 50p Tube single or £1 daily cap on Oyster

How nice for them. I am one of those unconvinced by all these incentives,
especially free bus fares. What is wrong with learning to pay your way in
life at an early age instead of learning to be subsidised?

Could this be to do with the introduction of a policy a few years ago
that bus drivers must not leave a child stranded? This meant that any
child could get a free bus ride just by pretending to have no money.
Perhaps they are just formalising it so that all children can travel
for free, not just the dishonest ones.

Besides, at least they'll learn to use public transport, rather than
being taxi'd everywhere by mummy and daddy until they reach 17, when
they graduate to going everywhere in their own car.

- £4 penalty charge to be introduced on Oyster PAYG for those who do not
touch in and out (from November this year)

Fine, as long as they make an effort to explain exactly where you are
supposed to touch in and out.

And if they give Tube ticket offices more power to resolve unresolved
joruneys, and if the Oyster helpline will do so for unregistered cards
(if these changes haven't been made already).

For example at Farringdon the correct
procedure, verified with TfL, when changing from London Underground to
National Rail and vice versa is to touch out on one platform and touch in on
the other.

Seriously? I always just change over without touching any readers at
all, just like changing between Tube lines, and it works fine.

Incidentally, acceptance of PAYG at the barriers at London Bridge
STILL hasn't been fixed. Worse, the barrier staff seem to have been
trained to tell you that it isn't valid, only letting you through if
you insist it is. The following exchange is typical:

Me: [walks up to side gate with Oyster card]
Him: [points to Oyster reader on adjacent ticket gate. I assume he
needs to see the error code]
Me: [touches card on reader; as usual, it is rejected]
Him: "Your Travelcard has expired." [points to excess fares window]
Me: "I'm using pre-pay."
Him: "It's not valid." [still pointing] "You need to buy a ticket."
Me: "It is valid, on Thameslink."
Him: "No it isn't."
Me: "Yes it is. You're standing next to a poster that says it is."
Him: "Where have you come from?"
Me: "Farringdon."
Him: [lets me out through the gate]

I've been through a similar routine every time I've passed through (3
times in total) over the past couple of months, so I'm pretty sure
it's deliberate. (Incidentally, I do touch in/out on the platform
validator as well, and it does always charge the correct fare with no
unresolved journeys.)