"This will especially hit infrequent visitors and tourists to London,
who will not necessarily benefit from the cheaper prices available when
using Oyster cards.

Is this just his way of saying infrequent visitors and tourists wont get
themselves Oyster cards? It seems to me they can still get a reasonable
deal with paper one day tickets and otherwise if they don't get Oyster then
more fool them. I know there are people who don't do any forward planning
(witness Ryanair passengers in the past who haven't even bothered to check
where their destination airport is until they land, and indeed many who have
turned up at the wrong airport for their flights), but if you have to book
flights/trains/coaches or plan car journeys, find somewhere to stay, plan
yourself a bit of an itinerary, change currency, prepare yourself with some
rudiments of a foreign language etc, then checking the public transport
arrangements doesn't see a lot to ask.

"These fare increases could drive people away from public transport
back to cars and taxis, which would be deeply disappointing."

So these visitors who aren't prepared to get themselves an Oyster card would
be happy to drive around a strange city, paying the congestion charge and
car parking charges, or to jump into taxis in blissful ignorance or how much
they will be charged? Sorry I don't think the argument washes.

You can obtain and charge Oysters at 2,200 newsagents - or in TfL
parlance 'Oyster Ticket Stops'. These newsagents are all over London,
not just in areas served by the Tube. I'm sure there are blackspots in
some parts of London, in which case I'd suggest that TfL encourage
retailers to become Oyster Ticket Stops, perhaps by having some kind of
introductory offer for the first year or something along those lines.

I've long suggested that there should be dedicated Oyster top up collection
points at locations such as bus stations, and probably machines to charge
the cards too. It always seems a little odd when you see bus stations
without a ticket machine of any kind in sight.

G.