I'm just about ready to give up with this. I missed the DLR at London
City the first time I used it because the machine was hidden away in
an alcove in the entrance rather than on the platform. OK, fifteen
minutes isn't that big a deal but it rankles when you haven't been
home for three weeks. At Waterloo the thing was even better hidden so
I had to go the wrong way down an exit in order to seek it out.

The most obvious question to ask is why have it at all when a more
secure, proven and user-friendly alternative already exists? For at
least ten years now if I want to buy a ticket - including season - in
Germany or Belgium (and elsewhere I guess, these are the only places I
have had bank accounts apart from the UK) I simply insert my debit
card, select my ticket, enter my PIN and I'm sorted. No having to
search in alcoves, try and work out where the nearest machine is to
activate my payment - just pay and go. Secure too - nobody can use it
without my PIN and nobody can use the season without the right photo
card.

I don't know why it is but sometimes I think we Brits look at the way
things work elsewhere and decide that because we never invented them
they can't be any good. In Germany and Belgium, I can top up my card
and choose to purchase from the balance on the chip or from my account
for travel, purchases and telephones.

Anyway, rant over.

Can anyone tell me how I can use my Oyster Card on buses? TFL don't
seem to want to - they hint at it, presumably expecting visitors to
London to somehow understand how London transportation works. It
looks like I have to use it to buy a day ticket or something like that
though it's not at all clear. I just want to get a bus for a few
stops and then back again.

Cheers

David