MIG wrote:
On Nov 20, 10:35 pm, "Paul Scott"
wrote:
"Tim Woodall" wrote in message

e.uk...





On Thu, 20 Nov 2008 17:52:12 -0000,
Stephen Osborn stephen.osborn wrote:
I've only recently started using PAYG (I used to have a Z1-3
Travelcard on
my Oyster) so I am not familiar with all the intricacies. Can you
please explain why using two Oyster cards is cheaper in this case.

Peak OffPeak PeakCap OffpeakCap
WJ-Euston 5.50 3.00
WJ-Zone 1 6.00 3.50 17.10 12.60
Z1-Z1 1.50 1.50 6.30 4.80

The problem is that the peak time for WJ-Euston is only 7:00-9:30
(I think, check that end time before relying on it) but the peak
time for WJ-Z1 and Z1-Z1 is 07:00-19:00

That means doing WJ-Euston plus Euston-Z1 as two separate journeys
after 9:30 is an offpeak 3.00 plus peak 1.50. But if you do it on
the same card, despite touching all the same readers it will be
charged as a single WJ-Z1 journey at peak time.

Of course the LU peak charging times change in January IIRC, making
this less of an issue, with an additional off peak period from 0930
- 1600, but I suspect this was lost in the noise when all the
'massive fare hike shock - blame Boris' stories appeared...

Paul S- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I'm confused now. Are we talking the period when single fares are at
a higher rate, or are we talking about the period during which the
start of a journey contributes to a peak cap rather than an off-peak
cap?

The former I believe - because there is a special regime for part of the LO
route into Euston, where the 'individual fares' drop back to 'lower rate' at
0930; but carrying on into zone 1 by 'tube' appears to overide this. Both
Tim's journeys are after 0930, so 'off peak' for capping purposes.

I think only the former could advantage someone using two cards, if
the second journey starts after 0930, assuming no caps are reached.
If the off-peak cap is reached on a single card, one peak journey
won't affect it.

See above

Then there's the issue of different caps for different zones. I am
confused by the terminology as to what is actually the issue here.

You're right, I think we came to the conclusion a while back that it is
better to talk about '0700-1900 Mon-Fri' and 'all other times' for
individual fares, and peak (before 0930) and off peak (after 0930) for
capping purposes. The fares booklet generally sticks to this style, [except
when it's referring to the special fares for the LO route into Euston].

Unfortunately, I just repeated the TfL press release's description of a new
'off peak period'...

Paul S.