On 18 Dec, 11:45, Chris Johns wrote:

(snip)

Smartcards only save dwell times if most people use them. It's no good
having two people us them on a full double decker if everyone else is
going to pay by cash - especially when they don't even start to look for
their money until the driver has told them how much it'll be.


The vast majority of people on London buses are now using Oyster (or
the Oyster-compatible Freedom Pass for residents who are 60+ or
disabled). And if they're not using Oyster they'll be using a pre-paid
paper ticket (e.g. season or Day Travelcard), or an English national
bus pass.

One thing I omitted to mention in my reply to Robert is that in
central London there is now a 'pay-before-you-board' regime for buses
- actually this is something of a misnomer considering that these days
most people already have pre-paid tickets, but for those that don't
they need to buy a ticket (or a one-day bus pass) from the roadside
ticket machine at the bus stop.