On Wed, 21 Jan 2009 08:12:55 -0800 (PST), Mizter T
wrote this gibberish:
On 21 Jan, 13:43, wrote:
On 21 Jan, 12:47, MarkVarley - MVP
wrote:
I've got a VCTS card/pass which seems to work like a freedom pass (but
only within London), when using it the other day I came into Stratford
on the DLR and hence had' touched in anywhere, I then got on an
overground train (forgot to touch on the pad on the platform) and
getting off again it happily opened the exit gate, even though it had
no idea where I'd entered the system.
Does this card just open any gate within it's area at any time?
or is it supposed to monitor my entries and exits like my previous
oyster card?
are my journeys being recorded anywhere?
curiosity and all that...
Basically it works like a season ticket. *Provided you are in the
zones covered by the ticket then there is no actual requirement to
touch in or touch out. *You only have to do that with prepay. *So in
your case you only need to touch in/out to get through barriers.
Technically speaking there is a requirement to touch-in and out - just
as technically-speaking such a requirement exists for season
Travelcards and Bus Passes on Oyster and also for Freedom Passes - but
in practice this isn't enforced.
See VCTS - "How to use" info he
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/9942.aspx
Do note however that anonymised and aggregated travel data derived
from the Oyster system is used by TfL when it comes to planning
services, so it's possible to argue that one is shooting oneself in
the foot if one doesn't touch-in and touch-out.
Out of interest Mark - if you were to go to a self-service ticket
machine at a Tube station and touch your VCTS card on the reader, can
you get it to display any of your recent journeys at all?
I have no idea, I'll try that next time I'm in a station.
Also interesting to note that the "[the] VCTS concession will be valid
until 31 May 2012" [1]
I noticed that date when I got the card, slightly worrying that it's
not a permanent policy. As time goes by there are more and more people
going to be eligible for one with current military commitments and
this is a nice little thing to have.
this is just after the next Mayoral election. Is there some concious
effort not to bind a potential future Mayor into either providing this
facility, or having to cancel it? Or is it more a case that during a
re-election campaign Boris could use this as a stick to beat a future
opponent whom might oppose renewing the VCTS scheme - but no opponent
worth their salt would possibly be so daft to oppose renewing it
though, which makes me think it might be the former reason.
-----
[1] Under the "Expiry" heading:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresandtickets/9940.aspx
--
Mark Varley
www.MarkVarleyPhoto.co.uk
www.BeautifulBondage.net
www.TwistedPhotography.co.uk
London, England.