On Fri, 18 Sep 2009 03:47:16 -0700 (PDT), John B wrote:

I don't understand how 4 helps. Most people use Oyster and have some
PAYG balance on their cards, and very few people are going to cancel a
journey because it'll take them out-of-zone and cost an extra 80p.

So, except for holders of paper Travelcards, the information is
irrelevant for both planning and paying.

For now, an awful lot of people do use travelcards, including paper
ones for one-day and outboundary and bought at NR stations.

A person on a day trip needs to know what one-day travelcard to get
for their day's outings.

True, but surely the LC map will be their map-of-choice in any case?

And I think I would get off at the stop before a boundary if my
destination was near the boundary, rather than throw away 80p for the
hell of it.

...which is covered by the zone map in the train, so you can make that
decision in real time...

Anyway. I'm really just devilsadvocating here, I do agree that, unlike
the wheelyblobs, the zones are a useful addition to the map.

Bearing in mind that you're playing devil's advocate, I'm still
surprised that no one has pointed out the need for e.g. the
un/under-employed (i.e. cash-poor, time-rich) to plan the cost in
advance (and maybe decide to take a cheaper option, e,g, bus, instead,
or even not make the journey at all).

They may also need to know the exact cost in advance so they know
exactly how much PAYG credit to add at the start of the journey.