On 28 Dec, 17:17, John B wrote:
On Dec 28, 4:28*pm, Barry Salter wrote:

John B wrote:
(CUE: pointless anecdotes of "I got on the 29 and only saw 4 people
touching in". Well, yes - the others have Travelcards or bus passes).

Talking of people not touching in, TfL are changing the Conditions of
Carriage from 2nd January such that *ALL* Oyster holders *MUST* touch in
(and out where appropriate) or be liable to a Penalty Fare, even if they
have a valid Season Ticket loaded onto their Oyster!

New Conditions of Carriage can be found at
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/termsandconditions/899.aspx and the relevant
conditions are 6.6.1 for LU, Overground and National Rail, and 6.6.7 for
Buses.

...although interestingly, that strongly implies (to the extent that
any court would support) that Travelcard holders will only be liable
to a penalty fare if they fail to touch in on buses.

While 6.6.1 says that Travelcard holders are supposed to touch in on
LU/LO/NR, it doesn't specify any sanctions for people who don't -
whereas 6.6.4 mentions explicit sanctions for Travelcard holders who
don't use OEPs on NR, 6.6.7 mentions explicit sanctions for Travelcard
holders who don't touch in on buses, and 6.7.3 mentions explicit
sanctions for PAYG users who don't touch in on LU/LO/DLR.

Which is particularly bonkers, since a bus journey can't exactly be
extended beyond zones.

Again, despite my deep suspicion of everything Oyster, I don't believe
this is going to be used for PF purposes. I am sure that it's just an
attempt to get people into the habit of touching all the time, given
all the potential problems (which can't all be solved anyway). It's
one of those "terms and conditions" things that they can fall back on
if someone does try something on but there's no other technical
offence they can get them on.

I don't believe they are going to reprogram all the bus inspector
machines not to give a green light to valid travelcards. What kind of
entry/exit gets registered with a bus touch anyway?

PS Or is this just to prepare for debendification? It's normal to
touch a travelcard in front of a straight bus driver who has the
responsibility of checking that you've got a valid ticket.