Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

It seems that now LU have decided that you can't just put a random amount
of journeys onto the Oystercard that replaced your travelcard. I wanted to
just add 3 days onto it instead of a week but the ticket bloke said that
they'd been told not to do this by LU and he'd got into trouble for doing it
for someone else.

So someone please tell me , apart from being able to go through the gates
ever so slightly quicker , what use are these things exactly?

(There was me thinking they'd be more flexible than paper tickets , duh! I
should've factored LU management into the equation.)

B2003

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Boltar" wrote in message
om...

It seems that now LU have decided that you can't just put a random amount
of journeys onto the Oystercard that replaced your travelcard. I wanted to
just add 3 days onto it instead of a week but the ticket bloke said that
they'd been told not to do this by LU and he'd got into trouble for doing
it
for someone else.

So someone please tell me , apart from being able to go through the gates
ever so slightly quicker , what use are these things exactly?

(There was me thinking they'd be more flexible than paper tickets , duh!

From Janurary 2004 pre-pay is supposed to be launched, which will enable you
to put money on your Oyster and have it deducted as and when you travel. You
could put enough money on it for 3 days worth of single or return journeys
at the start of the week and not having to worry about buying a ticket for
the rest of the week. However, as has been stated in several other threads
"capping" will not be introduced until March 2004 at the earliest, so if you
require a LT card or 1 day off peak travelcard, prepay is of no real benifit
(unless you want to buy these tickets from the larger machines, rather than
having to faff about with cash each day).

I should've factored LU management into the equation.)

It's actually down to the private contractors unable to meet the target
dates.

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Robin Mayes" wrote in message
.. .

It's actually down to the private contractors unable to meet the target
dates.

Or to look at it another way LU launching a system that wasn't ready and
setting unobtainable target dates for Pre-Pay.

Dave

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

On 15 Dec 2003 01:21:14 -0800, (Boltar) wrote:

So someone please tell me , apart from being able to go through the gates
ever so slightly quicker , what use are these things exactly?

I think the "killer app" is pre-pay and direct debit. For any other
kind of ticket, the benefits are very minor.

Neil

--
Neil Williams
is a valid email address, but is sent to /dev/null.
Try my first name at the above domain instead if you want to e-mail me.

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 17:01:13 -0000, "Dave Liney"
wrote:


"Robin Mayes" wrote in message
. ..

It's actually down to the private contractors unable to meet the target
dates.

Or to look at it another way LU launching a system that wasn't ready and
setting unobtainable target dates for Pre-Pay.



Err, no.


Transys were required to have a working system some 15 months ago.
They haven't done this.

New target dates have been set.


Oyster is being provided under a PFI. You remember them? That's when
super-whizzo private sector management delivers a project on time and
on budget....



Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Dave Liney" wrote in message
...

Or to look at it another way LU launching a system that wasn't ready and
setting unobtainable target dates for Pre-Pay.

Or:

Private company doesn't meet key milestones in a project managed by
themselves, despite assuring customer that milestones would be met and
product would be ready for launch?

No, that'd be attributating blame where it's due wouldn't it. Far better
just to bash LUL. You're not an Evening Standard journalist perchance, are
you?

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

In article , Robin Mayes wrote:

Private company doesn't meet key milestones in a project managed by
themselves, despite assuring customer that milestones would be met and
product would be ready for launch?

No, that'd be attributating blame where it's due wouldn't it. Far better
just to bash LUL. You're not an Evening Standard journalist perchance, are
you?

Evening "we've got standards, and we refuse to rise above them"?

Niklas
--
"How's your metallurgy?"
"Rusty."

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Robin Mayes" wrote in message ...
"Boltar" wrote in message
om...

It seems that now LU have decided that you can't just put a random amount
of journeys onto the Oystercard that replaced your travelcard. I wanted to
just add 3 days onto it instead of a week but the ticket bloke said that
they'd been told not to do this by LU and he'd got into trouble for doing
it
for someone else.

So someone please tell me , apart from being able to go through the gates
ever so slightly quicker , what use are these things exactly?

(There was me thinking they'd be more flexible than paper tickets , duh!

From Janurary 2004 pre-pay is supposed to be launched, which will enable you
to put money on your Oyster and have it deducted as and when you travel. You
could put enough money on it for 3 days worth of single or return journeys
at the start of the week and not having to worry about buying a ticket for
the rest of the week. However, as has been stated in several other threads

But I don't want X pre-paid fares on my oyster. I want X days unlimited use
as per weekly /monthly travelcard unlimited use.

B2003

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Boltar" wrote in message
om...

But I don't want X pre-paid fares on my oyster. I want X days unlimited
use
as per weekly /monthly travelcard unlimited use.

Yes, I know, but the contractor is unable to deliver!

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Robin Mayes" wrote in message ...
"Dave Liney" wrote in message
...

Or to look at it another way LU launching a system that wasn't ready and
setting unobtainable target dates for Pre-Pay.

Or:

Private company doesn't meet key milestones in a project managed by
themselves, despite assuring customer that milestones would be met and
product would be ready for launch?

No, that'd be attributating blame where it's due wouldn't it. Far better
just to bash LUL. You're not an Evening Standard journalist perchance, are
you?

But are these contractors liable for any penalties for failing to
deliver? If not, the targets are meaningless.

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Robin Mayes" wrote in message . ..
"Boltar" wrote in message
om...

But I don't want X pre-paid fares on my oyster. I want X days unlimited
use
as per weekly /monthly travelcard unlimited use.

Yes, I know, but the contractor is unable to deliver!

But it can be done, the bloke at the ticket office I spoke to had done
it for someone else and got into trouble for it! Its nothing to do with
the technology , its LU bloody management!

B2003

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"umpston" wrote in message
om...

But are these contractors liable for any penalties for failing to
deliver? If not, the targets are meaningless.

Sorry, I don't have access to the wierd and wonderful world of contracts!

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

"Boltar" wrote in message
om...
"Robin Mayes" wrote in message
. ..
"Boltar" wrote in message
om...

But I don't want X pre-paid fares on my oyster. I want X days
unlimited
use
as per weekly /monthly travelcard unlimited use.

Yes, I know, but the contractor is unable to deliver!

But it can be done, the bloke at the ticket office I spoke to had done
it for someone else and got into trouble for it! Its nothing to do with
the technology , its LU bloody management!

It would appear we're at cross purposes here. If you're saying you want a
three day ticket on an Oystercard, yes, it's possible to set it up on a
ticket office machine, but it's not in the fare structure. What I'm saying
is with Oyster Pre-pay with fare capping enabled, you'd be able to prepay
the cost of 3 days worth of LT cards and then have unlimited travel on
services that LT cards are valid on. I suggest if you don't want the LT card
option you contact TfL suggesting major changes to the fare and ticketing
arrangements. However, I have the feeling you'll be told that what you
require isn't economically viable.

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

On 17 Dec 2003 01:31:57 -0800, Matt Ashby wrote:
(Jim Brown) wrote:

I think the killer app will be recharging your ticket on the internet.
I reckon most office workers in the centre of town will be using this
method.

The problem with this is the delay - after you've bought your ticket
online, you need to wait four days before it can start.

One of the biggest benefits of doing something online is the speed -
if I buy a ticket over the web, I want it to load onto my card the
next time I go through a gate.

Why must we wait so long?

The delay is very odd considering the whole system is linked together
in real time (or close to it). The pre-pay credit on my card is
shown on the website correctly and I last used it about 3 hours
ago.

David

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

Oystercard - not quite as useful as we were led to believe
 

David Walters wrote in message . ..
On 17 Dec 2003 01:31:57 -0800, Matt Ashby wrote:
(Jim Brown) wrote:

I think the killer app will be recharging your ticket on the internet.
I reckon most office workers in the centre of town will be using this
method.

The problem with this is the delay - after you've bought your ticket
online, you need to wait four days before it can start.

One of the biggest benefits of doing something online is the speed -
if I buy a ticket over the web, I want it to load onto my card the
next time I go through a gate.

Why must we wait so long?

The delay is very odd considering the whole system is linked together
in real time (or close to it). The pre-pay credit on my card is
shown on the website correctly and I last used it about 3 hours
ago.

David

Yeah this is anoying. I wouldnt be surprised if this was a contractual
time rather than an actual limitation of the system so the delay
period may get better as the system beds down.