On Tue, 21 Sep 2004, Rich Mallard wrote:

"John Rowland" wrote in message
...
"Jim" wrote in message
...

http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/articles/13301604

...

Free bus travel for all under 16? That is a diabolically bad idea...
buses will become unsafe for anyone else,

I understand what you mean [...]

(and before someone says 'not all kids do this', I would completely agree
and say it's a relatively tiny minority of teenagers.

Good to hear we all understand that.

However, this relatively tiny minority cause widespread damage running
into hundreds of thousands of pounds; we simply cannot ignore that and
allow this serious problem with bus vandalism to escalate in order to
provide free bus travel for all IMO).

So, because of the actions of a tiny number of criminals, you'd deny this
benefit to hundreds of thousands of children?

In any case, i just don't believe that this is going to lead to more
vandalism. Are you saying that the yobs, if they can't find a quid for a
bus fare, are just going to say "Oh bother! I rather suppose we can't
vandalise a bus today; let's go home and read improving books."? No -
they're just going to go off and vandalise something else, or vandalise
the outside of a bus, or else hop on a bus anyway and fare-dodge.
Moreover, i suspect that this image of gangs roaming round London, getting
on buses specifically to vandalise them, is erroneous: i suspect that
these kids are using the bus anyway (to get to school, or go to the park,
or visit their dealer, or whatever), and simply take the opportunity to
vandalise it, like a dog ****ing all over the place when it's being taken
for a walk. Free travel won't get them on the bus more, it just means
their mums'll have more cash to spend on fags.

On which subject: dogs should be banned in London. In fact, in all urban
areas. I'll allow guide dogs.

tom

ps Shall we start cross-posting this thread to uk.prejudice?

--
curry in a sack

How has this affected tourist travelcard (bought from abroad) prices?

"Chris" wrote in message
...
How has this affected tourist travelcard (bought from abroad) prices?
Oops just read right at the bottom that the visitor travelcard is being
replaced.

These price increases do make me wonder where all the money from the con
charge (which was supposed to improve transport) has gone though.

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 20:22:43 +0100 Chris said...

How has this affected tourist travelcard (bought from abroad) prices?

The London Visitor's Travelcard which is marketed to UK-bound tourists
will be abolished (along with the Weekend Travelcard) and is replaced by
a new 3-day Travelcard from January 2005.

Of course the Visitor's Travelcard isn't as straight forward as the ones
you buy in London as there are various discount vouchers thrown in as
part of the package.

--
Phil Richards
London, UK
Home page: http://www.philrichards1.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk

On Tue, 21 Sep 2004 20:22:43 +0100, "Chris"
wrote:

How has this affected tourist travelcard (bought from abroad) prices?

The press release notes say that the visitor travelcard and weekend
travelcard are replaced by the new 3 day travelcard and the normal 7 day
travelcard (only relates to the 7 day visitor travelcard).

I'm not hugely surprised by the loss of the 7 day Visitor Travelcard as
many tourists simply got a normal travelcard once in London.

The new 3 day ticket looks a bit dodgy to me - if you look at the
pricing it is most odd. You get a discount for zones 1 and 2 but you get
sod all discount for other zonal or time combinations. I don't
understand why anyone would buy one for Z1-6 other than to avoid queuing
up on subsequent days. I suspect this is another way of pushing up
income by getting rid of a ticket that is considered to be over
discounted. I also note the lack of commentary about Family Travelcards
- perhaps these are now abolished given that most children will go free
by bus and thus the Travelcard is, in effect, a rail only product for
children aged 16 or less.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!