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As I keep saying, and several posters keep ignoring, those not
*familiar enough with London* to use Oyster. Yes this is true. The system is not properly explained to users. The signs above prepay validators in various locations with "Prepay users must touch here" are totally baffling to everyone. Even staff do not seem to have consistent knowledge about how it works. The cost benefits are not properly communicated either. I think some people cannot beleive that the "technological option" can be cheaper than buying paper tickets. How many low paid workers using the tube before 06:30 know they could be getting discounted fares by using Oyster? How has this group been targetted with marketing? How about people who do not have English as a first language? |
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On Sat, 8 Oct 2005 17:32:03 +0100, "TKD" wrote:
[double line-spaced] The reason for this is that when travelling on business my employer pays and not me and when on holiday I just want to get from A to B with the least fuss. I'm sure most infrequent tourists and visitors are much the same. Well, it is good for you that you have (or your employer has) enough cash not to have to worry about spending it sensibly. I, however, don't. I suspect I am not in the minority. (Anyone reading my other post of my forthcoming trip to the Far East can be reassured that I am not paying for it; I definitely could not afford to do so myself...) Neil -- Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK When replying please use neil at the above domain 'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read. |
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Do TfL allow an "overdraft" of one (bus?) journey, perhaps only on
registered cards so they wouldn't have trouble getting it back? If not, it would be worth consideration. At least one of the pre-pay mobile phone companies allows for one "free" call in a given period (a couple of months I think) with no credit. If you have auto top up activated you can go into negative balance on the bus. It is corrected once you pass through a tube station barrier. According to their website they plan to add auto top up to bus and trams "soon". |
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On Sat, 8 Oct 2005 17:42:26 +0100, "TKD" wrote:
The cost benefits are not properly communicated either. I think some people cannot beleive that the "technological option" can be cheaper than buying paper tickets. How many low paid workers using the tube before 06:30 know they could be getting discounted fares by using Oyster? How has this group been targetted with marketing? How about people who do not have English as a first language? So, we're now on the same page - having gone via most of the Tube system, hopefully using an Oystercard to keep the fare down :) Do you, then, agree that this not-insignificant matter should be sorted out *before* punitive fares on paper ticketing are introduced? Neil -- Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK When replying please use neil at the above domain 'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read. |
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"Neil Williams" wrote in message
... True. It's only a recent thing, though - I'm fairly sure that 1st and 2nd class stamps used to have the price printed on them, so if you had a load and the price went up you had to go to the Post Office and buy a load of 1 or 2p stamps to be able to use them. Yes, stamps inscribed 1st and 2nd were introduced in 1990. So, it depends on your definition of "recent" I guess. -- Richard |
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On Sat, 8 Oct 2005 16:57:59 +0000 (UTC), "Richard Rundle"
wrote: Yes, stamps inscribed 1st and 2nd were introduced in 1990. So, it depends on your definition of "recent" I guess. They weren't universal, I think. I have had stamps (1st/2nd) marked with the price much more recently than that, as I recall. Neil -- Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK When replying please use neil at the above domain 'wensleydale' is a spam trap and is not read. |
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"Phil Richards" wrote in message
.. . The W7 (Finsbury Park to Muswell Hill) went cash free about 4 years ago as a trial, successful it has been though to be fair it is a short route with high frequency. I can't see the whole of the capital going to road side machines, however what's needed is a steady introduction at strategic stops. There is no need to make the whole of London prepaid only, just the well-used stops. There would be no confusion for passengers, because the bus stops that had machines would be prepaid-only, and those that didn't wouldn't. What I find bizarre is that the W7 machines are, or at least were, W7-only. Why allow people to buy tickets on a 144 or W3 at a stop that has a ticket machine for the W7? -- John Rowland - Spamtrapped Transport Plans for the London Area, updated 2001 http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Acro...69/tpftla.html A man's vehicle is a symbol of his manhood. That's why my vehicle's the Piccadilly Line - It's the size of a county and it comes every two and a half minutes |
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The cost benefits are not properly communicated either. I think some
people cannot beleive that the "technological option" can be cheaper than buying paper tickets. How many low paid workers using the tube before 06:30 know they could be getting discounted fares by using Oyster? How has this group been targetted with marketing? How about people who do not have English as a first language? So, we're now on the same page - having gone via most of the Tube system, hopefully using an Oystercard to keep the fare down :) Do you, then, agree that this not-insignificant matter should be sorted out *before* punitive fares on paper ticketing are introduced? The "educational marketing" campaign has been lacking in many areas. That said, there is also a significant group of people who will never come round to the idea of electronic ticketing unless they are forced to investigate it by some shock - such as bus fares that cost more than a pound or a tube ride from Bow Road to Mile End that costs £3.00. Small increased have not provided enough incentive. One can only hope that this reality is communicated properly by January 2006 to enough people. The phased implementation has been at a steady pace although lack of function has been annoying such as using prepay before the buses went live, before capping came in and before auto top up. Seeing how difficult it is for some people (and staff) to grasp how each new feature works makes it clear that it is the right approach. It is not desirable for too many features to go live at once while at the same time the way the tube is run needs to become more cost effective as quickly as possible for the good of everyone. If it becomes too expensive to run the extra "funding" (tax) can only come from one place. So basically that is why I support moving along as quickly as possible with a phased feature roll-out and why creating "incentive" fares at this stage is important. |
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