In message , Helen Deborah
Vecht writes
I think there *is* a potential problem for ill-informed visitors,
especially if they don't read English.

I think there's a problem for all visitors, because they won't easily be
able to use all the stored value (or get their deposit back). My wife
and I between us have at least half-a-dozen strippenkarts or metro cards
or similar for Washington DC and various European cities, each with a
bit of residual value. When next we visit it isn't at all clear whether
they are still valid, or whether we can top-up or not.

In one city I visited recently I was told that my old strip card was
still valid but only at the rate of two old strips to one new strip.
Inadvertently I had underpaid for a journey before I realised that -
fortunately no metro inspector caught me. I understand enough of
French and German to just about get the hang of their metro ticketing
rules, but all the same it's a real problem. In places, like Poland or
Hungary, where I don't understand the language at all, it's a serious
problem. No doubt for some visitors to London the same is true.

- the rules vary so much from one town to another, and are almost as
byzantine in their complexity as those of London, that it's vary hard to
remember them.

- I keep getting stored value left which I can't use after my trip is
over.

The Oyster card brings London into line with these other
tourist-unfriendly transport systems. This doesn't seem to me to be
much of an advance.


--
Clive Page