Ah, I didn't realise this. That would sort me out, but I appreciate it won't for others.
London buses to go cashless 6 july
- Thread starter shagnasty
- Start date
Ah, I didn't realise this. That would sort me out, but I appreciate it won't for others.
Indeed?Get a bike, that's what most people tend to do in London these days.
Sweetie, I live in a flat which is up a flight of steps, on an estate near the top of a hill, and I have intermittent but lasting joint injuries (knee, ankle, and a shoulder problem). It's going to be a long time before cycling is a realistic form of transport for me.
Indeed?
Sweetie, I live in a flat which is up a flight of steps, on an estate near the top of a hill, and I have intermittent but lasting joint injuries (knee, ankle, and a shoulder problem). It's going to be a long time before cycling is a realistic form of transport for me.
Ah sorry to hear that. I suppose your only "realistic" option would be to go auto top up on a oyster card, that's assuming you don't have or make use of the "contactless card" option?
That is unrealistic.
No suitable card, no wish for a contactless card, and I have a deep-seated loathing of enabling anything to automatically dip into my accounts.
This isn't paranoia, it's multiple bad experiences (extremely serious banking errors) which came from having a very common surname and a few incompetent banks.
It's not unrealistic, if you manage your oyster card balance efficiently then nothing will automatically come out of your account. Money is only topped up if your balance falls below £10...see below;
https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/sso/0002.do
If you don't want what the system requires then it will clearly be difficult.
Sweetie, I am fucking poor, okay? I don't like the demeaning red tape (repeated every few months) to get a discounted Oyster, so I don't use that.
Instead, I pay full fucking Oyster PAYG fare, which I can just about afford. A £10 perpetual float on the bloody card is not a viable option, I don't even have access to an overdraft. £10 is probably just a couple of London pints to you, but to me it's the difference between whether I make ends meet or not.
As for being insufficiently organised, oh my aching sides! I coordinate two diaries, a complex medication regime, a schedule of various appointments and calls, I issue reminder and repeat reminders to make sure that things are done on time, and all this is on top of managing my own time with plenty of time-sensitive tasks.
BTW thank you so much for assuming that I hadn't already checked that website and looked into all the options. Patronising twunt.
Sweetie, I am fucking poor, okay? I don't like the demeaning red tape (repeated every few months) to get a discounted Oyster, so I don't use that.
Instead, I pay full fucking Oyster PAYG fare, which I can just about afford. A £10 perpetual float on the bloody card is not a viable option, I don't even have access to an overdraft. £10 is probably just a couple of London pints to you, but to me it's the difference between whether I make ends meet or not.
BTW thank you so much for assuming that I hadn't already checked that website and looked into all the options. Patronising twunt.
I'm not exactly flush with cash myself, don't understand why the conversation is heading in this direction anyway?
On your previous post you stated that you had no wish for a contactless card and loathing of anyone automatically dipping into your bank account, that seems to me like a choice you have made, hence why I have pressed you on it and the options to hand.
So you don't like the cashless system and that's that? conversation closed? thread closed?
No. I'm with Santander and received a new debit card a few months ago, and it isn't contactless. It's not due to expire until 2018.
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
Why would anyone want a contactless debit card anyway? Why not just set up a direct debit to every thief in town?
I'm not sure what you're getting at?
I was under the impression most banks in the UK are rolling out new debit cards as contactless. I can't remember where I was reading it, I'll try and find the link. I didn't get my contactless card because I asked for it, it was given to me by default when my old one expired. I can't speak for Santander but I am with HSBC and they do roll them out.
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
Well, if your card can be charged without it physically touching anything, then it can be charged without you even knowing about it.
All I know is my old one expired, and that's the one they sent me to replace it.
But it needs to be touching the reader, or at least be close to it, doesn't it?
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
I don't go to London, not least because of the horrendously visitor-unfriendly public transport system. Is it possible to buy an oyster card with cash? That is, can you get on a bus without using a card which can be traced to you somehow?
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
I dunno, I never really found putting my card into the little thingy to be that much of a hassle so I never bothered to look into it.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
A business needs to make things easy for all of its customers to pay, not just a select few early adopters of technology. And a low cpst transport service needs to provide for the many and increasing customers who live hand to mouths. Going cashless isn't going to help matters.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
Yeah, that's how you get one
Some people register them but you don't have to
It has to touch a reader, on the bus...an oyster card reader, in the shops on the chip/pin reader.
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
So when they say 'contactless' they're not really telling the truth are they?
Visitor unfriendly? What?
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
No, but London is hardly run for the benefit of the masses is it? The only visitors Boris cares about are the ones who drive about in limos and buy up housing estates like they were tuna sandwiches.
No they should just call it "touch and go" or something like that. It does sound a bit confusing I got to admit.
SpookyFrank
Don't swallow the cap
Last time I got a bus in London was maybe ten years ago. Even then attempting to buy a bus ticket with money seemed like it might be enough to get me stabbed to death and left there at the bus stop as a warning to others.
The reason London's public transport seems unfriendly is not the complicated routes or the baroque payment systems, it's simply the fact that it's all staffed by Londoners.
When I go up to London I purchase a combined train ticket/Travelcard then sail around on the buses (although I hardly ever use them tbh), Tube and rail, going to where ever I need to go, to my heart's content. It's simplicity itself.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
I've been let on for free a few times. Which is nice.Last time I tried to get on a London bus with no money, the driver told me to do one.
Orang Utan
Maybe I like the misery
Simplicity itself if you know what to do. Not so easy if you're new in town or a tourist
Yes, it does. On the other hand you don't have to put in a pin, so if someone nicks your card they can use it freely until it's cancelled, albeit only up to a pretty low limit. Apparently there are concerns about the data being easily harvested by fraudsters as well. Theoretically data should be transmitted no further than 10cm, but some researchers found last year they were able to pick it up at up to half a metre away.
My bank has just sent me a contactless card, but I've no intention of using it. I can see how it would be useful when paying for a coffee or something, but I always do that in cash anyway. And although I don't live in London any more, I do still have an Oyster card which it's hardly a great hassle to maintain a few quid's credit on, and which gives you the travelcard cap etc, which you don't get with contactless debit cards.
What difficult about it?
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