Tube fare rises: Why so keen to get everyone on Oyster?

[PacificOcean]

According to the Standard a single zone 1 tube fare is to rise to £3 and a single bus fare to £1.50. However, if you have a pre-pay oyster card fares will be £1.50 and 80p respectivly. This is to encourage the take up of Oystercards.

Maybe it's tin foil hat time, but why are they so keen to get everyone on Oystercards? Could there be any possible sinister reason for it?

 

[chio]

Because cash is a pain in the arse, and if a superior, simpler system has already been put in place, it makes sense to encourage its use?

 

[Pickman's model]

the simple fact that all your journeys are recorded...

in the same way that the congestion charge zone has helped to reinforce the ring of steel around the city because of everyone's numberplate being filmed, oyster wankery is another big brother bit.

 

[peppery]

It also saves on paper and the surveillance bit as well. It stops fraudsters, and if your card gets nicked it can be cancelled easily. It also gets people throught the gates quicker.

 

[Belushi]

I saw somehting last year about plans to enable people to put cash on their Oystercard for small purchases? apparently a similar system is used in Hong Kong (I think).

 

[jæd]

Maybe it's tin foil hat time, but why are they so keen to get everyone on Oystercards? Could there be any possible sinister reason for it?

Becuase they think that everyone is a terrorist and what to be able to track everyone's movement in case another 7/7 happens.

Or it could be cheaper to use Oyster cards instead of faffing around with money and pieces of cardboard.

 

[Orang Utan]

That's fucking shit that - coercing people to use Oyster cards like that - it's unfair
I'm an occasional user and would like to pay the same in cash as an Oyster user - why should I have to pay up to 100% more?

 

[aurora green]

That's fucking shit that - coercing people to use Oyster cards like that - it's unfair
I'm an occasional user and would like to pay the same in cash as an Oyster user - why should I have to pay up to 100% more?

totally agree.

 

[ChrisFilter]

That's fucking shit that - coercing people to use Oyster cards like that - it's unfair
I'm an occasional user and would like to pay the same in cash as an Oyster user - why should I have to pay up to 100% more?

just get an oyster card then.. you don't have to register them, you just have a bit of plastic instead of a bit of paper.

 

[jæd]

That's fucking shit that - coercing people to use Oyster cards like that - it's unfair
I'm an occasional user and would like to pay the same in cash as an Oyster user - why should I have to pay up to 100% more?

So... Either (a) get a free (with a refundable deposit) Oyster card and save time & money or (b) don't... Um...

 

[Orang Utan]

just get an oyster card then.. you don't have to register them, you just have a bit of plastic instead of a bit of paper.

Why should I?
Cash works best for me - I'm only an occasional user. If I got an Oyster, I'd use it all the time, which is not what I want.

 

[Orang Utan]

So... Either (a) get a free (with a refundable deposit) Oyster card and save time & money or (b) don't... Um...

I would rather save time and money by not using public transport at all, but occasionally I oversleep and need to get to work quickly - I don't see why I should have an Oyster Card just to so that.

 

[Callie]

They dont want bus driver to have to take cash anymore, simple as.

You either buy a ticket from a bus stop machine, get an oyster card and pre pay or buy those packs of tickets from a shop.

 

[jæd]

I would rather save time and money by not using public transport at all, but occasionally I oversleep and need to get to work quickly - I don't see why I should have an Oyster Card just to so that.

So, say you got an Oystercard and put £10 on it. Next time you oversleep and need to use public transport you won't have to waste time trying to find some change, buying a ticket, etc.

And you will save yourself some cash.

And its better to not use an Oystercard, because...?

 

[Orang Utan]

So, say you got an Oystercard and put £10 on it. Next time you oversleep and need to use public transport you won't have to waste time trying to find some change, buying a ticket, etc.

And you will save yourself some cash.

And its better to not use an Oystercard, because...?

It takes the same amount of time to throw £1.20 in the tray on a bus as it does to swipe a card. It doesn't take that long in the tubes station either.


Oyster Cards would encourage me to be lazy cos I wouldn't have to think about getting on the bus - by the end of the week, I would have got the bus every day, wasted £10 and still be a fat bastard.

 

[girasol]

I didn't have a problem with Oyster cards until a couple of weeks ago, when I was told that from next year children MUST have them, just like adults (currently children CANNOT have them at all, they can only have photocards).

Fair enough, I thought, I kinda like my Oyster anyway (not to mention the free travel you get on buses when you have a monthly card, if your card only covers up to a certain zone, you're still allowed to travel free on all zones when you take a bus).

BUT then I was told that I had to pay an admnistration fee of £5.00, (non-refundable by the way) and that I have to apply for it at the Post Office, NOT at an underground station. All that for the privilege of being able to buy my son a ticket on the most overpriced underground system in the world!

I'm still puzzled as to why it has to be done via the post office though... When I got my own Oyster card I didn't have to pay any administration fee and I didn't have to go to the Post Office.

 

[ska invita]

Its speed up the whole transport system:

1.Busses dont have to sit at stops whilst everyone fiddles for change

2.Tube stations dont have queues round the block in the mornings as everyone buys their rip-off ticket

3. It is the model used in the most advance transport systems in the world (Hong Kong for example) where they have octopus cards!

 

[Isambard]

London Urbanites complaining about having best public transport in UK shocker!

 

[Orang Utan]

OK - the main reason I don't like Oyster cards is because it requires organisation and forward thinking - something I have in short supply. I don't want to be punished for being a dimwit.

 

[jæd]

London Urbanites complaining about having to use something new, shocker!!

 

[guinnessdrinker]

I can understand the need to remove cash from buses for obvious security reasons, but tickets, bought at machines or newsagents (just like your oyster top up, should be good enough surely. so why hike their prices up compared to the card?

 

[Ms T]

The only bad thing about Oyster cards is that you can't use them on overland trains, for some reason. So if I need to get on the train at Brixton, because the tube is closed, and then get a tube, I have to pay twice. On the day of the failed bombings, I had to get a train, then a bus, then a tube, so a journey which normally costs £2 or so, cost about a fiver.

 

[Belushi]

The only bad thing about Oyster cards is that you can't use them on overland trains, for some reason. So if I need to get on the train at Brixton, because the tube is closed, and then get a tube, I have to pay twice. On the day of the failed bombings, I had to get a train, then a bus, then a tube, so a journey which normally costs £2 or so, cost about a fiver.

I can use mine on overland trains

 

[girasol]

That's true, it's pretty shit to punish people because they don't have an Oyster card. I have one because I like the convenience of having one, I travel on the tube every day, but on a few occasions I just forgot it at home and had to pay a ridiculous price to get on a bus. It's not fair.

And what about people who don't want to have one? I know they are trying to encourage people to get Oyster cards, but they're going about it the wrong way.

 

[newbie]

I saw somehting last year about plans to enable people to put cash on their Oystercard for small purchases? apparently a similar system is used in Hong Kong (I think).

precisely so. Supermarkets are thinking of going cashless, which is fine for large purchases but the need for pins on debit/credit cards is a diseincentive for using them for trivial amounts. TfL/Oyster are looking at a pure commercial possibility here for small transactions, touch & go for all sorts of things from machines. I expect to see parking meters, Evening Standards, fizyy drinks, lottery tickets etc adopt the idea.

The commercial logic is there... why not, if virtually every londoner carries one, compete with Visa for this market?

This is the same technology shift that is seeing cheques gradually vanish. I can't really see a fully cashless society in my lifetime, but the trend is going to become ever more obvious. And yeah, Big Brother will know (some of) the trivial stuff you buy, just as Visa knows about transactions now, but so what? if it bothers you then queue to pay by cash, and expect to pay the vendor for their time in collecting and dealing with mucjing about with an artefact.

 

[trashpony]

The only bad thing about Oyster cards is that you can't use them on overland trains, for some reason. So if I need to get on the train at Brixton, because the tube is closed, and then get a tube, I have to pay twice. On the day of the failed bombings, I had to get a train, then a bus, then a tube, so a journey which normally costs £2 or so, cost about a fiver.

I thought the max you ever paid was the cost of a one day travelcard if you're using the Oyster on a pay as you go basis.

I like mine generally. But beware! If you have a monthly travelcard on it, they will let you use it for one journey the day after it runs out and then you get charged the cost of that journey on top of your renewal costs. Apparently this is to allow you to get home safely should you not have any cash on you ...

 

[Cadmus]

I don't see anything wrong with getting everyone on Oyster.
This thread could as well be titled 'Why so keen to get everyone to switch from typewriters to computers?'.

It's faster, smarter, cheaper and easier, that's why.

 

[Orang Utan]

It's faster, smarter, cheaper and easier, that's why.

Not if you live from hand to mouth like I do, or are poor, stupid or hopelessly disorganised.

 

[Ms T]

I can use mine on overland trains

You can if it's a Travelcard, but not pay-as-you go.

 

[Ms T]

I thought the max you ever paid was the cost of a one day travelcard if you're using the Oyster on a pay as you go basis.

That's true -- I guess I'm a bit of a special case because I often only get the Tube one way to work because I finish late and work pays for a cab back. So I can end up paying more, but only if everything is completely f***ed, as it was on July 21st.