London buses have become cashless

[Deerfold]

Arguably, one way to do a family ticket could be to 'asssociate' 3 or 4 cardds together.

Perhaps. I know when I do family tickets in West Yorkshire there's a wide variety of "families" I can be with.

 

[radamfi]

Sounds interesting having a family ticket on one card - I'm guessing Dublin has fewer barriers?

They have a few stations with automatic ticket barriers such as main stations like Heuston and Connolly but they have always had human barriers anywhere significant.

 

[berneyarms]

The family tickets that are on the LEAP card are for Dublin Bus only at the moment, so barriers don't come into it!!

The 5 day/30 day rambler tickets are also Dublin Bus only.

Rail/LUAS are covered by capping - otherwise it's still a paper ticket.

 

[londonbridge]

TFL confirm that cash fares will no longer be accepted from 04.30 on July 6th.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27361458

 

[Deerfold]

TFL confirm that cash fares will no longer be accepted from 04.30 on July 6th.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-27361458

Although at one point they refer to "cashless fairs".

 

[GaryMcEwan]

Well that's it, London Buses are now cash free. I wonder how many complaints TFL will get today because of it...

 

[Robertj21a]

Well that's it, London Buses are now cash free. I wonder how many complaints TFL will get today because of it...

Numerous - mainly from those who don't read, think, plan or use their brain. Probably not the foreign tourist, who is well geared up for differing systems in other parts of the world, but most likely the Londoner 'born and bred' who assumes everything will be done for him/her without them needing to bother.

 

[Abpj17]

Probably loads tomorrow - was it really a good idea to introduce the day before a big event like Tour de France passing through London?

I think the foreign tourists are unlikely to make formal complaints, but in my experience they do grumble at the front of buses and then get off to try to find somewhere to buy a ticket.

 

[Deerfold]

Probably loads tomorrow - was it really a good idea to introduce the day before a big event like Tour de France passing through London?

I think the foreign tourists are unlikely to make formal complaints, but in my experience they do grumble at the front of buses and then get off to try to find somewhere to buy a ticket.

Of course the huge number of foreign tourists who arrive at Victoria (by coach or by train from Gatwick) have been unable to buy tickets on the bus for 11 years now.

 

[Greenback]

I'm sure that the vast majority of foreign tourists would not have dreamed of paying cash on the bus anyway. Many with luggage prefer a taxi anyway. Of the others, most will buy a Travelcard, some will have an Oyster, and the rest will doubtless take the tube, walk, or find somewhere to buy a ticket before they get on.

I think those that will get caught out will be visitors from other parts of the UK who don't keep up to date with changes or plan their travel in advance. People like my mum and dad spring to mind! They would be genuinely bewildered at not being able to pay cash for a bus ticket. Well, they would if they didn't have me to tell them these things!

 

[EM2]

Numerous - mainly from those who don't read, think, plan or use their brain.

God forbid anyone gets their wallet stolen, or their Oyster falls out of their bag without them noticing, or they forget it one day when in a hurry.

 

[fowler9]

God forbid anyone gets their wallet stolen, or their Oyster falls out of their bag without them noticing, or they forget it one day when in a hurry.

It does seem to me to be another case of "For your convenience we are taking away your options".

 

[Deerfold]

God forbid anyone gets their wallet stolen, or their Oyster falls out of their bag without them noticing, or they forget it one day when in a hurry.

Although if they have their wallet stolen there's a good chance they'll have no money either.

 

[Greenback]

It does seem to me to be another case of "For your convenience we are taking away your options".

Nah, what they're doing is helping their customers to pay less than they would if they chose to use cash! I'm very grateful to TfL for this!

 

[fowler9]

Nah, what they're doing is helping their customers to pay less than they would if they chose to use cash! I'm very grateful to TfL for this!

I would like to believe that an organisation is trying to find a way of taking less money off its captive market, forgive me if I can't quite manage to. Ha ha.

 

[Greenback]

Oops, I forgot to put a smiley on my post!

 

[Robertj21a]

God forbid anyone gets their wallet stolen, or their Oyster falls out of their bag without them noticing, or they forget it one day when in a hurry.

Yes, always possible to conjure up some reason to not do anything new. You're talking about an incredibly small number of cases. Even then, for most of those you can always phone a friend/work colleague, catch a tube/tram (coins/notes still accepted - at present) or, heaven forbid, actually walk.

 

[fowler9]

Have I got this right, you can no longer actually use money to pay for a service and some people think this is right and can't foresee any downfall at all to the system?

 

[Robertj21a]

Have I got this right, you can no longer actually use money to pay for a service and some people think this is right and can't foresee any downfall at all to the system?

It's only *cash* that you can't now use on *buses* operated on behalf on TfL. You can still use an Oyster card, Travelcard, Season ticket, contactless bank card or similar non-cash method etc etc.

 

[fowler9]

It's only *cash* that you can't now use on *buses* operated on behalf on TfL. You can still use an Oyster card, Travelcard, Season ticket, contactless bank card or similar non-cash method etc etc.

Sorry, I meant cash, not money. Seems like a really good way to eliminate some people from the system. Even in Hong Kong you can still use cash.

 

[Greenback]

It will eliminate the roughly 0.9% of passengers who use cash. Which is a sizeable amount, I suppose, out of the millions of people who are carried every year.

But will they be eliminated or will they reluctantly move to other methods of payment as TfL clearly wants?

A new thought - what if these passengers are deemed so troublesome that it's better if they are eliminated? (I don't mean killed, I mean no longer using buses at all)

 

[Deerfold]

It will eliminate the roughly 0.9% of passengers who use cash. Which is a sizeable amount, I suppose, out of the millions of people who are carried every year.

But will they be eliminated or will they reluctantly move to other methods of payment as TfL clearly wants?

A new thought - what if these passengers are deemed so troublesome that it's better if they are eliminated? (I don't mean killed, I mean no longer using buses at all)

The research showed who was paying cash. Quite a chunk were people who had forgotten to top up - a portion of these will be covered by the "One more Journey" facility.

10% were people who were travelling across the London boundary - this will probably be the trickiest group to start using Oyster (fine once you've got a card and auto top up).

10% were on night buses - I suspect some of these may move to minicabs.

 

[EM2]

Yes, always possible to conjure up some reason to not do anything new. You're talking about an incredibly small number of cases. Even then, for most of those you can always phone a friend/work colleague, catch a tube/tram (coins/notes still accepted - at present) or, heaven forbid, actually walk.

Or, TfL could have a system in place that could actually help people. The railway has a 'Stranded Individual' procedure, but TfL seem to think that anyone in this unfortunate position should fend for themselves.

 

[Deerfold]

Or, TfL could have a system in place that could actually help people. The railway has a 'Stranded Individual' procedure, but TfL seem to think that anyone in this unfortunate position should fend for themselves.

TfL has a procedure for vulnerable people which bus drivers have recently been reminded of.

Can I suggest people read TfL's response to the consultation:

https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/cashless/results/cashless-bus-consultation-report.pdf

I don't expect everyone to suddenly change their minds and agree its the best thing since sliced bread but at least you will know what TfL are doing about this.

 

[GodAtum]

It does not affect me but it will be good to see some horror stories in the Daily Mail of people not being able to get on a bus.

 

[Deerfold]

It does not affect me but it will be good to see some horror stories in the Daily Mail of people not being able to get on a bus.

Fortunately I'm unlikely to see them there.

 

[Greenback]

Would the Daily Mail publish a story about a single mother economic immigrant being unable to get on a bus? There would be a lot of confusion as to what angle to take, I'm sure.

 

[jon0844]

Would the Daily Mail publish a story about a single mother economic immigrant being unable to get on a bus? There would be a lot of confusion as to what angle to take, I'm sure.

Don't worry, the paper always makes exceptions and isn't scared to contradict itself each day or on every page. I'm sure they have a points system and weight certain items over others, thus being able to write a story about it if it ticked the right boxes.

Pregnant immigrant: Oh no. That's bad.
Immigrant with young child: Is it femail and cute? Green light.

And so on.

I bet they have a flow chart to work it all out!!

 

[Greenback]

Lol! Perhaps I should make an effort to read the discarded copies I occasionally happen upon, it sounds quite entertaining!

But, back on topic, were there a lot of complaints or incidents on Sunday and Monday? Has anyone heard?

 

[jon0844]

No reports of tanks on the streets yet. But I noticed a lot more cyclists in London yesterday, so maybe these were people who were unable to use the bus? They seemed to have a lot of supporters too.