18% increase in Travelcard price

[island]

I've just noticed in the mayoral decision on fares that Off-Peak Day Travelcards for fewer than 6 zones are withdrawn from 2nd January 2014. This results in an increase from £7.30 to £8.90 for users of zone 1-2 Travelcards, a giant 18% hike. And while the stock answer will be "use Oyster", it's scant consolation for occasional visitors to London who have to wrestle with a bureaucratic system to refund their cards on leaving, for bashers, for people who have difficulty using the Oyster system, and the like.

This one seems to have snuck past the media outlets!

 

[bicbasher]

I've queued with tourists at some of the Zone 1 tube stations who use their Oyster deposit refunds, plus any remaining credit towards a Z1-2 Off-Peak Day Travelcard on their last day in town on more than one occasion.

I thought it was bad enough when the Oyster reader is down at my local station and the ticket office closed that I'd pay £8 for a Z1-4 Off Peak Day Travelcard, that's going up 90p.