London buses are officially cash free today
FortyTwo25
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Stupid idea.
Okay for myself but what about the tourists? Bus fare was expensive so I'm surprised they gave it up.
Are any bus drivers happy with it?
Okay for myself but what about the tourists? Bus fare was expensive so I'm surprised they gave it up.
Are any bus drivers happy with it?
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I'll be surprised if this doesn't roll out across other bus networks in the next year or so.
IMO a great idea.
At some bus stops you can
I guess the argument against is the cost of setting up etc
Although you'd hope that most tourists would at least look into how to buy tickets for things before they go.
I find there is more time wasted with women searching through their hand bags looking for their Oyster card than there ever was with people paying with cash.
Also where I live there are no ticket machines at the bus stops, only in Central London (where I work) and a lot of those don't work. Also not everyone wants to use their credit card and not everyone has them. (also there has been issues with ppl being overcharged or charged by accident with contactless cards)
Plus you cannot top your weekly/ monthly oystercard at train stations and have to hope the machine is working if you have a top up as you go oyster (or they have a machine!)
Interestingly on one bus I was on last week the destination changed and the queue to get rebates on their oyster/ credit card was longer than any queue I've seen for someone paying cash.
The interstucture just isn't in place atm for buses to go cashless IMO. Going to be lots of more fare dodgers and ppl being stuck with no way of getting home on a night bus after a night out.
and now I've just got my old persons freedom card..........which would be great if I ever went anywhere.......:p
when I used to but travel cards I just bought zone one.........so I did occasionally use cash if I went beyond zone one
instinctively I think it's a bad idea........I wonder if it'll hold the buses up even more whilst the Polish bus driver tries to explain in broken English to the Peruvian tourists who only speak Spanish that they've got to go and fill a form in and apply for a card.........:o:o
At the moment where I live
The train station is closed again, the 2 shops that do Oyster top ups are closed.
The top machines at bus stops are only in central London, not in the outskirts.
If your Oyster card is not working then you are totally buggered.
Not with cash.
There are a lot of people out their with basic bank accounts.
I've only paid cash for when I'm off work and haven't got my monthly travelcard (not going to pay for that when I don't need it!). As I don't drive buses to shops are the only way I can get anyway with shops.
Now will have to remember to keep my oystercard topped up all the time (which involves getting on a bus to get to the nearest shop to top it up! LMAO!)
Exactly! and I have to GET on a bus to GET to a shop to top up my emergency oystercard.
Also I wonder how many stranded young ppl will be left at dodgy dark bus stops because of this now?
Don't know what that's supposed to imply but most basic bank accounts have a debit card nowadays and you can certainly set up an auto top-up via direct debit.
There's a "one last journey" facility on the card if you are over your limit I think
Eh? What about women searching thru their purse? Still takes just as long
Is it going to be that much of a pain to put some shrapnel in a pot at the end of each day and whenever you get to £5 quid or £10 quid, put it on an oyster card for those infrequent journeys ?
I've got an oyster card for me and my mum that we probably use twice a year and i've got money on both of those.
Infrastructure
Yep, this is what I think. I can't recall every seeing a bus stop where you can top up your card. One night my bus didn't turn up so I got on a different one. The driver pointed out a stop to me where I could get another bus home but when I got on that one I realised I was going the wrong way! So then I had to get a third bus, all this at 1am in an area I didn't know. What if that happened when I had no money on my card? I'd be screwed.
Another thing that puzzles me about London buses, what about the "exit" door, how does the driver stop people getting on the bus there and not paying? I saw a man do this recently and it must happen a lot.