Consultation on banning cash payment on TfL buses

[Otta]

It's less than 3 journeys isn't it?

[LadyDeliah]

KidKruger Wrote:

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> LadyD come on, if you don't agree with someone's

> opinion there's no need to abuse them !

Yeh probably. My bad.

[LadyDeliah]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> Get an oyster

>

> Register it

>

> Set it to top up automatically online (you choose

> amount)

>

> No more faffing Around with newsagents, cash,

> machines.

>

> If it gets lost or stolen you can immediately

> block it and all money on it gets transferred to

> new card

>

> It is so immeasurably better and more convenient,

> anyone saying "it's a faff" is a fool to

> themselves.

You're assuming that everyone who uses public transport makes the same amount of journeys on a regular basis. Not everyone who travels on public transport uses it as their primary mode of transport.

[PeckhamRose]

Exactly.I hardly ever use busses and for when I do I have an Oyster card. Some of you are making the assumption everyone thinks ahead like we do, and also that they are able to know about everything. What about occasional visitors to London? I think the few who use cash should be allowed to use it. And by the way, I know a lot of people old and young who still use cash at supermarkets and other / all shops. Indeed it is often quicker to do so. I shall always use cash, Oyster is useful and I would be happy to be able to use it to tap in and out for all things I buy, too. But please don't assume everyone's capable and socially aware of everything like some of you are.

[StraferJack]

"

You're assuming that everyone who uses public transport makes the same amount of journeys on a regular basis"

I'm assuming no such thing. Why would you say that? If I thought I might, in my lifetime, have to make just one single journey on london transport its still a simple process

But that's an outlier and not what anyone is talking about

If you live in london you WILL be making journeys on some form of public transport. So just be informed and make a smart decision. Register a card an stop being wilfully obstructive

[LondonMix]

This is probably the saddest statement I've read about the British public. I refuse to believe that there is anyone who is incapable of thinking ahead enough to keep a few quid on their Oyster card if they had to. This isn't any harder than keeping a few quid in your pocket really. Occasionally people are forgetful and / or lazy but that in and of itself isn't a justification for keeping in place a costly cash infrastructure that only enables people to waste their own money.

The whole visitor to London argument doesn't hold water. The fact that more than 99% of journeys are non-cash suggests that tourists and occasional visitors on the whole do use Oysters etc already. Central London is already cashless so its clear even people unfamiliar with the city can figure it out (even if the occasional bus driver makes an exception).

PeckhamRose Wrote:

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Some of you are making the

> assumption everyone thinks ahead like we do, and

> also that they are able to know about everything.

> What about occasional visitors to London? I think

> the few who use cash should be allowed to use it.

>

[Applespider]

katanita Wrote:

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> Don't think that works for auto-top up, see

> https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/0002.do.

> It's why I never use it, much as I'd like to, I

> almost never make tube journeys. It's a pain.

You have to go to a Tube station when you first set auto top-up but then it will work on buses as well as Tubes/DLR. The annoying thing about it is that it used to add ?10 when there was ?5 left. Now it adds ?20 when it drops below ?8 which, if you use it relatively infrequently, can mean you end up with nearly ?30 stuck on it occasionally.

[StraferJack]

You can set it to top up with a five pound minimum, not twenty

[Siduhe]

StraferJack Wrote:

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> You can set it to top up with a five pound

> minimum, not twenty

I think the ?5 is only at ticket offices. Tfl sent me a email a few months ago saying you can now only select an Auto top-up amount of ?20 or ?40.

[Lowlander]

PeckhamRose Wrote:

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> Exactly.I hardly ever use busses and for when I do

> I have an Oyster card. Some of you are making the

> assumption everyone thinks ahead like we do, and

> also that they are able to know about everything.

> What about occasional visitors to London? I think

> the few who use cash should be allowed to use it.

> And by the way, I know a lot of people old and

> young who still use cash at supermarkets and other

> / all shops. Indeed it is often quicker to do so.

> I shall always use cash, Oyster is useful and I

> would be happy to be able to use it to tap in and

> out for all things I buy, too. But please don't

> assume everyone's capable and socially aware of

> everything like some of you are.

From TfL's figures, just 0.03% of people prefer to pay cash (the remainder have forgotten to top up their oystercards).

We should spend ?24 million a year subsidising that?

[Otta]

When I was in Australia we had to go and buy tram tickets in a shop.

I worked it out pretty easily.

[katanita]

Oh thanks! For sure? They could make that clearer, reads like you have to activate each top up with a tube journey. In that case, I'll be doing that.

Not sure I understand how they've arrived at the figure of ?24 million costs for allowing cash payments.

Applespider Wrote:

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> katanita Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Don't think that works for auto-top up, see

> > https://oyster.tfl.gov.uk/oyster/link/0002.do.

> > It's why I never use it, much as I'd like to, I

> > almost never make tube journeys. It's a pain.

>

> You have to go to a Tube station when you first

> set auto top-up but then it will work on buses as

> well as Tubes/DLR. The annoying thing about it is

> that it used to add ?10 when there was ?5 left.

> Now it adds ?20 when it drops below ?8 which, if

> you use it relatively infrequently, can mean you

> end up with nearly ?30 stuck on it occasionally.

[LondonMix]

The savings are over 5 years so circa 5m a year in operational savings. Cash is expensive to handle / process / transfer and deposit for businesses.

[michael_FH]

?24m sounds a lot until you realise that ?30m on Oyster is unspent every year.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/10162991

Which more than makes up for the cost of handling cash.

As maxxi pointed out, it is not cash payments that delay buses most, it is random questions to drivers from people who have no intension of boarding, and people who have no intension of paying by cash or Oyster.

People complain about having to buy pre-paid credit cards to get the best deals on low cost airlines, I see no reason why we have allowed this to become acceptable on public transport.

[Lowlander]

It's not unspent, it's unclaimed

[AcedOut]

Funny how some establishments charge a premium for small card payments then!