On Feb 6, 8:13*pm, Ganesh Sittampalam
wrote:
On Feb 6, 5:22*pm, Neil *Williams wrote:

It is absolutely nonsensical that you are penalised for a journey that
requires two buses, and you are penalised for changing from Tube/train
to bus.

Isn't it cheaper for the operator if your journey has one leg rather
than two? There's overhead from getting on/off - people getting on
buses, interchange capacity at stations, etc. It seems like a good
thing to me to encourage people at the margins to not change - though
the current fares structure isn't right for that either since it does
allow unlimited tube changes for free; and the "penalty" for changing
in the circumstances you describe is probably too high.

Ganesh


Interchange is a necessity to counter the practical inability to serve
all possible journeys whilst exploiting the high carrying capacity of
trains on core routes. Outer bus journeys transfer to tube or bus for
a faster & more reliable trunk leg to popular city destinations. Inner
bus distribution takes people from rail station to wider range of
possible destinations. The whole journey may not be possible in one
leg, or on bus mode alone. People 'endure' transfer because it gives
them overall journey time, reliability or comfort benefits, but it
brings it's own anxieties (will i catch the next connection?). I think
transfer penalties should be minimal if any, although I agree there
are areas where it needs to be managed to avoid overcrowding.

--
Mark