London Banter - View Single Post - New fares from 2 January 2006

Colin Rosenstiel · **New fares from 2 January 2006 - pdf**

In article ,
(Paul Terry) wrote:

In message , Graham J
writes

I'm not really clear where the increased expense comes in.

I didn't repeat the whole saga that I outlined here a few weeks ago,
but in brief ...

Bus to Richmond Station, SWT to Waterloo, tube to office (and return):

Using a One-day Peak Travel card: £8.
Using Oyster (+ the £5.90 SWT train fare): £11.30

In other words, yes I could use Oyster - but it will be more than 40%
more expensive, and it fails to give me the additional flexibility of
using most other NR services at no extra cost should I wish to.

I also think the discrimination argument is rather flimsy.

From the 2nd January, my ODTC will cost £8.40

But if I used Oyster, the TfL component of this journey would go down
from £5.40 to £4.80.

So, while ODTC is still the better option, I do not get the advantage
of cheaper Oyster fares that are being offered to many Londoners,
although I think I pay the same GLA precept as anyone else.

Most of my journeys have a National Rail component and I don't feel
at all discriminated against. I just take the convenience and cost
benefits of Oyster where I can.

I hardly ever have that luxury. Perhaps one of several nubs of the
problem is the fact that transport charging fails to take into
account the needs of many of us who now work largely from home - in
several of the companies I work for, staff now only go into the
central London office two or three times a week (and I only go in
once or twice a month). This is environmentally to the advantage of
all, and yet such occasional travellers actually pay more - not less
- than those who use up power resources every day in their travel.

Not much of an incentive to cut congestion in London, is it?

I agree with what you're saying as someone who also goes to the office
in London twice or three times a week, but if travel times are flexible
there are cheaper options for the likes of me. I use a Network Card and
travel after 10.

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Colin Rosenstiel