In message , David of Broadway
writes
Paul G wrote:
In message , David of Broadway
writes
Paul Corfield wrote:
How to confuse absolutely everybody. I've already seen people looking
very confused when they have heard the announcements and read the
posters about the change to pre-pay only rules. Shame no one has made
that distinction in the publicity.

Hmmm. Didn't somebody suggest right here on this newsgroup that,
whatever the rules are, they should apply to everybody, PAYG and
Travelcard alike?

Maybe there was some sense in that suggestion!
PAYG and travelcard rules can't be alike for various technical
reasons (currently including many national rail stations without
Oystercard readers), unless all PAYG users pay the minimum possible
fare instead of the correct fare for their journey (which I suspect
isn't really financially viable).

Sure they can. They can implicitly assume that everybody is honest,
barring any evidence to the contrary. Most Underground travelers
encounter barriers at both ends, so they will be forced to be honest.
Would be lovely; sadly people aren't always honest. Indeed crime goes
down when you put more ticket inspectors in place (on National Rail).
That's why you need checks and balances in the system.

You're also ignoring that most London National Rail stations don't have
ticket barriers (although this could be dealt with by your point below)
and it's not viable; nor are ticket barriers closed at unmanned
stations; nor can users touch out if they didn't touch in (e.g. zone
extensions from stations outside of the Oyster area); I'm sure there's
more

That's very much unlike the current system, in which PAYG users are
implicitly assumed to be dishonest while Travelcard users are
implicitly assumed to be honest.
There's (currently) no alternatively for Travelcard users. It's a case
of better to accurately categorise some journeys than none at all.

You want to assume dishonesty? Fine. Install Oyster readers on the
trains themselves. If your station doesn't have a reader, you can
touch in or out when you enter or exit the train. Anybody who fails to
touch in and out, regardless of fare type (PAYG or Travelcard), is fined.
Again this wouldn't cover all situations (see above), unless there was a
flat fare style system. I would have also thought there are more
carriages than stations, so it would have extra cost implications.

--
Paul G
Typing from Barking