On 12 Nov, 20:06, Arthur Figgis wrote:
Mizter T wrote:

So here are my comments on this...

Since beginning of this year all point-to-point *non-season* tickets -
i.e. single and day returns - for journeys wholly within London (i.e.
zones 1-6) have had their prices set on a zonal basis (although they
are still issued on a named origin and destination basis and
validity). At the time we were told that season tickets would also
eventually also be priced on this bases.

Southern seem to have annual seasons priced on a zonal basis. I buy an
annual season for a journey entirely in one zone, so rather than buy a
ticket for the trip I actually do most days, I buy a season ticket
between the last stations within the zone, so if I ever need to go to
them it costs me nowt extra. The first time I bought such a ticket the
staff seemed a bit surprised, but they weren't this year and I guess it
must be pretty common by now - you'd be daft not to. I've also found a
bit of a validity loophole, which the staff accept is valid, but I'm
keeping quiet on that one :-)

I believe Southern have been pricing all their tickets, season or
otherwise, on a zonal basis since January 2005. When I realised that's
what they were doing I certainly saw the potential for doing exactly
what you do - i.e. making the most of your money by getting in as much
trackage on your season ticket as possible.

If such zonal pricing is adopted on a London-wide basis I'd expect
many other people to clock on to this possibility as well!

Regarding routes in south London - there is certainly a lot of
potential for getting as much "extra validity" as possible when it
comes to choosing a season ticket. I have to say you have piqued my
interest with whatever cunning scheme you've come up with! (So please
feel free to email me off-group to share it on a totally confidential
basis!)


The main thing that the report lacks clarity on is whether rail-only
season tickets are to be withdrawn completely and commuters moved over
on to Travelcard seasons, or whether rail-seasons might continue to
exist, albeit priced on a zonal basis.

A couple of years or so ago they abolished single zone annual seasons,
so anyone needing say a z5 annual travelcard had to get a z4-5 (or z5-6)
instead, which meant a massive increase in price. At that point I
switched to a point-to-point rail only season instead. A single zone
travelcard was worth the extra cost for the "free" bus and tram use, but
a two-zone travelcard was so much more expensive it was only worthwhile
for very frequent travellers.

Yes. There wasn't a great deal of complaint about that change, less so
than I would have thought. I guess that the number of people who
previously had a single zone Travelcard was perhaps not that great. Of
course for some people PAYG has become an option worth considering
even for commuting purposes.


Reading between the lines the report would appear to presume the
former course of action - i.e. withdrawal of rail-only season tickets
altogether.

OTOH, if the Evening Standard reported that the moon was made of rock, I
would get a second opinion from a cheese expert.


Well, they need to sell their papers somehow I suppose. But one does
become somewhat accustomed to the shock horror Evening Standard
headline that transmutes overnight into something far milder by the
time it reaches the morning papers!