On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 23:57:07 +0100, Michael Hoffman
wrote:

Scott wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:34:22 +0100, "tim....."
wrote:

"Scott" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 22:02:46 +0100, Michael Hoffman
wrote:

Scott wrote:
On Sun, 29 Jun 2008 21:04:52 +0100, Michael Hoffman
wrote:

Scott wrote:

It's got nothing to do with residency, it's about whether or not the
ODTC +
return journey to the zone edge option will still exist. Unless
Oyster is
going to be rolled in the provinces then folks out there will still
need to
be able to buy this Travelcard option.

You mean to avoid paying for the same small section of the journey
twice. An interesting point that I had not thought of. But will the
discount that applies when an Oyser card is used balance this out?
No.
So how much is an Travelcard for zones 1-2 when purchased as an add-on
to an off-peak rail ticket?
There is no such thing. There are only out-boundary Travelcards.
There must be a price differential between (1) buying a ticket from a
place outside London to the London terminus and (2) buying a ticket
from the same place to Zones 1-2. That was the question. I do not
know all the terminology.
Actually, if you are stupid enough to buy a ticket to zone 1, the
differential is 8 pounds per return ticket.

If you buy a travel card, from my local station the extra costs is about
3.50 without a railcard or 2.30 with.

I am not sure what you are comparing with what here.

Taking a step back, you and Michael have made my point very well. I
am entirely disinterested in having to think about the intricacies of
ticketing theory before making a journey on public transport. I just
want to wave the blue card about and get on my way.

Go ahead and do so, you'll just pay a few more quid each day if you do
it that way. But please don't try to eliminate the option for those who
would prefer to save that money.

There are winners and losers in every change. Fares are set to
produce an intended level of revenue. Any zonal system distributes
the cost fairly crudely between users. There is no reason why Oyster
card should result in higher fares overall. It is just a matter of
setting the level of fares to produce the required revenue.

A clue here is in the name - Transport FOR London. Those living
elsewhere just have to fit in. If you live in Edinburgh you have to
get yourself to London and get a ticket when you get there and I don't
see why anyone else should be treated differently. Everyone has the
option to buy an Oyser card so there is no discrimination against
non-Londoners in that respect.

It is now recognised that one of the biggest problems with the rail
system is the complexity of the fares. Look at the simplification
currently taking place with National Rail fares. We need to get rid
of outdated technical distinctions that are of interest to 'anoraks'
and move to a simple fare structure that users (and perhaps more
importantly non-users) can understand. If some pay a bit more and
others a bit less then so be it. That is what happened when the zones
were introduced. That is what happens to non Oyster users paying £4
on the tube instead of £1.50.

So I say as soon as National Rail services in the London area are
equipped with Oyster then Oyser card should become the only form of
One Day Travelcard. Bring it on.