On 23 Dec, 15:28, Mizter T wrote:

On 23 Dec, 13:46, Jarle H Knudsen wrote:

On Tue, 23 Dec 2008 03:12:40 -0800 (PST), Chris wrote:
At this point a fare structure based on the peak/off-peak principle
that is being introduced on the Underground, Overground & DLR
will be put in place.

I thought that Underground, Overground & DLR has had a
peak/off-peak principle for years.

Yes it does, but that needs to be explained a bit! What is happening
is a new 'off-peak' period for London Underground (LU) fares during
the day.

Let me try and explain this quickly and concisely. When buying a
suburban (i.e. mainline) rail ticket, one can either get a more
expensive *Anytime* Day Return for unlimited use at any time including
before 0930, and a cheaper *Off-Peak* Day Return only available for
use *after 0930* weekdays (and all the time at weekends and public
holidays). This basic rule applies across London and the south east of
England, albeit with a number of exceptions - though there are no
exceptions for journeys wholly within London. (Note that in London
single rail tickets do not have a peak/off-peak divide - they are all
the same price)

This principal extends to Day Travelcards, which allow unlimited
travel on any suburban, Underground, and DLR trains within the zones
of the Travelcard (and any London buses regardless of zones - the bus
network doesn't have a zonal fare system any more). There are (pretty)
expensive *Anytime* Day Travelcards (the new name for Peak Day
Travelcards) which permit unlimited use at any time including before
0930 weekdays, and then cheaper Off-Peak Day Travelcards only for use
after 0930 weekdays and (and all the time at weekends and public
holidays).

When using Oyster PAYG there are daily price caps that are
'equivalent' to the Day Travelcard, with both higher 'Peak' caps and
lower 'Off-Peak' caps (the caps depend on what zones you have
travelled through)
N.B.- the system is designed to ensure that you always get the best
value, which might mean that during one day you could be capped at the
relevant Off-Peak daily price cap rate and also pay for a single
journey during the peak time if this is cheaper than paying the Peak
cap.

OK, got that? Now let's make things more complicated! There is a quite
separate peak/off-peak regime for Oyster PAYG single fares on LU fares
(this includes the DLR and also the limited number of NR routes that
currently accept Oyster PAYG). *So far this has not actually
explicitly been called "Peak" and "Off-Peak", presumably to avoid
confusion with the Travelcard and daily price capping Peak and Off-
Peak regime as described above - it has instead been referred to in
TfL publicity by the different times of the day the different fare
levels apply to (see below), also the different fare levels have also
been called the "higher Oyster fare" and the "lower Oyster fare" (and
in internal documents they are called the "standard Oyster fare" and
"discount Oyster fare"). However it seems that TfL have given up on
any attempt not to pollute the meaning of Peak and Off-Peak, and have
given in to the inevitable and now also calling these Oyster single
fares "peak" ("higher"/ "standard") and "off-peak" ("lower"/
"discount"). In large part I expect this is because of the fares
changes coming into effect in 2009.

What has happened so far (up until the 2008 fares) is that the higher
Oyster PAYG fare has been charged for single LU journeys "Monday to
Friday from 0700 and before 1900", and the lower fare has been charged
"All other times including public holidays" - see page 16 of the 2008
Fares booklet here (PDF):http://mizter.t.googlepages.com/fare...s-zones1-6.pdf

This is all changing next year - basically the higher Oyster fare will
only be charged during the morning and evening rush hours, at other
times the lower fare will apply. Specifically this is what the new
2009 Fares booklet has to say:
*"Peak Oyster single fares apply from 0630 to 0930 and from 1600 to
1900 Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays). At all other times,
the Off-Peak Oyster single fare applies."
*(see page 5) (PDF)http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloa...res-and-ticket...

The London Travelwatch document suggests that when Oyster PAYG is
implemented all across National Rail in London next September, whilst
the actual level of fares will be different to LU (though standardised
across all TOCs) the same Peak/Off-Peak time windows will apply.

There are thus now two different charging regimes which both use the
"Peak" and "Off-Peak" terminology but to mean different things.
Confusion, here we come!

(It's worth noting that the higher Peak fare will be charged if a
passenger touches-in or out anytime during the relevant Peak time-
window. Buses and trams do not charge peak fares, and the daily price
cap for bus and tram journeys of £3 - £3.30 next year - applies
regardless of the time of day, i.e. there is no peak/off-peak divide
when it comes to bus-only capping. Likewise the paper one day Bus Pass
is valid at any time of the day.)

I trust that's all as clear as the muddy Thames?


Obviously I didn't do a very good job at being concise. Thinking about
it perhaps this would be a better summary...

---
* The Peak and Off-Peak Oyster daily price capping regimes continue as
before - journeys made between 0430 and 0930 on weekdays contribute
towards the Peak cap. Journeys at all other times contribute towards
the Off-Peak cap. (In certain scenarios a passenger will pay the level
of an Off-Peak cap plus a single peak-time journey if that works out
cheaper that the Peak cap.)

* From 2 Jan 2009, on weekdays the Peak Oyster PAYG fare is only
charged for journeys between 06:30 and 09:30, and also between 1600
and 1900. At all other times the Off-Peak Oyster PAYG fare will be
charged.

* Therefore someone travelling between 1600 and 1900 will pay the Peak
Oyster PAYG fare, however the journey will only contribute towards the
Off-Peak daily price cap.
* Likewise someone travelling before 0630 will pay the Off-Peak Oyster
PAYG fare, but that journey will contribute towards a Peak daily price
cap.

* Slightly different rules apply on the suburban rail route between
Euston and Watford Junction - these are to the benefit of the
passenger as they basically mean the Off-Peak Oyster PAYG fare applies
more widely.

* There are not different Peak and Off-Peak fares on London buses, the
same flat fare of £1 (from 2009) applies regardless of the time of
day. All bus journeys during a single day, regardless of the time of
day (i.e. between 0430 - 0429 early the next morning) contribute
towards a bus-only daily price cap of £3.30. However if a passenger is
also using LU, DLR or NR services (on routes where Oyster PAYG is
accepted) during that day then bus journeys before 0930 may contribute
towards a Peak daily price cap instead if that works out cheaper for
the passenger - otherwise any bus journeys before 0930 may be charged
separately.
---

That might be a better summary. Explaining in simple terms how bus
journeys fit in with daily price capping is actually the most
difficult bit - this is despite the fact that if one *only* travels by
bus during any one day, it's actually the simplest bit (i.e. no zones,
no time windows, just a cap of £3.30)!