On 17 Sep, 22:31, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 17 Sep 2009 14:13:23 -0700 (PDT), MIG





wrote:
On 17 Sep, 21:42, Paul Corfield wrote:
On Thu, 17 Sep 2009 01:12:10 -0700 (PDT), MIG

wrote:
So Boris, ie the Tories, undoubtedly prefers a future where fares can
be raised without it being blatantly obvious. *Point to point PAYG
fares are much easier to raise in subtle ways by recalculations and so
on without appearing to be across-the-board increases (and without
people even noticing what they are paying with autotopup etc).

I'm quite sure that they have no actual plan for how they on Earth
they can just abolish zones and travelcards and raise fares, but I
also think that they'd love to have that situation. *This map is just
one little logical building block that's consistent with that vision.

They can't abolish Travelcard - it would be political death not only in
London but also in the home counties. *I believe Travelcard is also a
"protected" product under the Railways Act plus there are other
governing agreements that would be hard to unravel.

Ye - es, I can see that, although maybe an alternative would be to
eventually put up travelcard prices at a time when no one is using
them any more. *Smartcard outboundary seasons would probably kill them
off completely, even if they are technically available. *And once
everyone is on PAYG ...

Sorry but not everyone will go to PAYG. *Travelcard is too well
established for it to be withdrawn or to suddenly lose its share of the
market. It's too convenient a product. *It also allows things that PAYG
doesn't because of its commercial rules. For that reason also there will
always be a demand for the more flexible product.

TfL was trying to claim that PAYG was a replacement for travelcards
years ago, and no doubt they will push for that again if ever PAYG is
accepted on NR.

I can't recall TfL ever making that statement.


Just on that, I was thinking of the "Blue is the new pink" campaign
that had to be pulled after an ASA ruling (or whichever relevant
authority).