In article ,
David Boothroyd wrote:
I've never had any problem with getting an Oyster accepted by conductors
on RM buses before. Anyone know whether the conductor was right?

I'm fairly sure that the conductor was wrong. I have also never seen anyone
check a record card sufficently well to mean anything.

I've paid for a travelcard which is valid for all buses and I'm damn well
not going to restrict myself to the ones with Oyster readers. It's TFL's
problem if they can't check my ticket.

I concur.


--
Good night little fishey-wishes.... I've counted you, so no
sneaky eating each other.
-- FW (should I worry?)

"Mike Bristow" wrote in message
...
In article ,
David Boothroyd wrote:
I've never had any problem with getting an Oyster accepted by conductors
on RM buses before. Anyone know whether the conductor was right?

I'm fairly sure that the conductor was wrong. I have also never seen
anyone
check a record card sufficently well to mean anything.

I've paid for a travelcard which is valid for all buses and I'm damn
well
not going to restrict myself to the ones with Oyster readers. It's TFL's
problem if they can't check my ticket.

I concur.



IIRC the record card only needs to be carried for National Rail journeys
with Oyster travelcards within the zones. (Does anyone know if this was a
sop to the TOCs so they would accept Oystercards?).

However the advise I read for buses was along the lines 'on buses with
on-board crew simply show your Oystercard for the time being', the
assumption being that upgraded personal ticket machines with handheld
scanners were not far off.

I am fairly certain that the conductor was wrong, and the passengers
response should have been 'I am fully entitled to use any bus I choose; tell
your managers to pull their fingers out and supply you with new machines'.

Colin

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:50:08 -0000, "Colin"
wrote:

I am fairly certain that the conductor was wrong, and the passengers
response should have been 'I am fully entitled to use any bus I choose; tell
your managers to pull their fingers out and supply you with new machines'.

Given that Routemasters are very much on their way out, I doubt new
machines will be provided, as the likely revenue loss from not being
able to check the tickets is probably low.

That said, I wonder what kind of means will be provided for travelling
ticket inspectors on cashless buses to perform a check? Will they
need to bring all passengers forward to use the on-bus ticket machine?
Or, will the machine be able to print a list of serial numbers which
have been used on that journey, so the cards can be checked manually?
(Do they have a printed serial number?)

Neil

--
Neil Williams
is a valid email address, but is sent to /dev/null.
Try my first name at the above domain instead if you want to e-mail me.

Neil Williams wrote:

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:50:08 -0000, "Colin"
wrote:

I am fairly certain that the conductor was wrong, and the passengers
response should have been 'I am fully entitled to use any bus I choose; tell
your managers to pull their fingers out and supply you with new machines'.

Given that Routemasters are very much on their way out, I doubt new
machines will be provided, as the likely revenue loss from not being
able to check the tickets is probably low.

That said, I wonder what kind of means will be provided for travelling
ticket inspectors on cashless buses to perform a check?

Not what you asked, but I got my Oyster checked with a handheld reader
on the WAGN train from Chingford to Liverpool Street the other day (just
before Bethnal Green, of course), so portable readers are getting out
there.

Took him about six times longer than checking a ticket though.

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 21:25:17 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

That said, I wonder what kind of means will be provided for travelling
ticket inspectors on cashless buses to perform a check? Will they
need to bring all passengers forward to use the on-bus ticket machine?
Or, will the machine be able to print a list of serial numbers which
have been used on that journey, so the cards can be checked manually?
(Do they have a printed serial number?)

Serial number is printed on the back of the Oystercard, as well as the
Record Card (if you have one) or Receipt (if you renew at one of the big
Touch Screen Ticket Machines at Underground Stations anyway).

Incidentally, if you're using one of the bendy-bus routes, TfL suggest
that you still board by the front door and pass your Oyster over the
reader, regardless of whether it's Pre-Pay or a Travelcard.

HTH,

Barry

--
Barry Salter, barry at southie dot me dot uk
Read uk.* newsgroups? Read uk.net.news.announce!

DISCLAIMER: The above comments do not necessarily represent the
views of my employers.

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 21:25:17 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

[snip]
That said, I wonder what kind of means will be provided for travelling
ticket inspectors on cashless buses to perform a check?

A hand-held checker has been developed for revenue staff which will be
able to interrogate an Oyster.


Rob.
--
rob at robertwoolley dot co dot uk

In message , Robert Woolley
writes
On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 21:25:17 GMT, (Neil
Williams) wrote:

[snip]
That said, I wonder what kind of means will be provided for travelling
ticket inspectors on cashless buses to perform a check?

A hand-held checker has been developed for revenue staff which will be
able to interrogate an Oyster.

And read it its rights?
--
Kat Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax
and get used to the idea - Robert A. Heinlein

Some revenue protectors (aka ticket inspectors) have handheld Oyster
readers. Some ask you for the expiry date of the Oyster just to make sure
it's yours, others don't. Other RPs w/o handheld readers just glance at the
Oyster and the photocard and move on.

Nes.
--
To reply directly to me, please remove all the spam-deflecting X's!
Either that, or simply reply to the group!
--



"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:50:08 -0000, "Colin"
wrote:

I am fairly certain that the conductor was wrong, and the passengers
response should have been 'I am fully entitled to use any bus I choose;
tell
your managers to pull their fingers out and supply you with new
machines'.

Given that Routemasters are very much on their way out, I doubt new
machines will be provided, as the likely revenue loss from not being
able to check the tickets is probably low.

That said, I wonder what kind of means will be provided for travelling
ticket inspectors on cashless buses to perform a check? Will they
need to bring all passengers forward to use the on-bus ticket machine?
Or, will the machine be able to print a list of serial numbers which
have been used on that journey, so the cards can be checked manually?
(Do they have a printed serial number?)

Neil

--
Neil Williams
is a valid email address, but is sent to
/dev/null.
Try my first name at the above domain instead if you want to e-mail me.

"Neil Williams" wrote in message
...

Will they need to bring all passengers forward to use the on-bus ticket
machine?

I don't think that'd work, as the Oyster reader at the driver's position
would complain about "passback attempted", which has happened to me a couple
of times, when the first read went wrong and the driver asked me to wave the
card in front of the reader and that error was generated.

Nes.
--
To reply directly to me, please remove all the spam-deflecting X's!
Either that, or simply reply to the group!
--

On Tue, 25 Nov 2003 20:50:08 -0000, "Colin"
wrote:

snipped, with apologies

However the advise I read for buses was along the lines 'on buses with
on-board crew simply show your Oystercard for the time being', the
assumption being that upgraded personal ticket machines with handheld
scanners were not far off.

This sounds correct to me. I have it on good authority, for instance,
that passengers with Oyster at NR stations without readers have been
told to show 'extreme discretion' during the teething period.

Rob