On 16/09/2012 21:22, wrote:
On 16/09/2012 20:02, Phil wrote:
d writes:

On Fri, 14 Sep 2012 13:20:36 +0100
Tony Dragon wrote:

It's amazing how many people stand at the bus stop for 5 minutes and
only remember that they have to pay just as they board the bus.

Probably the same idiots who get to the supermarket checkout and only
then
start excavating their handbags for their purse.

Or get a statement out of a cash machine and stand there reading it,
oblivious that they are preventing those behind her using the machine.


Or those that sit there for a while, trying to figure out what to do
once they have keyed in their PIN.

I'm convinced there is a series of options on cash machines that are
invisible to the rest of us and are mainly used by those who seem to
commune with the things for hours

On 14 Sep, 13:20, Tony Dragon wrote:

It's amazing how many people stand at the bus stop for 5 minutes and
only remember that they have to pay just as they board the bus.- Hide quoted text -

Given the historic unreliability of London bus services, I would be
reluctant to put money into a machine until I knew for sure the bus
would come.

Peter

peter wrote:

Given the historic unreliability of London bus services, I would be
reluctant to put money into a machine until I knew for sure the bus
would come.

Fair point, though I think the OP referred to buses where you do pay the
driver, and many people board having been waiting for ages and only then
start faffing in their bag for their purse / wallet / Oyster rather than
having it ready in their hand.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

Roland Perry wrote:

At the supermarket self-checkout yesterday I observed someone paying in
coins, one at a time, looking at the display in between each one to see
how much more was required. She was putting in over a fiver in small
coins! Even if you over-pay, they return the balance to you as change.

More modern ones have a hopper you can just pour coins in. It's how I get
rid of my change jar contents these days - do a big shop at Tesco, lob them
all in, then pay the balance by credit card.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

wrote:

That last suggestion is stunningly unhelpful for disabled users and parents
with babies in buggies who need to buy tickets!

I believe travel is free in Germany for disabled people, certainly
wheelchair users. The buggy can be parked and its owner walk forwards to
pay if the bus isn't too busy, and if it is a bit of sensible tolerance of
paying later when it's quieter can be applied.

Access for wheelchairs etc through the space separated by the front wheels
is rather sub-optimal compared with direct access to a multipurpose space
directly opposite a rear door as in London and Germany.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

Paul Corfield wrote:

London has never been able to make multi stream boarding work properly
- what happens when someone's Oyster card bleeps and they're in the
"non driver" lane. Answer - they either dodge their fare or the job
stops while they back track and queue to see the driver.

Has it ever properly tried it?

I did notice that when regional buses went low floor and the centre pole
went away, operations got slower because you have to wait for everyone to
alight before boarding, while before you could board and start paying on
the driver side of the pole while people alighted on the other side.

The pole also makes things easier for those not in a wheelchair but who
find it easier to have handrails on both sides when boarding.

Neil
--
Neil Williams in Milton Keynes, UK. Put first name before the at to reply.

In message
.
net, at 08:27:47 on Mon, 17 Sep 2012, Neil Williams
remarked:
At the supermarket self-checkout yesterday I observed someone paying in
coins, one at a time, looking at the display in between each one to see
how much more was required. She was putting in over a fiver in small
coins! Even if you over-pay, they return the balance to you as change.

More modern ones have a hopper you can just pour coins in. It's how I get
rid of my change jar contents these days - do a big shop at Tesco, lob them
all in, then pay the balance by credit card.

I've not seen one of those, but even without a hopper you can bung in
about two coins a second if you try hard. This lady was putting in one
coin, looking at the screen, finding another single coin in her purse,
carefully inserting it, looking at the screen... rinse and repeat.
--
Roland Perry

In article

, (Neil Williams) wrote:

wrote:

That last suggestion is stunningly unhelpful for disabled users and
parents with babies in buggies who need to buy tickets!

I believe travel is free in Germany for disabled people, certainly
wheelchair users. The buggy can be parked and its owner walk forwards to
pay if the bus isn't too busy, and if it is a bit of sensible tolerance of
paying later when it's quieter can be applied.

Access for wheelchairs etc through the space separated by the front wheels
is rather sub-optimal compared with direct access to a multipurpose space
directly opposite a rear door as in London and Germany.

I can see you've never handled a buggy with a pre-walking child. Leaving it
on the pavement while buying a ticket from the driver is the last thing most
parents would do.

Ex-London double deckers with barriers dividing the only entrance were
common on Cambridge rural routes when my granddaughter was in that state.
Her mother was dropped in the middle of nowhere once by an idiot driver,
having overshot her stop.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
news
In message , at 20:02:59 on Sun, 16 Sep 2012,
Phil remarked:
through her purse looking for an Oystercard, and then starts yelling
at
the driver when he says that he needs to drive off.

It's amazing how many people stand at the bus stop for 5 minutes and
only remember that they have to pay just as they board the bus.

Probably the same idiots who get to the supermarket checkout and only
then
start excavating their handbags for their purse.

Or get a statement out of a cash machine and stand there reading it,
oblivious that they are preventing those behind her using the machine.

At the supermarket self-checkout yesterday I observed someone paying in
coins, one at a time, looking at the display in between each one to see
how much more was required. She was putting in over a fiver in small
coins! Even if you over-pay, they return the balance to you as change.

I've put money in the self checkout and not had it register before now, on
one occasion I was certain and when I complained it was found hiding on a
little ledge inside the machine, on another occasion I was only 99% certain
so I didn't complain and lost the 10p!

I now make sure that each coin registers before I put in the next (it's not
always a 10p!)

tim

Roland Perry wrote:

In message , at 20:02:59 on Sun, 16 Sep 2012,
Phil remarked:
through her purse looking for an Oystercard, and then starts yelling at
the driver when he says that he needs to drive off.

It's amazing how many people stand at the bus stop for 5 minutes and
only remember that they have to pay just as they board the bus.

Probably the same idiots who get to the supermarket checkout and only then
start excavating their handbags for their purse.

Or get a statement out of a cash machine and stand there reading it,
oblivious that they are preventing those behind her using the machine.

At the supermarket self-checkout yesterday I observed someone paying in
coins, one at a time, looking at the display in between each one to see
how much more was required. She was putting in over a fiver in small
coins! Even if you over-pay, they return the balance to you as change.


Hmmm

And when finally paid up, she carefully took every item individually off
the bagging area and placed it in her rucksack. Which took another
several minutes.

Well if you have a rucksack you have to do that or else call the helper
for everyother item as it does not register as the sensor does not
really hold a rucksack.

--
Mark