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Student Oyster
I got mine in the post today. They've moved from issuing plain old
photocards to printing your photo and name onto a personalised Oyster, which is encoded with your discount entitlement, so you can buy your discounted season tickets from the machine or online, rather than having to go to the ticket office to do it. Unfortunately you can't get your existing Oyster's prepay balance transferred onto it; looks like I'll have a main Oyster and an emergency/guest Oyster from now on. I mention this all because a while ago we had a thread mentioning YP Railcard discounts on Travelcards versus prepay capping. It would seem that since Oysters are now issued to students in this fashion, it would be easy to set different prepay cap levels for a student Oyster, corresponding to the YP discounts. -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Student Oyster
Dave Arquati wrote: I got mine in the post today. They've moved from issuing plain old photocards to printing your photo and name onto a personalised Oyster, which is encoded with your discount entitlement, so you can buy your discounted season tickets from the machine or online, rather than having to go to the ticket office to do it. Unfortunately you can't get your existing Oyster's prepay balance transferred onto it; looks like I'll have a main Oyster and an emergency/guest Oyster from now on. I mention this all because a while ago we had a thread mentioning YP Railcard discounts on Travelcards versus prepay capping. It would seem that since Oysters are now issued to students in this fashion, it would be easy to set different prepay cap levels for a student Oyster, corresponding to the YP discounts. -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London What did you need to get one? I currently have an oyster card for this acadmic year + IC paperwork, etc. Can you apply for a next year card if you currently have a this year one? |
Student Oyster
On Tue, 10 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:
I got mine in the post today. They've moved from issuing plain old photocards to printing your photo and name onto a personalised Oyster, which is encoded with your discount entitlement, Do you get a new one every year? so you can buy your discounted season tickets from the machine or online, rather than having to go to the ticket office to do it. Hmm. I can buy student-rate period travelcards at the machine; i have to do it via a renewal rather than a new ticket purchase, though. Unfortunately you can't get your existing Oyster's prepay balance transferred onto it; looks like I'll have a main Oyster and an emergency/guest Oyster from now on. Huh? Can't you give in your old one and get the money back? I've never tried that, but i'd assumed it was possible - after all, you pay a deposit for an Oyster, and 'deposit' implies the possibility of a refund. I mention this all because a while ago we had a thread mentioning YP Railcard discounts on Travelcards versus prepay capping. It would seem that since Oysters are now issued to students in this fashion, it would be easy to set different prepay cap levels for a student Oyster, corresponding to the YP discounts. That would be nice. I'm still looking forward to capping to 7DTC etc prices, though ... tom -- Any Christmas message which ends with "... everything's pointless ..." probably doesn't need sharing -- cleanskies |
Student Oyster
Chris! wrote:
Dave Arquati wrote: I got mine in the post today. They've moved from issuing plain old photocards to printing your photo and name onto a personalised Oyster, which is encoded with your discount entitlement, so you can buy your discounted season tickets from the machine or online, rather than having to go to the ticket office to do it. Unfortunately you can't get your existing Oyster's prepay balance transferred onto it; looks like I'll have a main Oyster and an emergency/guest Oyster from now on. I mention this all because a while ago we had a thread mentioning YP Railcard discounts on Travelcards versus prepay capping. It would seem that since Oysters are now issued to students in this fashion, it would be easy to set different prepay cap levels for a student Oyster, corresponding to the YP discounts. What did you need to get one? I currently have an oyster card for this acadmic year + IC paperwork, etc. Can you apply for a next year card if you currently have a this year one? I just applied in the standard fashion - got a form from the college registry, filled in out, got them to stamp it, and I sent it off with the £5 payment. I presume they're issuing all new student cards in this way now. I don't know whether you can apply for next year's one - if you're carrying on an existing course, then I don't think it matters what year you are on any more; the Oyster is encoded with a "finish date" for the student entitlement, which I presume is just the end date of your course as filled in on the application form. -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Student Oyster
Tom Anderson wrote:
On Tue, 10 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote: I got mine in the post today. They've moved from issuing plain old photocards to printing your photo and name onto a personalised Oyster, which is encoded with your discount entitlement, Do you get a new one every year? No. The entitlement has a finish date encoded, so once that runs out, you can either carry on using it for adult-rate tickets, prepay, or get the entitlement renewed if appropriate. I'm not sure if the finish date is the end of the current academic year or the end date of your course as entered on the application form. Both are the same for me at the moment, as I'm starting a new course in October. so you can buy your discounted season tickets from the machine or online, rather than having to go to the ticket office to do it. Hmm. I can buy student-rate period travelcards at the machine; i have to do it via a renewal rather than a new ticket purchase, though. Unfortunately you can't get your existing Oyster's prepay balance transferred onto it; looks like I'll have a main Oyster and an emergency/guest Oyster from now on. Huh? Can't you give in your old one and get the money back? I've never tried that, but i'd assumed it was possible - after all, you pay a deposit for an Oyster, and 'deposit' implies the possibility of a refund. You can, but I don't think I can be bothered with the hassle. I really just wanted to transfer the prepay from my old card straight onto the new one. I mention this all because a while ago we had a thread mentioning YP Railcard discounts on Travelcards versus prepay capping. It would seem that since Oysters are now issued to students in this fashion, it would be easy to set different prepay cap levels for a student Oyster, corresponding to the YP discounts. That would be nice. I'm still looking forward to capping to 7DTC etc prices, though ... Yes, that would be extremely handy, particularly for students in the summer term who may be going to and from university unpredictably. I'm still slightly bemused by the discount Zone 2 7DTC only costing 10p more than a bus pass. Make a single tube journey to/from Zone 2 and you're quids in. -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Student Oyster
On Thu, 12 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote: On Tue, 10 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote: I got mine in the post today. They've moved from issuing plain old photocards to printing your photo and name onto a personalised Oyster, which is encoded with your discount entitlement, Do you get a new one every year? No. The entitlement has a finish date encoded, so once that runs out, you can either carry on using it for adult-rate tickets, prepay, or get the entitlement renewed if appropriate. Clever. I'm still looking forward to capping to 7DTC etc prices, though ... Yes, that would be extremely handy, particularly for students in the summer term who may be going to and from university unpredictably. Or those who, in the spring term, cycle to work, except when the weather's horrible! tom -- Gotta treat 'em mean to make 'em scream. |
Student Oyster
I've been a 'lurker' for a short while on this ng, being interested as
I am in transportational matters in the great metropolis that is Londinium, so it's about time I got involved. I'd never noticed the pricing difference of 20p (not 10p, but it's not a deal breaker) between a 7-day Bus Pass and a Zone 2 7DTC (or indeed a single zone 7DTC for any of the zones apart from Z1, i.e. Zone 2/3/4/5/6). There is (obviously) a similar negligible difference between monthly and annual Bus Passes and monthly Z2/3/4/5/6 Travelcards - £42.30 vs £43.10 for monthlies, and £440 vs £448 for annuals. My current travel needs mean I often purchase weekly bus passes, but I do on occasion travel on the 'overground' entirely within Zone 2 (and having a Travelcard would mean I'd so more frequently) so I'll definitely be buying said Travelcard in the future. In addition, on the (admittedly rare) occasions I need to take my young cousins somewhere by public transport, it'd enable me to get them a Day Travelcard for a quid. Though this might be more useful for other people, however considering that the 'kid for a quid' kid has to travel with you, and you can only travel by rail/tube in one zone then perhaps it's not much more useful than the £1 child one-day buss pass. If someone was to buy an annual Travelcard as opposed to a Bus Pass, then of course they'd also benefit from the Gold Card 1/3 reduction on rail travel in the south east. The one thing that you'd lose out from if you were buying a Zone 2 Travelcard instead of Bus Pass would be the freedom of Croydon, more specifically the ability to use Tramlink on your ticket. To travel on the trams you need either a Bus Pass, or Travelcard valid for any zone between 3 and 6. But as I don't go out with 'her' anymore I'm not down that way so often! (By the by, I do think that it's a slight anomaly that Travelcards are now valid on any bus regardless of that Travelcard's zone (a great recent innovation), and Bus Passes are now valid on the trams (again a good thing), so in terms of ticketing a tram is almost the same thing as a bus - apart from the lack of validity of Z1 and Z2 Travelcards. I guess the logic is that you can't go by train/tube to a tram interchange without going into Z3/4/5, but I still think it's an aberration from the 'tram is a bus' ticketing logic.) A far more verbose first post than intended - but thanks for the heads up on the Bus Pass / Travelcard pricing difference Mr Arquati. |
Student Oyster
"Mizter T" typed
In addition, on the (admittedly rare) occasions I need to take my young cousins somewhere by public transport, it'd enable me to get them a Day Travelcard for a quid. Though this might be more useful for other people, however considering that the 'kid for a quid' kid has to travel with you, and you can only travel by rail/tube in one zone then perhaps it's not much more useful than the £1 child one-day buss pass. Don't forget under 11s go free on the buses anyway. How old are your cousins? -- Helen D. Vecht: Edgware. |
Student Oyster
Mizter T wrote:
(snip) A far more verbose first post than intended - but thanks for the heads up on the Bus Pass / Travelcard pricing difference Mr Arquati. You're very welcome. I'll probably get myself a Z2 7DTC as I'll most likely be living in Zone 2 soon, and I'm almost certain to take the Tube at least once a week - saving myself a few pence in the process. I don't have much of an urge to go to Croydon except about once a year, so I should be OK on the tram front. It's an interesting oddity though! -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Student Oyster
Dave Arquati wrote: Mizter T wrote: (snip) A far more verbose first post than intended - but thanks for the heads up on the Bus Pass / Travelcard pricing difference Mr Arquati. You're very welcome. I'll probably get myself a Z2 7DTC as I'll most likely be living in Zone 2 soon, and I'm almost certain to take the Tube at least once a week - saving myself a few pence in the process. I don't have much of an urge to go to Croydon except about once a year, so I should be OK on the tram front. It's an interesting oddity though! I noticed the Tramlink odity too. Although if your just popping to Ikea (or whatever else there is in Croydon) for a little while it doesn't seem to charge you for the return journey |
Student Oyster
Chris! wrote:
Dave Arquati wrote: Mizter T wrote: (snip) A far more verbose first post than intended - but thanks for the heads up on the Bus Pass / Travelcard pricing difference Mr Arquati. You're very welcome. I'll probably get myself a Z2 7DTC as I'll most likely be living in Zone 2 soon, and I'm almost certain to take the Tube at least once a week - saving myself a few pence in the process. I don't have much of an urge to go to Croydon except about once a year, so I should be OK on the tram front. It's an interesting oddity though! I noticed the Tramlink odity too. Although if your just popping to Ikea (or whatever else there is in Croydon) for a little while it doesn't seem to charge you for the return journey There's something else in Croydon except Ikea? I never did get further than Ampere Way tramstop. I think the lack of charging on the return journey is because if the time from your touch-in is short enough, it considers you to be changing trams. The application of Oyster to the trams seems a bit messed up compared to other modes. It would be more intuitive to either be touch in on boarding (like buses) or touch in and touch out at the platform (like the Tube). I know if the latter were the case, people could go off and do their shopping and get back on the tram without officially leaving the system, but it seems as though they can do that anyway under the current system. There could be something stopping you touching in and out at the same station after time interval X. -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Student Oyster
Three of them are between 10 and 16, and another is older. They're all
good fun. To be honest I doubt I'll take advantage of the 'kid for a quid' option very often, but it's an advantage of a 7-day or longer Travelcard that should be bourne on mind. Though I'm not planning on having any little terrors quite yet! I guess there's a mix of newer and older Londoner's on this newsgroup, and perhaps some may agree with me in thinking that TfL ticketing is certainly more innovative and, in some respects, better value than it was say 7 years ago. Though of course when you start comparing the prices with Paris, Berlin and New York it doesn't look so rosy! |
Student Oyster
Chris! wrote to uk.transport.london on Sat, 14 May 2005:
I noticed the Tramlink odity too. Although if your just popping to Ikea (or whatever else there is in Croydon) for a little while it doesn't seem to charge you for the return journey How on earth do you manage to pop into Ikea "for a little while"? It seems to take ages to get out once I get in. -- "Mrs Redboots" http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/ Website updated 3 April 2005 |
Student Oyster
(Apols for the lack of brevity in the post that follows!)
I don't live down that way, but my dentist (an old family friend) practises in Croydon, so every six months or so I take the opportunity to complement my polish and scale with picking up bits and bobs in the department stores down that way (which are in the town centre - Ikea is 'out' on the Purley Way, alongside the other warehouse style stores, so a trip to Ikea is not really a trip to Croydon). Plus I've had other connections with the area over time. Croydon is also the tenth largest town in England (if you regard the whole London Borough of Croydon as the town), and the "sixth largest commercial office location" - according to http://www2.newsquest.co.uk/local_london/croydon/today/. If it sounds like I'm in love with the place, I'm not! Just pointing out that in transport terms it's an important 'satellite town' of London. It can have a bit of a provincial feel, though it is still relatively cosmopolitan. I wouldn't recomment the centre of Croydon as a location for a night out though, unless you have a particular penchant for Yates's Wine Bar and the like. Dave Arquati wrote: The application of Oyster to the trams seems a bit messed up compared to other modes. It would be more intuitive to either be touch in on boarding (like buses) or touch in and touch out at the platform (like the Tube). I know if the latter were the case, people could go off and do their shopping and get back on the tram without officially leaving the system, but it seems as though they can do that anyway under the current system. There could be something stopping you touching in and out at the same station after time interval X. I don't think I agree that the Oyster implementation is 'messed up' on Tramlink. The rest of what I say assumes we're talking about Oyster pre-pay, given that if you have a valid season ticket on your Oyster card you need not touch in *. First off I don't see the need to touch-in and touch-out - given that the system uses a flat fare (the same fares as a bus). If it used a more complex fare structure (as it did when it opened, in pre-Oyster days) then touching in and out would be neccessary, but hopefully this will never be the case as IMO flat fares (at least for buses and trams) are a 'good thing'. Also, the faffing about having to touch-out would annoy passngers (it'd certainly annoy me), people would forget and at busy traqm stops the scramble to get to the platform Oyster reader when a busy tram emtied out would be silly and perhaps unsafe. So, if all a passenger needs to do is touch-in the choice is between having Oyster readers on the platform or on the tram itself. The trams are similar in a sense to the bendy buses where you touch-in on board the bus, but there are some differences between these scenarios. All the tram stops have next-tram indicators (which are always accurate, unlike London Buses' countdown system which, whilst useful, doesn't always pick up on all the buses due to arrive shortly, and gives ETA's that can be a bit out), so tram passengers can make informed decisions about whether to pay for a journey by touching-in on the platform. Tram platforms are also, at leats notionally, compulsory ticket areas. The tram stops are all also well maintained as an integral part of the system. There are also the drawbacks of a system where the Oyster readers are on board, such as congestion in the area of the carriage where the readers are located, the possibility of many people moving about the tram carriages to touch-in, and the potential for a scramble to touch-in whenever inspectors board the tram from those who would otherwise evade the fare. The counter-question could be asked thus - why bendy bus routes don't have Oyster readers at the bus stops as opposed to on the bus. At the moment when using pre-pay passengers have to touch in at the drivers door, which does mean that the type of opportunistic fare-evasion described above (touching-in when inspectors board) is less likely, but it does cause congestion at the front of a busy bendy bus (I ride them often and am well aware of this). Thankfully bendy buses will have Oyster readers near all the three doors later this year, a blessed relief for many pre-pay users (when I'm not a Bus Pass-er I'm an Oyster pre-payer), which obviously opens up the possibility for such fare-evasion again - though I guess the driver could perhaps have a button to hit to disable the readers as soon as the inspectors board. I have wondered why the roadside ticket machines on bendy bus routes didn't also incorporate an Oyster reader, to avoid the problems of on-board Oyster validation - such a system would be the same as touching-in at a tram stop (plus the roadside ticket machine could also be used to top-up pre-pay and possibly load period bus passes onto Oyster cards). There are good reasons against this implementation - the lack of countdown displays at all bus stops (or the cost of installing them) and the innacuracies of countdown would mean people might pay for a bus journey they never actually make (if the bus took too long), the possibility of a scamble to validate Oyster cards when a bus did appear on the horizon, the possibility of vandalism to Oyster readers (tram stops are all monitored by CCTV, unline all bus stops), and the fact that newsagents who sold TfL tickets (so called 'Ticket Stops') might object that they're business was being taken away by a roadside machine that could top-up Oyster pre-pay. I think the implementation on the tram system is suited to the way the system works and is used. The implementation of Oyster on bendy buses meanwhile, whilst not perfect, is the best that can be done given the limiting factors. Finally, just to clarify how the Oyster system works on Tramlink (since the introduction of capping in February). Your pre-pay is valid for 70 minutes after touching in at a tram stop (ot 'T' prefixed tram-feeder buses). If you change trams (or from a tram to a 'T' route bus or vice-versa), the second journey is free within 70 minutes as long as you touch-in on the platform reader at the interchange point. This would seem to explain why Chris gets a free journey. I guess the system designers presume most people can't go to Ikea and get out of it within an hour or so! In terms of revenue it means they lose out, but until the Oyster card interfaces with a passengers brain to work out their intentions, there's not a lot that can be done about it. You could say that if the system was really smart then it could work out from the direction of travel (determined by which platform you touch-in on) whether you were continuing your journey or if you were in fact making a return journey. However, this is not a realistic porposal, as some tram stops have island platforms (so the reader wouldn't know if you were going one way or the other), and the publicity advises passengers that if a reader is broken they should use another one, on the other platform if needed. It seems designing ticketing systems that are workable is not a simple business. |
Student Oyster
In my last post I omitted the footnote that should've accompanied the
asterisk, so here it is: * You do need to touch-in on Tramlink if you have a season ticket _if_ (and only if) you're travelling to Wimbledon, otherwise the automatic gates that also serve the NR and Tube platforms get confused and will charge you for a tube journey. |
Student Oyster
In message , Mrs Redboots
writes How on earth do you manage to pop into Ikea "for a little while"? It seems to take ages to get out once I get in. You have to find the door that allows you to short-circuit the endless tour through departments you don't want (near the cafe in the Brent Park store, as I remember). But for a really radical concept, you could always try Mike Ear - www.mikeear.com - he'll not only do the queuing for you will but will also even assemble the flat-pack furniture :) -- Paul Terry |
Student Oyster
On Sun, 15 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:
Chris! wrote: Dave Arquati wrote: I don't have much of an urge to go to Croydon except about once a year, so I should be OK on the tram front. It's an interesting oddity though! I noticed the Tramlink odity too. Although if your just popping to Ikea (or whatever else there is in Croydon) for a little while it doesn't seem to charge you for the return journey There's something else in Croydon except Ikea? Apparently, there's a very good milkshake place, but it was closed when i went there. tom -- People don't want nice. People want London. -- Al |
Student Oyster
Tom Anderson wrote:
On Sun, 15 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote: Chris! wrote: Dave Arquati wrote: I don't have much of an urge to go to Croydon except about once a year, so I should be OK on the tram front. It's an interesting oddity though! I noticed the Tramlink odity too. Although if your just popping to Ikea (or whatever else there is in Croydon) for a little while it doesn't seem to charge you for the return journey There's something else in Croydon except Ikea? Apparently, there's a very good milkshake place, but it was closed when i went there. Ooh, not like the one in Brighton where they make 101 different types of milkshake, everything from peach to cornflakes flavour? [ObTransport: That 4am train from Brighton back to Victoria is dead handy for a night out in Brighton...] -- Dave Arquati Imperial College, SW7 www.alwaystouchout.com - Transport projects in London |
Student Oyster
Barry Salter wrote to uk.transport.london on Sun, 15 May 2005:
On Sun, 15 May 2005 18:48:12 +0100, Paul Terry wrote: But for a really radical concept, you could always try Mike Ear - www.mikeear.com - he'll not only do the queuing for you will but will also even assemble the flat-pack furniture :) Except his website doesn't work in Firefox due to broken formatting. Good innit? Oh good, I'm glad it wasn't just me finding that! -- "Mrs Redboots" http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/ Website updated 3 April 2005 |
Student Oyster
Paul Terry wrote: In message , Mrs Redboots writes How on earth do you manage to pop into Ikea "for a little while"? It seems to take ages to get out once I get in. You have to find the door that allows you to short-circuit the endless tour through departments you don't want (near the cafe in the Brent Park store, as I remember). In Croydon it's at the end of the corridor to the toilets - immediately opposite the main entrance on the ground floor. If it's busy, knowing that can save you about half an hour! |
Student Oyster
* You do need to touch-in on Tramlink if you have a season ticket _if_
(and only if) you're travelling to Wimbledon, otherwise the automatic gates that also serve the NR and Tube platforms get confused and will charge you for a tube journey. AFAIAA the situation is actually that the gates will refuse to let you out at all and it is a deliberate anti-fraud measure. The reasoning being that passengers could arrive on National Rail trains from far off destinations without any ticket, or with the lowest price ticket that could have allowed them to board the train at their origin station, and then have an Oyster card with just a bus pass on it to allow them to exit. By forcing all Tramlink users to touch in it means that bus passes will only open the gates if the passenger arrived at the station on Tramlink. |
Student Oyster
On Mon, 16 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote:
Tom Anderson wrote: On Sun, 15 May 2005, Dave Arquati wrote: Chris! wrote: Dave Arquati wrote: I don't have much of an urge to go to Croydon except about once a year, so I should be OK on the tram front. It's an interesting oddity though! I noticed the Tramlink odity too. Although if your just popping to Ikea (or whatever else there is in Croydon) for a little while it doesn't seem to charge you for the return journey There's something else in Croydon except Ikea? Apparently, there's a very good milkshake place, but it was closed when i went there. Ooh, not like the one in Brighton where they make 101 different types of milkshake, everything from peach to cornflakes flavour? I don't know, it was closed! I bloody well hope not, though - cornflake milkshake sounds atrocious. If anyone's interested in tracking it down, it was in some sort of shopping centre; there was a Disney store there, ISTR. The milkshake place was a little unit up on the mezzanine. [ObTransport: That 4am train from Brighton back to Victoria is dead handy for a night out in Brighton...] 4 am? That's a lot of milkshake. tom -- If it ain't Alberta, it ain't beef. |
Student Oyster
Graham J wrote: * You do need to touch-in on Tramlink if you have a season ticket _if_ (and only if) you're travelling to Wimbledon, otherwise the automatic gates that also serve the NR and Tube platforms get confused and will charge you for a tube journey. AFAIAA the situation is actually that the gates will refuse to let you out at all and it is a deliberate anti-fraud measure. The reasoning being that passengers could arrive on National Rail trains from far off destinations without any ticket, or with the lowest price ticket that could have allowed them to board the train at their origin station, and then have an Oyster card with just a bus pass on it to allow them to exit. By forcing all Tramlink users to touch in it means that bus passes will only open the gates if the passenger arrived at the station on Tramlink. Although it's simple enough for such passengers to hop on a tram to Dundonald Road, touch in, and be back in a couple of minutes and straight through the barriers. Isolating Tramlink at Wimbledon with another set of barriers (if physically possible) would prevent this if it was thought worthwhile - I think - at the expense of making it horrendously complicated for your poor Oysterite. |
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