Hello all,

At lunchtime on Friday 17 February I was on a 38 bus heading from Victoria
to Clapton pond. A male boarded the bus at Hyde Park Corner by the last set
of doors. He did not have an Oystercard.
When the bus reached the stop after Tottenham Court Road a revenue inspector
got on. The passenger saw the inspector look at the driver's duty card (or
whatever), and then he suddenly got off.

I know that in this topsy-turvy world of ours, people can change their minds
about anything at the last minute, but I am sure that there are a good
number of people travelling on bendibuses without any form of valid travel
documentation.

If you travel 19 times out of 20 without paying, and get caught on the 20th
occasion and end up paying a penalty fare, you will still be 'in pocket'.

Multiply this by the number of journeys being made on bendibuses, and I'm
sure it adds up to a lot of money.

Any comments?


Paul

"Paul" wrote in message
...

When the bus reached the stop after Tottenham Court Road a revenue
inspector
got on. The passenger saw the inspector look at the driver's duty card
(or
whatever), and then he suddenly got off.

Don't RIs wear plain clothes - and if not, why not?

Ian

In message , Paul
writes

At lunchtime on Friday 17 February I was on a 38 bus heading from Victoria
to Clapton pond. A male boarded the bus at Hyde Park Corner by the last set
of doors. He did not have an Oystercard.

(...)

Any comments?

Have you considered that he might have had a OTDC, a bus pass, or a
single journey ticket purchased from the machine at the bus stop?

Not everyone uses Oyster!

--
Paul Terry

On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 09:35:39 -0000, "Paul"
wrote:

If you travel 19 times out of 20 without paying, and get caught on the 20th
occasion and end up paying a penalty fare, you will still be 'in pocket'.

Multiply this by the number of journeys being made on bendibuses, and I'm
sure it adds up to a lot of money.

Any comments?

What comments would you like? Yes, there is fare evasion. You can
make up some figures if you like.

On Sun, 19 Feb 2006 09:35:39 -0000, "Paul"
wrote:

If you travel 19 times out of 20 without paying, and get caught on the 20th
occasion and end up paying a penalty fare, you will still be 'in pocket'.

Multiply this by the number of journeys being made on bendibuses, and I'm
sure it adds up to a lot of money.

Any comments?

Something I was wondering the other day:

What's to stop you getting on a bendy with a pre-pay Oyster, and
standing next to the Oyster reader, only touching in if/when an
inspector boards? Do they switch the validators off when there is an
inspection?

What's to stop me having a book of Saver tickets and, when the
Inspector asks just hand one over? Is he really going to fine me
because I entered through the rear doors because of the crush at the
front of the bus, and my inability to get to the driver (certainly
likely to be the case on a rush-hour 521) because of the crush?

I enjoyed greatly the other day, the one and only time I have seen an
Inspector on the 521 (or any bendybus) and he thought he "had" me
because it took me an age to undo my coat and extract from within my
paper 1-day travelcard: he had assumed that either I had nothing or an
Oystercard which I had obviously not touched in!

He and his colleagues (all in uniform) then spent the rest of the
journey in the 4-seat block at the back and performed no more checks
whatsoever. 4 men being paid to do nothing - and they abolished
conductors! At least they only had 1 conductor per bus, not 4 !

Marc.

wrote:
What's to stop me having a book of Saver tickets and, when the
Inspector asks just hand one over?

The rules. http://www.tfl.gov.uk/buses/ini_207.asp
says:

"Saver ticket holders must board through the front door and present
their ticket to the driver as usual"

Is he really going to fine me
because I entered through the rear doors because of the crush at the
front of the bus, and my inability to get to the driver (certainly
likely to be the case on a rush-hour 521) because of the crush?

I don't know. But they would be entitled to charge a penalty fare.

PaulO

asdf wrote:
What's to stop you getting on a bendy with a pre-pay Oyster, and
standing next to the Oyster reader, only touching in if/when an
inspector boards? Do they switch the validators off when there is an
inspection?

Now that's an interesting question. As it happens, pre-pay works out
cheapest for me, as I typically only take two buses a day, 5 days a
week. When my route first went bendy there were a few occasions when I
realised with a start, halfway through my journey, that I'd forgotten
to touch in. Of course by then the bus was packed, so I'd end up
handing my card to another traveller and asking them to touch it in for
me.

That said, I've yet to see an RPI on a rush hour bendy bus. I suspect
that the homeless man who sets up camp at the back of the bus on my
morning route has noticed the same thing.

"Rob Hamadi" wrote in message
oups.com...
asdf wrote:
What's to stop you getting on a bendy with a pre-pay Oyster, and
standing next to the Oyster reader, only touching in if/when an
inspector boards? Do they switch the validators off when there is an
inspection?

Now that's an interesting question. As it happens, pre-pay works out
cheapest for me, as I typically only take two buses a day, 5 days a
week. When my route first went bendy there were a few occasions when I
realised with a start, halfway through my journey, that I'd forgotten
to touch in. Of course by then the bus was packed, so I'd end up
handing my card to another traveller and asking them to touch it in for
me.

That said, I've yet to see an RPI on a rush hour bendy bus. I suspect
that the homeless man who sets up camp at the back of the bus on my
morning route has noticed the same thing.

I did indeed notice. They never bother me.

Rob Hamadi wrote:
asdf wrote:

What's to stop you getting on a bendy with a pre-pay Oyster, and
standing next to the Oyster reader, only touching in if/when an
inspector boards? Do they switch the validators off when there is an
inspection?


Now that's an interesting question. As it happens, pre-pay works out
cheapest for me, as I typically only take two buses a day, 5 days a
week. When my route first went bendy there were a few occasions when I
realised with a start, halfway through my journey, that I'd forgotten
to touch in. Of course by then the bus was packed, so I'd end up
handing my card to another traveller and asking them to touch it in for
me.

That said, I've yet to see an RPI on a rush hour bendy bus. I suspect
that the homeless man who sets up camp at the back of the bus on my
morning route has noticed the same thing.


You've seen him too? Or are there lots of them, all taking advantage of
free warmth and shelter on the Bendy Buses? For the record the guy I
often see is on the 507, always going towards Waterloo... I wonder if he
walks back...?

Cheers

Steve M