I'm just about ready to give up with this. I missed the DLR at London
City the first time I used it because the machine was hidden away in
an alcove in the entrance rather than on the platform. OK, fifteen
minutes isn't that big a deal but it rankles when you haven't been
home for three weeks. At Waterloo the thing was even better hidden so
I had to go the wrong way down an exit in order to seek it out.

The most obvious question to ask is why have it at all when a more
secure, proven and user-friendly alternative already exists? For at
least ten years now if I want to buy a ticket - including season - in
Germany or Belgium (and elsewhere I guess, these are the only places I
have had bank accounts apart from the UK) I simply insert my debit
card, select my ticket, enter my PIN and I'm sorted. No having to
search in alcoves, try and work out where the nearest machine is to
activate my payment - just pay and go. Secure too - nobody can use it
without my PIN and nobody can use the season without the right photo
card.

I don't know why it is but sometimes I think we Brits look at the way
things work elsewhere and decide that because we never invented them
they can't be any good. In Germany and Belgium, I can top up my card
and choose to purchase from the balance on the chip or from my account
for travel, purchases and telephones.

Anyway, rant over.

Can anyone tell me how I can use my Oyster Card on buses? TFL don't
seem to want to - they hint at it, presumably expecting visitors to
London to somehow understand how London transportation works. It
looks like I have to use it to buy a day ticket or something like that
though it's not at all clear. I just want to get a bus for a few
stops and then back again.

Cheers

David

Uncle Dave wrote:

I'm just about ready to give up with this. I missed the DLR at London
City the first time I used it because the machine was hidden away in
an alcove in the entrance rather than on the platform. OK, fifteen
minutes isn't that big a deal but it rankles when you haven't been
home for three weeks. At Waterloo the thing was even better hidden so
I had to go the wrong way down an exit in order to seek it out.

It's at the gateline. How did you get in/out without using it?

The most obvious question to ask is why have it at all when a more
secure, proven and user-friendly alternative already exists? For at
least ten years now if I want to buy a ticket - including season - in
Germany or Belgium (and elsewhere I guess, these are the only places I
have had bank accounts apart from the UK) I simply insert my debit
card, select my ticket, enter my PIN and I'm sorted. No having to
search in alcoves, try and work out where the nearest machine is to
activate my payment - just pay and go.

So you just use the machine in Germany or Belgium without having to find
the machine first? How does that work, telepathy?

I don't know why it is but sometimes I think we Brits look at the way
things work elsewhere and decide that because we never invented them
they can't be any good.

An ironic statement considering how much Oyster owes to the Octopus
system of Hong Kong.

Can anyone tell me how I can use my Oyster Card on buses?

Well, the bus driver can, if you can't figure it out. Similarly, LU
stations are staffed and you can always ask someone for help.

TfL have guides here
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/2732.aspx explaining how to
use Oyster and what the advantages are for passengers.
--
Michael Hoffman

Michael Hoffman wrote:

Uncle Dave wrote:

I'm just about ready to give up with this. I missed the DLR at London
City the first time I used it because the machine was hidden away in
an alcove in the entrance rather than on the platform. OK, fifteen
minutes isn't that big a deal but it rankles when you haven't been
home for three weeks. At Waterloo the thing was even better hidden so
I had to go the wrong way down an exit in order to seek it out.


It's at the gateline. How did you get in/out without using it?


If the OP means London City Airport and the DLR station there, it is not
gated. There is a red line painted where the "fares paid area" begins
(just like other DLR stations). The Oyster readers are placed where you
cross this line, opposit to the ticket windows. On most DLR stations I
have no problem with this but at City Airport station I have a few times
found myself standing on the platform and have forgot to touch in my
Oyster card and therefore have to carry myself and my bags etc down the
escalators again just to touch in the card.

I don't know why it happens for me just there and nowhere else on the
DLR system though.

Generally speaking, I think the fares system in London is complicated to
understand in many ways but not difficult to use. What I mean is that it
could be tough sometimes to find out exactly which fares applies to a
specific route, especially if it includes different modes of transport
etc, but once you have worked that out I don't think the tickets or
Oyster cards themselves are that complicated to get or use.

On some stations there are now machines where you can get an empty
Oyster card and add money to it at the adjacent ticket machine. There
could be more of those machines of course, but it is generally getting
better.

--
Olof Lagerkvist
ICQ: 724451
Web: http://here.is/olof

Olof Lagerkvist wrote:
Michael Hoffman wrote:

Uncle Dave wrote:

I'm just about ready to give up with this. I missed the DLR at London
City the first time I used it because the machine was hidden away in
an alcove in the entrance rather than on the platform. OK, fifteen
minutes isn't that big a deal but it rankles when you haven't been
home for three weeks. At Waterloo the thing was even better hidden so
I had to go the wrong way down an exit in order to seek it out.


It's at the gateline. How did you get in/out without using it?


If the OP means London City Airport and the DLR station there, it is not
gated.

Sorry, I meant at Waterloo. I know there isn't a gateline at most DLR
stations.
--
Michael Hoffman

Michael Hoffman wrote:
Olof Lagerkvist wrote:
Michael Hoffman wrote:

It's at the gateline. How did you get in/out without using it?


If the OP means London City Airport and the DLR station there, it is
not gated.

Sorry, I meant at Waterloo. I know there isn't a gateline at most DLR
stations.

At a guess, the OP changed from the DLR to the Waterloo & City at Bank
(probably without using the validator en route, but I digress) in which
case he wouldn't pass a gateline at Waterloo, but *would* have passed a
couple of validators.

Cheers,

Barry

On Aug 21, 4:29 am, Barry Salter wrote:
Michael Hoffman wrote:
Olof Lagerkvist wrote:
Michael Hoffman wrote:

It's at the gateline. How did you get in/out without using it?

If the OP means London City Airport and the DLR station there, it is
not gated.

Sorry, I meant at Waterloo. I know there isn't a gateline at most DLR
stations.

At a guess, the OP changed from the DLR to the Waterloo & City at Bank
(probably without using the validator en route, but I digress) in which
case he wouldn't pass a gateline at Waterloo, but *would* have passed a
couple of validators.

Yeah I did, even though I was keeping an eye open for them. In fact,
I was up in the station before I thought (as a first time user
remember) "um, how will it know where I finished my journey" and went
back down to the tube and spotted a validator back along an exit.

Sorry guys, I got the things because I expect to be going to/through
London more often and it seemed like a good idea so I do want to use
it. Back to the bus:

1. I assume I can only validate my top up at one of the machines in
Waterloo as there none on the list for the bus stops outside?

2. The TFL site says you have to pay for the bendy bus before you
get on, so how does that actually work with the Oyster card? Is there
a validator on the bus or at the stop or what? (In any case, it's
forty years since I was last on a London Bus - always used the tube
before - and things have probably changed a bit since then ;-)

Cheers

David

On Aug 21, 9:39 am, Uncle Dave wrote:
1. I assume I can only validate my top up at one of the machines in
Waterloo as there none on the list for the bus stops outside?

If you buy credit online you can only collect it by touching in at a
tube, DLR or tram stop, and there's no way to do it without also
starting a journey. If you're starting a bus journey at Waterloo,
either have credit already or buy some at the tube station ticket
machines.

You might also like to investigate auto top-up, which allows you to
top up on buses, though not at will:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/oysteronline/5469.aspx

2. The TFL site says you have to pay for the bendy bus before you
get on, so how does that actually work with the Oyster card? Is there
a validator on the bus or at the stop or what? (In any case, it's
forty years since I was last on a London Bus - always used the tube
before - and things have probably changed a bit since then ;-)

Having an Oyster card with credit on it counts as having bought a
ticket. Touch it against the reader on the driver's ticket machine, or
on a bendy you're allowed to board through the rear doors, which have
their own validators on the poles inside. You only need to validate
when you get on, not when you get off.

U

--
http://londonconnections.blogspot.com/
A blog about transport projects in London

On Aug 21, 10:23 am, Mr Thant
wrote:
On Aug 21, 9:39 am, Uncle Dave wrote:

1. I assume I can only validate my top up at one of the machines in
Waterloo as there none on the list for the bus stops outside?

If you buy credit online you can only collect it by touching in at a
tube, DLR or tram stop, and there's no way to do it without also
starting a journey. If you're starting a bus journey at Waterloo,
either have credit already or buy some at the tube station ticket
machines.

Ah, right, that's what I was wondering. OK, rather than top up on-
line I'll buy some credit at the ticket machine - I'm not expecting to
travel often enough to warrant auto top up.

Thanks!

David

From my observations, I have found the problem with Oyester PAYG on
DLR is not entering the system but exiting. All the readers appear to
face outwards and there is no gateline effect to remind the passenger
to swipe out.

Hence my only zone 1-6 fare was on a visit to Poplar,
grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!

OC

On Aug 21, 10:28 am, Uncle Dave wrote:

Ah, right, that's what I was wondering. OK, rather than top up on-
line I'll buy some credit at the ticket machine - I'm not expecting to
travel often enough to warrant auto top up.

In the event, I topped up online, but the options where you can
validate your top-up are limited and don't include buses. I chose the
underground at Waterloo which was where I arrived, went to the barrier
where the guy informed me that it probably wouldn't work and that the
barrier would open so I'd get charged for a journey. He was right so
I've now been charged for a journey I never made because I used the
bus.

I'm sure this works fine for millions of other people, but I think I
shall avoid it in future and pay as I go - it will probably work out
cheaper and certainly easier! Thanks for the advice and info.

Cheers

David