MarkVarley - MVP wrote:

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 14:47:28 GMT, "Richard J."
wrote this gibberish:

MarkVarley - MVP wrote:
a theoretical question about zones and bus use of oyster payg.

if i travel from my home in zone 2 and travel around a bit in zones
1 and 2 (into the realms of travelcard price cap) then travel out to
zone, say, 6 on a bus and back again, am I being charged more
because the bus is in zone 6 when I get on it? or will it come
under my 1&2 travelcard price cap.

I travel from my home in zone 2 all over the underground network and
often using local bus routes out in distant zones and I've never
been able to make sense of what it's costing me.

There are no bus zones nowadays. Bus fares are the same throughout
London, and will contribute towards (or be capped by) your Z1-2
travelcard price cap.

Thats perfect, I had no idea buses were not using the zones system,
I've been here 2 years now and I ought ot have figured it out.

Thank you for your prompt reply :-)

Mark.


A few extra things to note. If you have any Travelcard - whether day,
weekly or longer - and it is in in date (i.e. it hasn't expired) it
can again be used on any London bus route (regardless of whether the
ticket is on paper or Oyster), and can be used until 0430 the morning
after the date of expiration.

Additionally, as you may be aware, there is an Oyster bus-only cap of
£3 a day, and this applies all day (no divide between a peak and off-
peak cap) - which is great as it means the first three journeys cost
the normal 90p bus fare, the fourth costs 30p and then the fifth and
any beyond that are 'free' for the rest of the day.

For reference here is a table of all the Oyster capping levels:
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/faresa...ares/5196.aspx


One thing to note about Oyster price capping [1] is that the cap that
applies to you depends upon when you travel - so before 0930 weekdays
the Peak cap applies, after 0930 the Off-peak cap applies (and the Off-
peak cap applies all weekend and public holidays too).

However just because you might travel before 0930 does not mean that
the system defaults to charging you the Peak cap - instead if the
price of your pre-0930 journey(s) plus the Off-peak cap is cheaper,
then that is what you will pay.

An easy example - before 0930 you make a single journey by Tube
between two stations in zone 2 (e.g. Archway to Camden Town) for which
you will pay £1, then after 0930 you make several journeys in and
around zones 1&2 and reach the zones 1&2 Off-peak cap of £4.80 - thus
the total you pay will be £5.80 (i.e. you will *not* have to pay the
£6.30 Peak cap for z1&2).

It is also possibly to have two caps applied on one day - e.g. a z1&2
Peak cap of £6.30 plus a z2-6 Off-peak cap of £4.30 = total paid
£10.60 (less than the z1-6 Peak cap of £13.30).

Or (unlikely one this!) have a £3 bus cap applied for making four
pre-0930 journeys, then a z1-6 Off-peak cap of £6.50 applied = total
paid £9.50 (less than the z1-6 Peak cap of £13.30).

Point being the system should always ensure you get charged the most
favourable amount on any one day. Just ensure you always touch-in and
touch-out when using the Tube, DLR or TfL's London Overground
services.


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Note that officially it is called "Oyster daily price capping", as
opposed to "Travelcard price capping" - this is to avoid confusion
with Day Travelcards, which is a distinct product.