MSE News: London buses to stop taking cash this summer

Former_MSE_Helen

"London bus passengers will need to use an Oyster smartcard or contactless credit or debit card from this summer..."

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London buses to stop taking cash this summer



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joncombe

I'm glad they at least accept contactless credit card. I travel around the UK a lot and often take a bus. I don't particularly relish the prospect of having to carry a wallet full of different smart cards for each city that I go to (and the hassle of getting one in the first place). Yes of course this only applies to London at the moment, but I would not be surprised to see similar schemes introduced in other areas. I hope if that doesn't happen they all at least accept contactless cards.

Lara44

I'm so annoyed about this. TFL should exist to serve Londoners, and Londoners should not be slaves to technological systems. What happens if you lose your purse on a night out? No Oyster card, no contactless card - no safe way to get home? It is a stressful and expensive city to live in already, thanks to TFL for making it much worse by abolishing cash despite the verdict of the public during the "consultation process". Plus the upcoming ticket office closures - another Boris U-turn.

wealdroam

Lara44 wrote: »

I'm so annoyed about this. TFL should exist to serve Londoners, and Londoners should not be slaves to technological systems. What happens if you lose your purse on a night out? No Oyster card, no contactless card - no safe way to get home? It is a stressful and expensive city to live in already, thanks to TFL for making it much worse by abolishing cash despite the verdict of the public during the "consultation process". Plus the upcoming ticket office closures - another Boris U-turn.

Lara, did you take part in TfL's consultation last year?

Was the verdict from the consultation published?

Here is MSE's News item from that time:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/news/travel/2013/09/london-buses-may-stop-taking-cash-next-year

And here is the forum discussion on that consultation:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/63018298#Comment_63018298

which you will see had a link to TfL's consultation questionaire.

I also remember seeing large posters at bus stops urging people to take part in the consultation.

jon81uk

The consultion has been published here https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/cashless and 67% of people didn't agree with the proposal.

I don't think it's an awful idea to stop taking cash but more needs to be done to ensure Oyster can be topped up 24/7. Also they are adding the facility to get 1 extra journey, but what if your home journey is 2 buses? You pay a £5 deposit for the card so they should allow you to go into debt by £5, no risk to TfL as if you don't pay back the £5 then you loose your deposit!

wealdroam

jon81uk wrote: »

The consultion has been published here https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/cashless and 67% of people didn't agree with the proposal.

Thanks for that.

So we are told:

Around three quarters of responses to the consultation came from people who indicated that they do not themselves pay cash fares on the bus.

Looks like the 'vote' was spoiled by people who have no interest is the result.

TfL (or whoever made the decision) were probably right to disregard those 'opinions'.

zerog

jon81uk wrote: »

The consultion has been published here https://consultations.tfl.gov.uk/buses/cashless and 67% of people didn't agree with the proposal.

I don't think it's an awful idea to stop taking cash but more needs to be done to ensure Oyster can be topped up 24/7. Also they are adding the facility to get 1 extra journey, but what if your home journey is 2 buses? You pay a £5 deposit for the card so they should allow you to go into debt by £5, no risk to TfL as if you don't pay back the £5 then you loose your deposit!

*lose

Most existing cards have a £3 deposit, and some older cards have no deposit at all.

My response to the consultation was that you should be able to top up your Oyster on buses, with notes only. Furthermore, buses would carry around Oysters which could be purchased on the bus for £10. There could even be a fee of £1 for this service to placate bus companies.

jon81uk

zerog wrote: »

*lose

Most existing cards have a £3 deposit, and some older cards have no deposit at all.

My response to the consultation was that you should be able to top up your Oyster on buses, with notes only. Furthermore, buses would carry around Oysters which could be purchased on the bus for £10. There could even be a fee of £1 for this service to placate bus companies.

The trouble with them selling Oyster on the bus is it doesn't remove the cash handling, so you might as well keep cash fares. Its the cash counting & banking at the depot end that is the biggest expense now, not the driver on the bus.

emweaver

Lara44 wrote: »

I'm so annoyed about this. TFL should exist to serve Londoners, and Londoners should not be slaves to technological systems. What happens if you lose your purse on a night out? No Oyster card, no contactless card - no safe way to get home? It is a stressful and expensive city to live in already, thanks to TFL for making it much worse by abolishing cash despite the verdict of the public during the "consultation process". Plus the upcoming ticket office closures - another Boris U-turn.

If you loose your wallet then presumably you loose your cash too? If you can get hold of cash to get the bus home then you can pop into a newsagents and buy an Oyster card as they are open late.

LadyDee

Lara44 wrote: »

I'm so annoyed about this. TFL should exist to serve Londoners, and Londoners should not be slaves to technological systems. What happens if you lose your purse on a night out? No Oyster card, no contactless card - no safe way to get home? It is a stressful and expensive city to live in already, thanks to TFL for making it much worse by abolishing cash despite the verdict of the public during the "consultation process". Plus the upcoming ticket office closures - another Boris U-turn.

Not disagreeing with you, but if you lost your purse you wouldn't have any cash anyway.

But yes, if TFL is meant to serve the needs of Londoners why then did they ignore the results of the consultation (which probably cost hundreds of thousands of £s).

jackieblack

LadyDee wrote: »

Not disagreeing with you, but if you lost your purse you wouldn't have any cash anyway.

Surely you could borrow bus fare from a friend in that situation :huh: