THIS is why I hate TFL!

Shelldean

I always thought the changes were to give the quickest route.
For example sometimes it tells me to get a bus from our train station to another local one, on slightly different line. Then catch the train. So bus fare then train fare.

Or it tells me to go away from London by a couple of stops to a much busier station that's also an interchange, and go to London that way. Now that costs the same as going straight to London.

So always presumed it was for quickness?

Twopints

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

I am beginning to be very grateful the Mayor of London has not been allowed to take over the overground trains he wanted. I always got the impression he would simply put the prices up on those to enable him to keep his promise that he would not put up TfL prices. I hadn't actually realised he had found other nefarious means of putting up costs.

Still this is Labour folks, they find as many ways as they can to make life cost more. Given half a chance they would tax the air we breathe.

I don't live in London, very grateful for that, but on the rare occasions we go up there we park near an underground station (or hop on the train if more convenient) and use the most direct route we can by checking on the underground map.

Didn't even know there was a TfL app!

Typical selfish Tory. Doesn't use public transport in London, expects it to be cheap but doesn't want to pay for it.

zagubov

Another vote for citymapper. Helped us on our New York holiday as well. Covers Brum and Manchester as well and seems to be expanding.

Enterprise_1701C

Twopints wrote: »

Typical selfish Tory. Doesn't use public transport in London, expects it to be cheap but doesn't want to pay for it.

I think I stated we do use public transport in London. And yes, we pay for it. I simply did not want him getting his hands on overground trains so he could put up the prices to avoid putting up the TfL prices. Incidentally, we do not use the line he wanted control over.

I think you will find this is a money saving site, as such that is mainly the aim of all of us.

Incidentally, public transport in London is the most expensive in the world.

I have been on public transport all over the world, the majority of it is cleaner and more efficient than that in London.

Mr_Singleton

Twopints wrote: »

Doesn't use public transport in London, expects it to be cheap but doesn't want to pay for it.

Looking at the stats more and more people aren’t using public transport in a London with the Tube recording it’s first fall in passenger numbers in 10 years.... even bus usage is going down. It’s laughable listening to TFL’s excuses for this which include Brexit, terrorism but my personal favourite from Sadiq Khan the mayor of London who’s blaming Netflix.... I kid you not!

TFL simply won’t accept that the massive rise in people deserting public transport in London is due to its punitive cost. A person living in zone 6 working in zone 1 on minimum wage has the choice of spending 25% of there income on a travelCard OR spending around 5 hours a day commuting by bus. I know of people in zone 3 that have bought a £99/month PCP car rather than pay £327.20 a month for 2x2-6 zone TravelCards. Loads of people I know at work have started cycling purely for noticeable cost savings and the general nastiness of commuting at peak times.

As I’ve already said London has YET AGAIN been rated the most expensive place to commute by public transport in the world. TFL has always leveraged its abusive monopoly to the maximum but it’s now finding there are limits to how much it can screw out of people before they look elsewhere.... and look elsewhere they are!

Mr_Singleton

Enterprise_1701C wrote: »

I have been on public transport all over the world, the majority of it is cleaner and more efficient than that in London.

Round of applause!

I think thats why public transport in London annoys me so much.... having been to so many other world cities I’ve really got to see how horrifically bad TFL is. I suppose that for those that know no better it appears O.K.

Was in Paris last week and the equivalent weekly commute cost is around 300% cheaper than London.

Andy_L

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

A person living in zone 6 working in zone 1 on minimum wage has the choice of spending 25% of there income on a travelCard OR spending around 5 hours a day commuting by bus.

Why would someone commute that far for a min wage job? Are there none out in zone 6?

NBLondon

Shelldean wrote: »

I always thought the changes were to give the quickest route.

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So always presumed it was for quickness?

Yep - it defaults to quickest route including changes. But that's based on the published timetables and practical experience tells regular users that it won't necessarily be faster if traffic or something else makes one step a few minutes late or that it may be better to take a route which is 5 mins slower but less crowded. You can juggle the settings for things like avoid stairs or minimise changes but I reckon many/most users just accept the default and don't check.

benjus

I think the TfL journey planner is just badly implemented, as it sometimes fails to find routes that I know are better than the ones it proposes. I mostly use Google Maps if I need to get somewhere I'm not familiar with.

martindow

Mr_Singleton wrote: »

Round of applause!

I think thats why public transport in London annoys me so much.... having been to so many other world cities I’ve really got to see how horfficalky bad TFL is. I suppose that for those that know no better it appears O.K.

Was in Paris last week and the equivalent weekly commute cost is around 300% cheaper than London.

That's because most countries see public transport as a public service and don't expect it to break even or be profitable. Subsidise a bit more and fares are cheaper as in Paris and most of mainland Europe.