Great Western Coffee Shop

Not seen this mentioned before: https://tfl.gov.uk/campaign/hopper-fare?cid=hopper

Launched with quite a fanfare, about a month ago.

...mmm.  Takes news like that quite some time to reach the far Southwest..... ::) :P

Was quite well publicised in the London area and by email if you have an online oyster account.

Very good idea and long overdue imho! Some colleagues have had their commuting cost halved by this  :)

My morning commute finishes with a bus journey from Paddington to Oxford Street and the Hopper Fare has improved the punctuality of my journey.  Since TfL cut back the 159, now just the 7 and 23 make the direct journey, and as these routes start some way out (Acton/Westbourne Park) they can be quite episodic by the time they turn into Praed Street, with huge gaps in the service.  A 15 minute wait on a nominal 3 minute interval was not unknown.

With the Hopper, unless I can see one of the two direct buses, I will now board the 36 and 436 and change on the Edgware Road where a 6 or 98 can take me to my destination. And if instead a 7 or 23 come along I'll use them and I've lost nothing - neither time nor coin - but a 6 or 98 might have saved me some considerable time.

Thankyou for a most useful post I was about to look up which bus to use to get me to the BBC and you have answered me verry well cheers WP.

When you turn into Edgware Road on a 36 or 436, wait until 'George Street' before changing buses.  All buses use this one stop - the others are staggered, and the one at Marble Arch is semi-closed - seems to depend on who is driving.