London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

Chris from Nailsea

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Justice for Cerys Piper and Theo Griffiths please!

London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« on: May 13, 2011, 19:37:57 »

A video news report, from the BBC^» British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Quote

Londoners are overpaying ^200m a year on fares by mistakenly not buying the cheapest tickets on buses and Tube trains, according to new research.

University College London researchers analysed Oyster^▸ card data and are now calling for a clearer system for customers to know which tickets are cheapest.

Transport for London (TfL^» ) has welcomed the research but says the figures are overstated.


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JayMac

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #1 on: May 13, 2011, 20:00:47 »

If that's the figure for London, then extrapolating a bit, with some back of a fag packet maths, I get the figure of ^1.6 Billion for the whole country.

That's a lot of extra income going to transport operators.

We need more Barry Doe clones!


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Phil

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #2 on: June 21, 2011, 20:23:42 »

This story has popped up again - must be a quiet time at the moment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13866248


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broadgage

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #3 on: June 22, 2011, 06:13:01 »

Many Oystercard users are overcharged, sometimes it is their fault for not useing the system correctly, but in other cases it is verging on a fiddle.

I have certainly been overcharged on suburban rail trips.
Reasons include cancellations resulting in overcharging because the system then assumes that one has travelled farther.
At some stations, one must swipe in before finding that the trains are cancelled, swiping out again without travelling can result in a charge which can be substantial.
In case of a power failure or other breakdown at the destination, them swipping out is not possible, and again an extra charge is payable.

Unlike a cash penalty fare, which one can readily contest if unreasonable, surcharges and penalties on Oystercards are not known about at the time, there is a general perception that they are a fiddle.
In theory any overcharged money can be reclaimed, but it is a complex process and they hope that most people wont notice, or wont bother.
I find the suggestion that Oyster^▸ or some related system should be used on the mainline to be a bit worrying ! I can forsee travelling from Paddington to Taunton, and being surcharged or finned because the system assumes that I went to Penzance. "That will be ^670, this has been automaticly debited from your account"


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A proper intercity train has a minimum of 8 coaches, gangwayed throughout, with first at one end, and a full sized buffet car between first and standard.
It has space for cycles, surfboards,luggage etc.
A 5 car DMU^▸ is not a proper inter-city train. The 5+5 and 9 car DMUs are almost as bad.

ChrisB

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #4 on: June 22, 2011, 13:40:44 »

Quote from: bignosemac on May 13, 2011, 20:00:47

If that's the figure for London, then extrapolating a bit, with some back of a fag packet maths, I get the figure of ^1.6 Billion for the whole country.

Errr.....Oyster^▸ only works around London.
Extrapolating then, the increase across the whole country is.....the same!


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paul7575

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #5 on: June 22, 2011, 15:55:55 »

Quote from: Phil on June 21, 2011, 20:23:42

This story has popped up again - must be a quiet time at the moment

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-13866248

AIUI^▸ this is a different story. The previous one was about people buying the wrong type of ticket, such as buying travelcards and then not doing enough travel to use them, or using PAYG^▸ when a travelcard season would be cheaper. IIRC^▸ someone had produced a complicated flowchart to compare the different options.

The latest story doing the rounds seems more to do with PAYG charging problems.

Paul


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Phil

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #6 on: June 22, 2011, 16:03:29 »

Rest assured though Paul, if I had started a new topic someone or another would have quickly pointed out that the two stories are in fact related. You can't win....


« Last Edit: June 23, 2011, 07:05:30 by Phil »	Logged

paul7575

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Re: London commuters overspending on fares by mistake

« Reply #7 on: June 22, 2011, 17:34:43 »

Yes - you may be right there...

Paul


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