I'm brand new to this forum was searching online for who decides the boundaries for the travel zones and decides the prices and it brought me here.
I live in Merstham which thanks to this thread I have learned is Zone 13 (never knew that just assumed it was an Oyster extension area). I commute daily from Merstham to Gatwick Airport and back again which off peak is £2.50 each way. I use Oyster for convinence but is 10p dearer a day for me over buying a paper ticket which is (Off Peak day return - £4.90).
What really bothers me is how much cheaper being in the zones is to outside. I'm the first station outside the travelcard fare zones going South towards Gatwick. I go to London avoiding zone 1 for sports games at Wembley. Currently I go Merstham - Clapham Junction - Willesden Junction - Wembley Central tapping on the pink readers to show I've not gone via zone 1 and this is £5.90 each way. However 1 Station nearer to London (Coulsdon South) that is in the travelcard zones is just £3 each way - but due to a TFL promo I see in Metro (see picture) will be £1.50 this winter.
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I wanted to find out who makes the rules and get my voice heard to stop ripping tourists off and argue for Greater London to be extended fare wise and Oyster wise to Gatwick (as its known internationally as London Gatwick). It sucks being in the twilight zone between the Greater London fare zone and Gatwick as you don't get the cheaper Oyster fares as your considered outside the zones and there's no night bus service either despite you can get a red TFL bus in the daytime using Oyster as far as Redhill (405) from West Croydon.
I forget the amount of times if I done a late night out in London I can get a N68 bus back as far as Coulsdon South station (end of route is actually Tudor Rose, Old Coulsdon) and then either wait for first train of next morning, finish off with a cab or walk - have done all 3 options and every time wished there was a N405 service!
So who made the travelcard farezones and do they ever get revised - after all London is expanding out all the time and when Crossrail goes live becoming the Elizabeth Line surely that will all be Oyster enabled to meaning if they don't extend the TfL flat zonal fares to the outer extremities it a be a confusing nightmare to work out best option when traveling cost wise.