I'm not sure of the benefits of this over introducing Contactless cards similarly to TfL which does all the smart stuff?
At least with the Contactless card, it will work the gates & doesn't die!
The back office part is very similar to TfL Contactless or Southern Keygo.
The advantage to the TOC is that they just have to install BLE beacons rather than gates or validators.
I go to a ticket office and excess the ticket to what I need it to be, or if that isn't an option buy an additional one. I can also refund any walk-up paper ticket less £10 (I don't do Advances, and in any case Advances are irrelevant to this concept), and if I do it at the point of origin most likely they will "non-issue" it for no additional charge.
I don't think I have ever completely changed my plans while sitting on the train, so that's a non-issue.
No, that isn't why Oyster is popular. Oyster is primarily popular because TfL make punitive charges for paying by any other method (except contactless). Simple as that. Capping is nice, but travelling around London is nothing like making a longer return journey.
I had worked that out
TBH I think it's a gimmick with many serious flaws and I suspect your trial will not meet with success.
I didn't get accepted for the trial (no wonder if they've only got 100) but I'd certainly not see a problem with using Bluetooth. Bluetooth 4 LE uses hardly any power at all and most modern devices support it.
I'm not sure of the benefits of this over introducing Contactless cards similarly to TfL which does all the smart stuff?
At least with the Contactless card, it will work the gates & doesn't die!
aka "doing it on the cheap".
However, the passenger will end up paying more if, for example they travel offpeak from Liverpool Street to Cambridge on Monday and then return offpeak from Cambridge to Liverpool Street on Tuesday. (£21.00 x 2= £42 rather than £32.10)
http://www.abelliogreateranglia.co.uk/f/8891/8891.pdf
I will hate to disappoint you... But thank you for your encouragement anyway.
As for Oyster, you described the reasons for its uptake; I was referring to the reasons why an average user likes Oyster now (it's not even capping per se, but convenience and "peace of mind").
Re changing one's mind: it's not about doing so on the train, it's about buying a single ticket but having to return on the same day, or buing Day Return and staying for longer (just some of the scenarios).
I agree that there are use cases described by you, when the passenger prefers simplicity of buying a mobile ticket "on the go" before travelling. MultiPass will allow for that too.
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MultiPass pilot will soon be expanded, with Android limitation "lifted". I'll post an invite here.
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Contactless cards only work on routes with gates. MultiPass covers both (via BLE and soon-to-be-introduced contactless interface, including TfL coverage).
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Guilty as charged: MultiPass does indeed allows to save millions of taxpayers money...
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No, the passenger will be charged £32.10 (£21 + £11.10).
According to the T&Cs, only the Day Return price is used to derive the Best Price. The only multi-day ticket mentioned is the Weekly season.
Do I take it that this system isn't yet configured to work on the Southbury loop? If so, how will the situation be handled if someone catches (say) the first Cambridge to Liverpool Street train on a Saturday and disembarks at Seven Sisters?
ATG - thanks for your insight, always good to get information from someone 'in the know'.
There are no AGA trains from Cambridge that stop at Seven Sisters. If the passenger travels outside the pilot route, he/she needs to have a valid ticket for that journey.
You might want to have a look at the timetable. There's a southbound service every day except Sunday which goes via Seven Sisters: MonFri it's the last train of the day, whilst Saturdays it's the first.
Whilst I take your point that outside of the pilot route people will be travelling on an invalid ticket, this pilot does seem to be advertised as a way to travel from Cambridge to London, and in the cases that I've given, it cannot be argued that Seven Sisters isn't on the way from Cambridge to London. I admit this is an edge case as the trains are at the ends of the day but it does nonetheless seem that something is being advertised which could theoretically land someone with a penalty fare.
A concern for me would be finding myself in hot water if my phone runs out of power mid-journey. Not uncommon if I've forgotten to charge it overnight. I like their helpful advice that if this happens you should call their helpline... do they still have payphones on trains?!
Bluetooth (4 / LE) Beacons are compatible with iOS aren't they?MultiPass will soon be introducing innovative form factors (which will work with iOS too), hence dead battery will no longer be an issue.
According to the T&Cs, only the Day Return price is used to derive the Best Price. The only multi-day ticket mentioned is the Weekly season.
ATG, thanks for coming by to answer all of our questions. As you may have worked out, this forum is full of harsh critics
I'm also disappointed that once again, every TOC seems to be doing their own thing, instead of working together on one integrated system.
Bluetooth (4 / LE) Beacons are compatible with iOS aren't they?
(Indeed, I thought they were originally launched by Apple as an alternative to NFC, as iBeacons)
I admit this is an edge case as the trains are at the ends of the day but it does nonetheless seem that something is being advertised which could theoretically land someone with a penalty fare.
I would love to get on this trial if any more spaces come up. I'm using AGA West Anglia a minimum of once per week, often more (sometimes it could work out cheaper to but a weekly season but I don't as I don't know until it's too late) and I vary the routes. Tottenham to Cheshunt, Cheshunt to Stratford etc.
I must say that while I have some difficulties with some of the concept, it is certainly good the level of research you seem to be doing e.g. on here, as is your willingness to fix shortcomings very quickly.
Seven Sisters will be added to the route and T&Cs updated accordingly. Thank you for spotting that edge case, Be3G!
No problem, though do note that it's not just Seven Sisters involved here, as the first train on a Saturday stops at all stations via Edmonton except for London Fields and Cambridge Heath.
ATG - is it your lot who do the Arriva Multi pass too?http://www.arrivatrainswales.co.uk/MobileMultiFlex/
If so then why have you not opened this one on to the other platforms?
From my superficial understanding of the situation it sounds as if you alight anywhere between Cheshunt and Hackney Downs on that early train you'll be charged as if you alighted at Cheshunt, as that would be the last beacon you passed.
Do you mean a Multipass card? Are they publicly available yet? I would definitely be interested in trying one out but as far as I was aware the full AGA-wide version referred to in the Guardian article isn't launched yet?I ordered my new Smart Card for AGA
Do you mean a Multipass card? Are they publicly available yet? I would definitely be interested in trying one out but as far as I was aware the full AGA-wide version referred to in the Guardian article isn't launched yet?