It's not coins only as already pointed out. It's exact fare. And in my experience, with the flat fare, it works well.
It works very well indeed, buses in London don't take cash at all.
Lothian are probably the best bus operator in the UK.
It's not coins only as already pointed out. It's exact fare. And in my experience, with the flat fare, it works well.
Exact fare if paying cash, but contactless accepted, is probably the best compromise, really. Discourages cash use and reduces delay from it while offering a solution to most people to avoid cash.
The argument about drivers committing fraud against their own employer doesn't hold any water either. The company should be employing people it can trust. Most buses nationally have not had the problem of embezzlement by drivers so I don't think it's at all reasonable for Lothian to use that as an excuse for their incomprehensible policy.
Exact fare if paying cash, but contactless accepted, is probably the best compromise, really. Discourages cash use and reduces delay from it while offering a solution to most people to avoid cash.
I tried to buy a Family day ticket which is £8.50 using a £5 note and coins back in October and the driver said you had to pay with coins. I did remember hearing about this somewhere (might have been on this or a similar forum) so I had some coins on standby just in case, however I can't see this mentioned on their website, although it does say that you "place your change coins" in the box.It's not coins only as already pointed out. It's exact fare. And in my experience, with the flat fare, it works well.
I tried to buy a Family day ticket which is £8.50 using a £5 note and coins back in October and the driver said you had to pay with coins. I did remember hearing about this somewhere (might have been on this or a similar forum) so I had some coins on standby just in case, however I can't see this mentioned on their website, although it does say that you "place your change coins" in the box.
I used to travel regularly on West Midlands buses in Birmingham and they never used to have an issue with paying with notes, despite also having cash vaults.
I take it that the issue is not that only Scotish £5 notes are accepted, and not the plastic English ones?
...
Scotland had plastic fivers - from one of the banks - before England, IIRC.
No. There is never a case where English banknotes are not accepted in Scotland.
Indeed, the Clydesdale Bank introduced them in 2015.
The Bank of England is releasing its first £5 polymer note, but the Northern Bank was the first in the UK to issue a polymer fiver back in October 1999.
Two million special edition notes were made to mark the millennium; they featured an illustration of the Space Shuttle on one side.
A few of the more fundamentalist nationalist individuals aside (I'm aware of one person), BoE notes are in circulation alongside the ones from the Scottish banks.
Not only that, but if you withdraw cash from an English bank branch (in Scotland that's mainly HSBC) you will get Bank of England notes, because Scottish banks can only issue their own notes, not those of other banks, and so HSBC doesn't actually have any to issue. This can be useful for an English person going to Scotland!
As for the individual you mention, I'm quite happy that they will not get any of my money whether English or Scottish. As it happens I'm neutral on Scottish independence (my line generally is essentially that if a people want self determination it's their right to have it if they want, though I think the dissolution of the UK would be a shame but not my decision) but that's just being silly.
He was an idiot - actually a customer where I used to work. He once referred to an English banknote as "foreign muck" - a thoroughly unpleasant individual. I was hopeful of the day when I'd have a Northern Irish fiver to give him in change. Sadly, never happened. (I suspect he'd have been OK with it actually...)
BTW am I correct in thinking a Spirit of Scotland rover is now valid for use on the trams in the city zone?
What's included?
The cost of your Spirit of Scotland travel pass includes:
...
Tram travel – with Edinburgh Trams
Website says yes:
https://www.scotrail.co.uk/tickets/combined-tickets-travel-passes/spirit-of-scotland
> Tram travel with Edinburgh Trams
They also tweeted:
https://twitter.com/EdinburghTrams/status/821331991643783170/photo/1
It doesn't even appear to state that it's restricted to the city zone.
(?)