London Buses Saver Ticket Query

[flythetube]

Good Evening to all

I appreciate this is not a rail ticketing question but one of a Tfl / London Buses nature concerning use of SAVER Bus Tickets and curtailment of Journey.

Saver tickets are a 2 part single use bus ticket essentially valid for a single journey on a Tfl operated bus service.

Upon boarding (at least prior to
Co-Vid and cabs being sealed off) you handed one half to the driver and retained the other in case of a Ticket Inspection.

These tickets are no longer sold to the public but are still available for bulk purchase by essentially government departments eg Probation whose clients are on low or nil incomes or waiting for benefit claims to process.

Prior to hopper fares, curtailments and transfers were undertaken by the driver issuing transfer tickets printed from the ticket machines.

The printers of which have been removed making this option no longer possible.

What should a user of a Saver ticket do in the event of the journey being taken being curtailed?

Is the customer entitled to ask for the other half of their ticket back to use on a subsequent bus or as they are likely to be vulnerable and without funds or a second Saver ticket be allowed to travel without question on the subsequent bus and should the driver of the curtailed bus wait for the subsequent bus to transfer the customer without question bearing in mind in waiting may negate the effect or purpose of curtailing the first bus in the first place or is it tough luck matey, not my problem, you need another ticket for the next bus???

There appears to be no information that I can find on the Tfl website regarding the official procedure under this circumstance.

Is there even one?

Any Tfl Bus Drivers or Revenue Protection Staff able to shed any light on this?

Thanks.

I ask because I am aware of an individual recently prosecuted for assaulting a driver in the Hounslow area following the driver refusing to hand back the half of the ticket taken in following such a curtailment, the result of which was the driver receiving broken bones in the ensuing altercation.

 

[Somewhere]

The same question could also be asked of a curtailment when one has used contactless, if getting on the second bus and tapping in would take you over the hour from when you first tapped in

 

[Busaholic]

The driver's printer being removed presents one of those unintended consequences that are now prevalent in many walks of life, with no straight (or indeed any) answer. If I still had contacts in the Probation Service I'd try and get the issue raised, but it's been forty years!

 

[mangad]

I had some left over Saver tickers that I used up in 2011, and the drivers back then were amazed to still see them in existence. One said it had been years since he'd seen one. Can imagine not many drivers have seen one in the wild now, yet alone gone through the scenario outlined!

 

[Hophead]

The same question could also be asked of a curtailment when one has used contactless, if getting on the second bus and tapping in would take you over the hour from when you first tapped in

I seem to remember you could ask the driver for a continuation voucher (or something of that nature) to present to the driver of your next bus in these circumstances. I guess that, with a daily bus fare cap equating to just 3 journeys, and now the existence of the Hopper fare, this is considered to not be an issue by TfL these days.

 

[flythetube]

Someone boarded a 390 in Oxford Street this morning (Sunday) not going to a Probation meeting!!!

So still around for some vulnerable members of society.

Driver had to open his cab door to take in his half of the ticket.

 

[CyrusWuff]

I seem to remember you could ask the driver for a continuation voucher (or something of that nature) to present to the driver of your next bus in these circumstances. I guess that, with a daily bus fare cap equating to just 3 journeys, and now the existence of the Hopper fare, this is considered to not be an issue by TfL these days.

With the printers being removed, Transfer Vouchers are no longer offered. TfL's mitigation being the Hopper fare will cover most scenarios where they would have been required.

There is an exception to this when the Blackwall Tunnel is closed and route 108 runs in two sections, with the cross-River link being provided by the Jubilee Line. Special Transfer Vouchers have been produced for this to provide a free Tube and onward bus journey.

 

[bakerstreet]

What also used to happen is the driver (or going back further tge conductor) would wait with the curtailed or broken down vehicle and liaise with the driver / crew of the next bus to transfer them over.