Railways and London Mayoral Election

[DynamicSpirit]

Sadiq Khan was not proposing 'tweaking' Oyster, though, he was proposing a new ticket called 'Hopper'

I'm fairly sure that 'new ticket called 'Hopper'' is simply the language being used to promote the idea, and in practice what it will be is 'tweaking' Oyster to achieve the same effect on fares by only charging an Oyster card or debit card for the first bus journey if multiple journeys are made within an hour. I can't see that any other interpretation of the proposals would make sense.

 

[Deerfold]

The main commercial talk radio station for London which stands for London Broadcasting Company although its nationwide now on DAB and uses the tagline Leading Britain's Conversation.

As TheNewNo2 described them as a transport company that doesn't seem to fit.

 

[Clip]

I'm fairly sure that 'new ticket called 'Hopper'' is simply the language being used to promote the idea, and in practice what it will be is 'tweaking' Oyster to achieve the same effect on fares by only charging an Oyster card or debit card for the first bus journey if multiple journeys are made within an hour. I can't see that any other interpretation of the proposals would make sense.

Is there any room left on Oyster to be able to do this without having to mess around again with the capping system?

Although why are people who are using the bus to get to work not just buying a bus and tram pass anyway rather than relying on PAYG? Which then negates the need for an hourly bus ticket altogether - as thats who Khan is marketing this towards.

 

[DynamicSpirit]

Although why are people who are using the bus to get to work not just buying a bus and tram pass anyway rather than relying on PAYG? Which then negates the need for an hourly bus ticket altogether - as thats who Khan is marketing this towards.

I would imagine the main beneficiaries would be:

1. Shoppers etc. or people making occasional journeys, or people commuting 4 or fewer days per week - who would at present be unlikely to have a bus pass.
2. People who currently have a bus pass in solely order to make a shortish commute 5 days/week involving a change of buses - since with the 'hopper' fare, it would become cheaper to just use PAYG instead of buying a pass pass.
3. Anyone whose journey could be equally well done either on one bus or by changing buses (and who doesn't have a bus pass) - since those people will then have a greater choice/frequency of route without having to pay more.

EDIT: Another variation would be - say - someone for whom one bus takes them to about half a mile away from where they need to go. If you have that kind of commute, you may well walk the half mile at the end of your commute to keep the bus fare down and/or avoid the need to buy a bus pass. But with a hopper fare, you then have the option of getting another bus for that bit of the journey instead, without having to pay extra.

 

[Emblematic]

The capping on contactless makes the passes uncompetitive for a majority of cases, particularly as you don't lose out if plans change and you end up not travelling, or on a different mode. The daily cap means only three journeys a day are charged. The Mon-Sun cap comes in at four daily caps and two more journeys, and is the same cost as a seven day pass.
I think the one hour idea would be technically feasible, but would probably need a fare rise to keep revenue equal which would bring it so close to the daily cap it's probably not worthwhile.