Unfortunately, Stagecoach have decided to run a cashless trial for adult single tickets on some of their buses in Kent.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10162980981610891&set=g.1509891715859513 .
This is a disgrace.
It's unfriendly to those with certain disabilities, both mental and physical.
I was under the impression that all bus services needed to accept cash payments for tickets in order for them to be deemed a public service vehicle, as accepting cash means a service is open to any person of the public and not exclusively to those who have signed up to an organisation .e.g. a bank.
It's abhorrent.
Is there any way that the legalities of this can be challenged?
It is an awful policy. Especially in that area where people without contactless cards have no alternatives. It is not like it is London with the Oyster card available everywhere.
It was discussed in this thread recently:
The rip off hotel bus routes (GH1 and GH2) at Gatwick Airport run by BM Coaches have just gone fully cashless. They accept contactless only now. It seems a very odd decision as an airport is likely to be one of the top places where people will not have contactless. So lots of people will be...
www.railforums.co.uk
The thing that is odd about this trial is that it is only for Single tickets. You will not be able to pay cash for Single tickets. But they will still accept cash for all other tickets such as a Dayrider ticket or a Discovery ticket etc. So the buses are still taking cash but only for more expensive ticket types. So if a person only has cash then they will be forced to pay over triple the price of a Single ticket for a Day ticket. The cost of a Single is £3.00 where as it costs £9.50 for a Dayrider ticket or £10.00 for a Discovery ticket. So they are basically punishing people without a contactless card.
Unfortunately it is not even unique to them as we have six other cashless operators:
• BM Coaches (Gatwick Hotel Bus) (GH1 GH2)
• Ember (E1 E3 E3X E10)
• First Bristol (routes M1 M2 M3 M3X M4 U1 U2 only)
• Guernsey Buses (all bus routes)
• London Buses (all TFL routes)
• United Minibuses (Gatwick Hotel Bus) (HB1)
Sadly it seems to be expanding and more and more businesses are going cash only.
The issue is that buses are an essential service so should especially take cash. I believe every business should take cash but a cafe or restaurant is less of an issue as it is not essential. But a bus is essential. It is a small amount but there are people without bank accounts for various reasons. We should not forget about such people.
I have no objection to cashless public transport services, We’re years behind the rest of Europe in this regard.
London - Cashless
Guernsey - Cashless
Berlin - Cashless
Amsterdam - Cashless
Rotterdam - Cashless
Valencia - Cashless
Slovenia - Cashless (Arriva)
Just because other places do it does not make it a good idea. Lots of places have poor public transport ticketing decisions. I would not say we are behind as such if it means that taking public transport is easier. Using buses for a cash user in somewhere like Sweden or Netherlands is a nightmare.
Try getting on a Dublin Bus without cash though.
Dublin is awful. At least they take cash but exact fare in coins only. No banknotes accepted. No return tickets. No day rover tickets. So you buy a ticket each time you board with coins only. Plus they do not even publicise faretables online so you have no idea whether your journey is the cheaper short hop single or the more expensive long hop single. It is still better than going cashless but is very annoying.
I'm still unclear what discriminatory angle your post is about,
@Discuss223
The DWP only pays a person's disability benefit (e.g. PIP) into a recipient's bank account.
How else do you think a person will receive and access their money?
Someone with a disability too severe for them to have a bank account in their own name is, I suggest, unlikely to be making use of public transport on their own.
All types of benefits (whether that is PIP or ESA or DLA or Universal Credit etc) are paid in cash if people do not have a bank account. They have the Payment Exception Service which allows you to pick up your cash at any Post Office or at a Pay Point or Pay Zone store. So there certainly are disabled people and others on benefits without bank accounts.
Indeed I believe all benefits (child benefit, pensions, unemployment, etc.) are now only paid into a bank account, and virtually all landlords won't take cash for rent either. This is why lack of banking facilities is such a major problem.
That, and a reasonable part of the pro-cash movement is trying to provide legitimate cover for tax evasion. If you want to try and hide your income, that's between you and HMRC, but there's no reason to compel businesses to facilitate it - or to hide behind disabilities.
All types of benefits (whether that is PIP or ESA or DLA or Universal Credit etc) are paid in cash if people do not have a bank account. They have the Payment Exception Service which allows you to pick up your cash at any Post Office or at a Pay Point or Pay Zone store. So there certainly are disabled people and others on benefits without bank accounts.
Very good reasons for it.
There were a significant number of vicious attacks on drivers to steal what cash they had - it become a serious employee safety issue.
I find that a weak argument. If the notes go in the vault like coins do (which is what the few exact fare operators in the UK do) then stealing it is almost impossible. Using a few instances of crime to justify inconveniencing passengers is very poor. I am sure shop workers in Dublin are just as likely to get attacked and have their cash stolen but you do not see cash vaults and coins only policies in Dublin convenience shops. The buses in London always gave change and accepted notes and drivers handled money until 2014 and i would imagine the crime rate there is the same or worse than what Dublin has.
Cashless buses, great idea,
No drivers mugged for cash on bus, walking round towns on meal breaks with bags of money, no risk of drivers making a mistake and having to find the cash for their own pockets, no chance of drivers fiddling and probably loads of other benefits which I cannot currently think of.
The same arguments could be said for shops or any business but most still take cash. You could use the same argument for convenience shops as they handle lots of cash. All sorts of crimes happen. Just because there is a small risk of cash getting stolen should not be justification to go cashless. I spent many years on and off working as a bus driver at multiple different operators in Surrey and Sussex and can not recall ever hearing of any incident of drivers at our companies being mugged and cash gettting stolen. It does happen but it is clearly very rare.
