Ticket System Idea

[LucaZone]

How about this for a ticketing system.

No tickets at all.....just a swipe card, like Oyster or something. The difference though is that its just like a mobile fone. Either you Pay as you go and can top up the 'miles' you can travel using some credit/debt card phone in system (just like your mobile), or you have a contract and you get a monthly bill thats Debted from your bank account.

So you just swipe your card at the ticket gate, and it logs where you entered the network from, and then when you swipe again it logs where you left, and bills you for that journey.

No need to worry about tickets, ticket machines, the dam things getting bent in ya back pocket, or all these saver schemes.

How about the more miles you do the cheaper your journeys get?
Or even Track Miles? just like airmiles, but you get points on your rail card that means you get charged less for a journey.

Seems like a much easier way to gain benefits, and could be more environmentally and security friendly.

Ow and because it requires a Credit/Debit card, anyone too young to have one goes free.....That should be attractive enough for parents to send their kids to school using Public Transport

 

[voyagerdude220]

How about this for a ticketing system.

No tickets at all.....just a swipe card, like Oyster or something. The difference though is that its just like a mobile fone. Either you Pay as you go and can top up the 'miles' you can travel using some credit/debt card phone in system (just like your mobile), or you have a contract and you get a monthly bill thats Debted from your bank account.

So you just swipe your card at the ticket gate, and it logs where you entered the network from, and then when you swipe again it logs where you left, and bills you for that journey.

No need to worry about tickets, ticket machines, the dam things getting bent in ya back pocket, or all these saver schemes.

How about the more miles you do the cheaper your journeys get?
Or even Track Miles? just like airmiles, but you get points on your rail card that means you get charged less for a journey.

Seems like a much easier way to gain benefits, and could be more environmentally and security friendly.

Ow and because it requires a Credit/Debit card, anyone too young to have one goes free.....That should be attractive enough for parents to send their kids to school using Public Transport

I second your proposal, but what about Virgin Value First tickets?

 

[Ascot]

Phone or order and tap in your card number?

 

[voyagerdude220]

Phone or order and tap in your card number?

That'll do for me

 

[asopu10]

Oddly eneuth I was actually thinking about that on the bus last night, I was also thinking **** the bus is so slow. I did a lot of thinking that evening, anyway it sounds good to me!

 

[metrocammel]

How about this for a ticketing system.

No tickets at all.....just a swipe card, like Oyster or something. The difference though is that its just like a mobile fone. Either you Pay as you go and can top up the 'miles' you can travel using some credit/debt card phone in system (just like your mobile), or you have a contract and you get a monthly bill thats Debted from your bank account.

So you just swipe your card at the ticket gate, and it logs where you entered the network from, and then when you swipe again it logs where you left, and bills you for that journey.

No need to worry about tickets, ticket machines, the dam things getting bent in ya back pocket, or all these saver schemes.

How about the more miles you do the cheaper your journeys get?
Or even Track Miles? just like airmiles, but you get points on your rail card that means you get charged less for a journey.

Seems like a much easier way to gain benefits, and could be more environmentally and security friendly.

Ow and because it requires a Credit/Debit card, anyone too young to have one goes free.....That should be attractive enough for parents to send their kids to school using Public Transport

The system is a bit flawed. How could you prove what route you went? Is there just one, expensive, fare from station A to station B? (meaning you cannot have part-in-part CDR's for example) If so, this would send fares skyrocketing. Also, this sytstem would require the guard to have an "oyster-style" reader to read everybodies cards (which if the machines failed, the guard would be unable to check peoples validity). The system would also cost millions in fitting ticket gates (or at least a card reader) to every single station on the network- including "ghost" stations, such as Denton! This system could not work, as it would cut all the flexibility of paper tickets, and could possibly lead to more fraud (ie, a person "swiping out" at an unbarried station, then carrying on his journey to another unbarriered station, but not swiping out, meaning part of the journey was free). A system such as that can work on a small-scale "enclosed" system, but not on the rail network, with outlying, obscure places such as Berney Arms and Plockton!

 

[Nick W]

Any reason why little trains (14/5xs) can't have readers on the doors?

 

[Donny Dave]

Possibly because it will be expensive to modify the units to fit the readers and install them....

 

[yorkie]

How about this for a ticketing system.

No tickets at all.....just a swipe card, like Oyster or something. The difference though is that its just like a mobile fone. Either you Pay as you go and can top up the 'miles' you can travel using some credit/debt card phone in system (just like your mobile), or you have a contract and you get a monthly bill thats Debted from your bank account.

So that'd be like giving them a blank cheque book - you don't know how much it's going to cost.

So you just swipe your card at the ticket gate, and it logs where you entered the network from, and then when you swipe again it logs where you left, and bills you for that journey.

What if I travel round and don't leave the network until I get back to my origin?

No need to worry about tickets, ticket machines, the dam things getting bent in ya back pocket, or all these saver schemes.

But we'd need to worry big-time if we lost the card, also we'd need to worry that they may charge us more at the end of our journey than we wanted as we don't get charged until later.

How about the more miles you do the cheaper your journeys get?
Or even Track Miles? just like airmiles, but you get points on your rail card that means you get charged less for a journey.

Well, I agree with this (although it'd probably be impractical to link prices to miles travelled), except it goes against the current system - which charges less for a combination of tickets than 1 ticket. So the fares structure would need to change totally, not just the method of payment.

Seems like a much easier way to gain benefits, and could be more environmentally and security friendly.

Potentially, yes, but there are many potential problems with it.

Ow and because it requires a Credit/Debit card, anyone too young to have one goes free.....That should be attractive enough for parents to send their kids to school using Public Transport

Not sure about this, it could get abused by gangs of youths roaming the system to hang out. Also, consider all the child fares sold today, the industry would surely lose millions?

 

[Nick W]

What if I travel round and don't leave the network until I get back to my origin?

Free travel... sounds good to me!

If there was a general price per mile for fares, and the route used was known, this would work well.

 

[yorkie]

Free travel... sounds good to me!.

You're old enough for a debit card, so would miss out

 

[LucaZone]

WOW dont take it toooooooo seriously, it was an Idea...meaning this is all my thought about it and I was throwing it to the forum for intermitant chat. I certainly dont have answers to all the below sorry

So that'd be like giving them a blank cheque book - you don't know how much it's going to cost.
What if I travel round and don't leave the network until I get back to my origin?
But we'd need to worry big-time if we lost the card, also we'd need to worry that they may charge us more at the end of our journey than we wanted as we don't get charged until later.
Well, I agree with this (although it'd probably be impractical to link prices to miles travelled), except it goes against the current system - which charges less for a combination of tickets than 1 ticket. So the fares structure would need to change totally, not just the method of payment.
Potentially, yes, but there are many potential problems with it.
Not sure about this, it could get abused by gangs of youths roaming the system to hang out. Also, consider all the child fares sold today, the industry would surely lose millions?

No harm in being positive every once in a while, instead of slaughtering the hell out of things.

 

[gordonthemoron]

DB can now send tickets to your mobile phone

 

[Mojo]

In my opinion, Children should get free travel, whilst the system for over 60s should be means tested. IMO, the only reason over 60s get free bus (and in some areas train/metro) travel is because of the grey vote. there are far more children in poverty who *have* to go out (school, etc).

System sounds interesting, though points such as routeing & cost have been raised by other members.

 

[theblackwatch]

I'm not sure how DB's systems work - one thing I noticed last year on IC trains was that a few people handed over what appeared to be an e-ticket, along with a card ( not sure if it was a credit card or DB payment or id card?). Presumably the journey is then either charged to the card (if this was a credit card), or recorded on the card, to prevent the ticket being printed out twice.

I don't think a full blown oyster card system would work for the country - possibly other conurbations other than London such as the PTE areas.

 

[gordonthemoron]

blackwatch, when you book a DB online ticket (or register, can't remember which), you nominate a credit card or Bahncard to use as ID on the train. There is a watermark/hologram type thingy on the ticket which presumably is used with the card to confim the ticket.

 

[theblackwatch]

blackwatch, when you book a DB online ticket (or register, can't remember which), you nominate a credit card or Bahncard to use as ID on the train. There is a watermark/hologram type thingy on the ticket which presumably is used with the card to confim the ticket.

Thanks for that, I wondered how the system worked!

 

[yorkie]

WOW dont take it toooooooo seriously, it was an Idea...meaning this is all my thought about it and I was throwing it to the forum for intermitant chat. I certainly dont have answers to all the below sorry

But the point of forums is to have a debate, and no you're not expected to have all the answers

What worries me is that there are very different ways it could go. It could be a good thing if it meant enthusiasts (or "bashers") could go long ways round and not be penalised - but somehow I can't see that being allowed to happen.

But there are just so many fares out there, it would be a big worry if you got a bill at the end of it.

If combo CDRs required a touch out and back in at intermediate stations, then the system would effectively create a massive fare rise for some passengers.

IMO our current fares structure is totally incompatible with such a system. I would be in favour of a new structure if it meant that no rises at all would occur, for anyone under any circumstances. But I just can't see that happening. We all know that when it comes to removing anomalies, TOCs like to increase the cheap tickets and/or restrict them, or simply not bother removing the anomalies at all.