Oyster card vs London bendy bus

[Johnny blaze]

I have a monthly 'touch n go' oyster travel card.

When you enter onto a double decker bus, you have to present your card to the card reading machine, the machine then beeps, which tells the driver your 'legit', then you grab a seat.

However, on the single decker bendy transport for london insist that you still have to touch your card in when you travel.
My question is why?
Since the driver has no interest whatsover wether you have a ticket, or even if you try to give the driver cash for a ticket (which you wont get) what is the point of touching in?

No credit or money is deducted from my monthly oyster card wether I touch in or not since it is time based not credit based.

Please tell me if im missing something.
Cheers.

[dzug]

Two reasons:

to show your card is valid and not out of date or just a prepay one

to collect statistics on bus usage

and the driver does have an interest in whether you have a ticket. If you have a bus saver he'll want a stub from it for example.

Don't actually see the difference between types of bus on this btw.

[Cathyhuns]

Also the Oyster reader will only validate the card once so you cannot "share" your Oyster Card with other people. It also allows any ticket inspector to check that your card is valid.

[Johnny blaze]

Hello Dzug, thank you for your post.

Regarding your first point
"to show your card is valid and not out of date or just a prepay one"
I suppose I should have been more clearer in my question..

To whom exactly are you showing your oyster is valid to? I already know my card is valid, other passengers have their own lives to worry about (and besides they wont know if I have a normal pass, oyster, or roadside ticket), and the bus driver is at the other end of the bus (when I get on through the third set of doors at the rear). So what is the point again?

Regarding your second point relating to statistics..
If I used a normal photocard and pass (paperpass) transport for london would have no idea about stats based on my usage, also what do I get for giving them statistics?
So again what is the point of touching in? Do transport for London only care about where oyster users travel?

Regarding stub tickets.. I'll give you that one, although yesterday when I saw a customer give the driver a stub from his saver, the driver could not have been less bothered about it.

Lastly regarding types of bus. There is a difference between the types of buses; on bendy buses you can enter and exit from ANY set of doors and the driver does not 'serve' or interact with you at all. Also you have to have ANY valid ticket BEFORE boarding these buses..which the driver doesnt check apart from stubs (which im not asking about).

The above is completely opposite for double deckers.

Cheers.

[spaced]

dont talk to me about oyster cards, buses, trams etc etc. bloody idiots put there prices up too much again this year!

[dzug]

If you use a paper travel card the driver clicks a counter when you board - on a front entrance bus anyway - as does/did the conductor on a Routemaster. How conscientious/y he does this I've no idea - probably not very. Obviously it doesn't work if you don't use the entrance by the driver.

The only other possible reason I can think of in the light of your reply is that if you don't swipe it you are travelling without a valid ticket and are liable to a penalty fare. That is to be valid on that bus, your card must be swiped. I don't actually know whether this is true or not but it's possible.

You could try the Oyster query page

https://transportforlondon.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/transportforlondon.cfg/php/enduser/std_alp.php?p_sid=dv2OCRYh

but it's not a FAQ, you'll have to send them a e-mail

[Grunty]

On 15 January 2004 a letter appeared in The Independent from a lady who had been renewing her Oyster card. She was told of two occasions that she had failed to pass the card over the reader. She was even told which two journeys were involved. She asked how they knew that she had passed, and was told that an electronic chip records the visit, even if the card is not produced. The attendant who served her remarked 'Big Brother is here".

[jimmyb01]

I can see the logic of touching in and out on the Tube (prices are cheaper than last year on Oyster) because you have different oyster card Zones, but the bus it is just the same as the old style paper tickets.

[jno]

most people seem to get on the rear doors of bendy buses without touching anything. Perhaps they have day passes which they could show on request, though I don't know how often it is requested. Perhaps they don't have anything. Seems like an invitation to free travel to me.