Travel Information Centres closing

[Vaati 11]

I used Oyster last week in London - i found it easy and simple.

[Andy C 86]

Just a reminder of what we DO have in Sheffield.....

 

Stagecoach Smart weekly and 28 day Megarider tickets and ICE loyalty scheme - http://www.buymymegarider.com/

 

Stagecoach bus & tram 28 day Megarider scratchcard - http://www.supertram.com/sivlifecard.html

 

First South Yorkshire m-ticketing app - http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/south_yorkshire/journey_planning/mtickets/

 

First South Yorkshire - monthly scratchcard - http://www.firstgroup.com/ukbus/south_yorkshire/tickets/firstmonth/

 

Travelmaster & Citywide all operator weekly and 28 day smart tickets : buy from self service machines or Payzone shops - http://www.sytravelmaster.com/smart

 

---------- Post added 28-05-2015 at 16:23 ----------

 

What we don't have in Sheffield, when you are comparing with the likes of the London Oyster or Trent Barton Mango, is the pay-as-you-go smart cards where you load the card with credit and use it to pay for single tickets, with the spend capped at the price of the relevant all day ticket.

 

For this to work you have to either have gates to touch in and out of a closed system or alternativey have a flat fare for any journey length.

 

In Sheffield there is also the issue of the network being made up of several competing operators.

 

It is also worth noting that in London tube fares are much more expensive without an Oyster card, also buses do not accept cash payment - only Oyster or contactless debit cards.

Edited May 28, 2015 by Andy C

[EternalFish 10]

If only the online system did as claimed for concessionary passes. I lost my disabled pass a couple of weeks back and, as instructed, went to replace it on myTSY.

 

There's no facility to pay the £7 carelessness fee needed to replace a pass. You can apply for a new pass, but this requires you to acquire new documentation from your doc, etc. and upload it. Shouldn't be necessary for replacing a pass mid-term. Still waiting on a reply to an assistance request.

 

Not a huge deal as, as has been said, there is the paper drop-off alternative. I have bought a mobile ticket to tide me over - but if they say you can do something online...

[Andy C 86]

If only the online system did as claimed for concessionary passes. I lost my disabled pass a couple of weeks back and, as instructed, went to replace it on myTSY.

 

There's no facility to pay the £7 carelessness fee needed to replace a pass. You can apply for a new pass, but this requires you to acquire new documentation from your doc, etc. and upload it. Shouldn't be necessary for replacing a pass mid-term. Still waiting on a reply to an assistance request.

 

Not a huge deal as, as has been said, there is the paper drop-off alternative. I have bought a mobile ticket to tide me over - but if they say you can do something online...

 

Can Travel-line (01709 51-51-51) assist with that sort of thing?

[chem1st 10]

Will bus drivers be obliged to inform passengers of what they need to do, to get from A to B and to buy a ticket, because the amount of people asking such questions at TICs, suggests we will have many delays when they close.

[Guest busdriver1]

So whats wrong with it??

 

Seems to work alrite on the tube.

 

I am not sure of the exact problems but it is seen in the industry as being past its sell by date and it is in line for an upgrade to a more secure system in the future.

It does not use the same system as the current contactless cards in use in South Yorkshire.

I believe they are looking at on-bus top ups via the ticket machine and that would require new levels of security not currently available via oyster. Like I said the current smart cards are capable but they are not secure.

The M ticket is currently the most secure system but as it relies on visual contact only is not really a true smart ticket.

Personally I think First are doing the right thing by waiting till the system is fit for purpose rather than gambling with customers money.

[LuSiVe 10]

Stagecoach Smart weekly and 28 day Megarider tickets and ICE loyalty scheme - http://www.buymymegarider.com/

 

Stagecoach are leaving the ICE scheme imminently ...

[Andy C 86]

I am not sure of the exact problems but it is seen in the industry as being past its sell by date and it is in line for an upgrade to a more secure system in the future.

It does not use the same system as the current contactless cards in use in South Yorkshire.

I believe they are looking at on-bus top ups via the ticket machine and that would require new levels of security not currently available via oyster. Like I said the current smart cards are capable but they are not secure.

The M ticket is currently the most secure system but as it relies on visual contact only is not really a true smart ticket.

Personally I think First are doing the right thing by waiting till the system is fit for purpose rather than gambling with customers money.

 

The European standard for smartcards is ITSO and Oyster is non-compliant. Stagecoach Smart and Travelmaster is on ITSO. There was talk of upgrading Oyster to ITSO but there is also a possibility that the Oyster card scheme may be scrapped in favour of contactless debit cards.

 

---------- Post added 29-05-2015 at 12:33 ----------

 

Stagecoach are leaving the ICE scheme imminently ...

 

Hadn't heard. I'm not sure that it is particularly popular anyway despite the savings.

Edited May 29, 2015 by Andy C

[ShefStealth 10]

I am not sure of the exact problems but it is seen in the industry as being past its sell by date and it is in line for an upgrade to a more secure system in the future.

It does not use the same system as the current contactless cards in use in South Yorkshire.

 

All contactless travel cards utilise an RFID type system which usually incorporates a 'MiFare' chip (apparently now industry standard) within the card. There's been numerous evolutions of the MiFare as the technology has gradually matured. Original Oysters had a much more primitive version of MiFare that had to be upgraded as a number of customers worked out how to crack the security and 'rogue top-up' their Oyster cards. TfL consider it too cost prohibitive to upgrade everyone's current Oysters with new cards in order that they conform to ITSO (see Andy C's comment below) especially when they have an alternative available that actually costs them less money to process transactions in the form of contactless.

 

The European standard for smartcards is ITSO and Oyster is non-compliant. Stagecoach Smart and Travelmaster is on ITSO. There was talk of upgrading Oyster to ITSO but there is also a possibility that the Oyster card scheme may be scrapped in favour of contactless debit cards.

 

TfL are trying to persuade people to use contactless debit/credit instead of Oyster as they get more revenue per transaction from them than they do from Oyster. One of the mechanisms that they've used to try and persuade people of using contactless as opposed to Oyster is that they do week capping on contactless rather than just day capping on Oyster. This is a point of contention, and another argument trying to push people to upgrade their Oyster cards (at their own expense) or to use contactless. The unfortunate thing for TfL is that they have to maintain legacy for a period of time at the expense of security, purely due to the number of customers involved that would need to upgrade.

 

London in general and TfL have too much revenue to protect from the tourism industry to ever get rid of Oyster, even if they have bought in more favourable rates from standard contactless debit cards in the form of the day vs week capping. There's no guarantee that people from outside the UK will have a contactless card available to them. UK had chip and pin ages before a lot of other European countries, Switzerland had Chip and pin before the UK. There'll always be some countries in front of any technological evolution whilst others are being left behind. TfL also makes money from selling limited edition/branded Oysters, a prime example being during London 2012.

[TheRightWay 10]

I lost my disable card 4 times last year,the office takes in lost passes every wk from 1st and Stagecoach drivers , what will happen now. where the lost passes go to . Why doesn't the council cut back on funds given to Ethnic organisations all over the city and money saved there , to keep these important instillations going , what about the staff who walked the main Interchange for our safety what will happen to these folk , this hasn't been thought through properly just a rash decision at the expense of the vulnerable yet again .

[Vegas1 10]

What on earth does the Council have to do with these centres going, and what do "ethnic organisations" have to do with anything?

 

You are Alf Garnett and I claim my £5.

[TheRightWay 10]

What cutbacks have there organisation's suffered none , while the indigenous folk of this city suffer these cutbacks , sick and tired of this safe sanctuary city stuff , what about its home grown population for a change .