Oyster Cards for Sheffield?

[Annie Bynnol]

Why hasn't it been introduced in sheffield yet. Similar system is use around the world with great success

 

Your question would be better asked on this thread from last month.

 

This thread is six years old.

[FIRETHORN1]

The Oyster card is great. I've lived and worked in London since the late 70's and since the Oyster card was introduced a few years ago, public transport is cheaper -in real terms - than it has ever been. I visit my family in Sheff 3 or 4 times a year and I am always shocked and horrified how much more expensive and complicated it is to travel on Sheff public transport than on London public transport.

 

I really believe that Sheffield would benefit from Oyster or a similar scheme. It's very simple, it's valid on buses, trains, tubes and the trams in and around Croydon. You can use Oyster on a "pay-as-you-go" basis if you only travel on public transport occasionally, but by far the cheapest option, if you travel daily, is to top it up with a weekly or monthly "season ticket". This allows unlimited public transport journeys within the travel zones you've pre-paid for.

 

I do between 4 and 6 separate bus/tube and train journeys every day for my work and hop randomly on and off buses tubes and trains as much as I need to when out seeing friends at weekends. Most weeks I'm doing between 25 and 40 separate public transport journeys within a 3-5 mile radius of central London - and all for £23.60 a week. London has it's many faults, but it's public transport is pretty good and comparatively cheap compared to most big British cities I've visited.

 

Affordable public transport encourages people to get out and about more - and the more profit public transport makes, the more it invests and the better it gets. Increased travel on buses, tubes and trains also reduces the amount of cars on the roads, reduces congestion and reduces air pollution. It's a win-win situation all round!

[Andy C]

You can get a weeks unlimited bus and tram travel in Sheffield on any operator for £17 and buy the ticket on board or from the machine in the bus station.

[owls101]

You can get a weeks unlimited bus and tram travel in Sheffield on any operator for £17 and buy the ticket on board or from the machine in the bus station.

 

This totally misses the point.

 

The Oyster card works because it is massively discounted compared to the machine bought tickets, this IMOH encourages people to use public transport.

 

Also, it vastly reduces the time it take to board the bus as all you do is present the card to a scanner.

 

When I buy my weekly ticket from the driver it take him him a while to figure about the correct button the press (I get a student ticket), he then has to print the ticket and put it in the little plastic thing. He then tuts and moans as I give him a tenner for a £7 pound ticket! This all takes time.

 

This may not take long in isolation but on busy routes at peak times there can be several people doing the same thing and the time adds up.

 

So, not only are Oyster cards cheaper, they can help the driver concentrate on driving and improve the the efficiency and punctuality of the public transport service.

 

I cant understand why this wasn't done in Sheffield years ago.

[Guest]

Also, it vastly reduces the time it take to board the bus as all you do is present the card to a scanner.

 

 

 

There will still be no end of drongo's who'll wait until they've boarded the bus and are face to face with the driver before it occurs to them they haven't got their card out and so then begin rooting around their bag for it! a system has not been devised yet that can overcome the power of the drongo. Drongo's always find a way.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Guest

[Andy C]

This totally misses the point.

 

The Oyster card works because it is massively discounted compared to the machine bought tickets, this IMOH encourages people to use public transport.

 

Also, it vastly reduces the time it take to board the bus as all you do is present the card to a scanner.

 

When I buy my weekly ticket from the driver it take him him a while to figure about the correct button the press (I get a student ticket), he then has to print the ticket and put it in the little plastic thing. He then tuts and moans as I give him a tenner for a £7 pound ticket! This all takes time.

 

This may not take long in isolation but on busy routes at peak times there can be several people doing the same thing and the time adds up.

 

So, not only are Oyster cards cheaper, they can help the driver concentrate on driving and improve the the efficiency and punctuality of the public transport service.

 

I cant understand why this wasn't done in Sheffield years ago.

 

Because the current Sheffield set up is much more customer focused.

 

Do people really want to be charged more for using the more convenient sales channels?

 

If you don't think you will have the right money to buy on board there is also the choice of buying on smart cards from the self service machines in the bus interchanges.

Edited September 9, 2014 by Andy C

[vincentb]

I cant understand why this wasn't done in Sheffield years ago.

 

Because outside London, the bus services were deregulated in such a way that it has been much more difficult for the authorities to make the bus companies cooperate on an integrated scheme like this.

[Andy C]

Because outside London, the bus services were deregulated in such a way that it has been much more difficult for the authorities to make the bus companies cooperate on an integrated scheme like this.

 

That is a reason why pay-as-you-go is more of a challenge. We do however already have the Travelmaster and Citywide ticket range which are valid on all operators in South Yorkshire.

 

There are other issues that make pay-as-you go smartcards difficult - our buses don't charge a flat fare and the tram & train stations don't have ticket gates.

 

In terms of season tickets Travelmaster and Citywide are now available on smartcards as are Stagecoach Megariders. However the cheapest weekly tickets are also available to buy on board as paper tickets in order to offer a convenient, customer focused and easy to use public transport system.

[FIRETHORN1]

I agree with what's been said about de-regulation. The reason that Oyster works so well in London is that the public transport systems are integrated. Buses, Underground services and trams are all run by "Transport for London" (TfL). The overhead commuter trains are run by a number of different operators, but they all accept Oyster, making it easier to plan your journey and much cheaper to pay for it than it would be if you bought individual tickets for every journey. Such a system would be harder to implement in Sheff because there seem to be so many different companies involved in running the transport network.

 

Since July this year, London buses no longer accept cash fares - you have to use a season ticket, an Oyster Card or a "contactless payment card" to travel on them. It's made the bus drivers' job a bit safer because they are no longer being robbed for the money in their ticket tills.

 

There's always a downside of course. People have lost their jobs because ticket offices have been closed down and the automatic entry and exit machines have done away with the need for human beings checking tickets at entry and exit barriers. Speaking entirely selfishly though, I welcome any inititiative that reduces the time, cost and complexity of travelling on public transport

[Zinger549]

There are other issues that make pay-as-you go smartcards difficult - our buses don't charge a flat fare and the tram & train stations don't have ticket gates.

 

There are some train stations in London with no barriers but they just have a standalone reader.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oyster_card#mediaviewer/File:Oystercard_readers.jpg