Question for Londoners on Flist or Lurking

[shadowkat]

Apparently London is attempting to help NYC's MTA :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/oct/23/new-york-london-subway-tube

Question to all the Londoners reading this and on my flist? How successful has the Oyster System been? And do you agree with the praises lauded in this article? Curious minds want to know.

[Poll #1727767]

Off-topic, just in case you wondered if it is possible to manipulate statistics? I've got proof, apparently there are software products that aid in data and statistical manipulation. Why do it yourself, when your computer can do it for you? (Google - SAS Systems - Statistical Manipulation or Data Manipulation.)

Comments

[paratti.livejournal.com]

No fumbling for change. You can use it on the buses and the tube. You can put money on it when its convenient for you at shops, stations and on the net and journeys are cheaper when on the card than paid for individually.

[aycheb.livejournal.com]

The oyster card system works really well. You're joking about SAS aren't you?

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Consultant: I'm spending my time at home trying to figure out the SAS - software on manipulating statistics.

Me: Now I have proof that statistics are manipulated.
They actually have software that does it for you.

Consultant: Hey in my spare time I read the dictionary and figure out how to manipulate statistics.

Me: Sounds like you are in desperate need of some other form of entertainment...

Consutlant: Hey, hey...

(So sort of joking.)

[rahael.livejournal.com]

The oyster card is great for me as a commuter - no more queuing for tickets, I nearly always have money on the card - and I can swipe my wallet to open turnstiles, I don't even need to take the card out...

however, it has led to ticket office closures on the tube system, less staff in stations etc. There are safety issues if you are travelling around late at night or in deserted stations where once you could expect someone to be in the ticket office.

[oursin.livejournal.com]

Pretty much that, plus, if you are travelling outside the your usual zones you need to top up, which I've had problems with, partly due closed ticket offices.

But on the whole I like it, though I am extremely lucky as my employers give me an interest-free loan to buy the annual gold card, which also gives me discounts on railway journeys! (that is, railway journeys leaving from London stations).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Thanks - curious to see how it operated outside the usual zones, because London's system is different than NY's in that way.
You more or less pay the same amount for all "subway" related zones, but if you hope on a commuter train - it's a separate and additional cost.

With Oyster they are hoping to combine the commuter rail and subway and buses - so you just need one card. Did they try that in London as well?

[oursin.livejournal.com]

It covers pretty much all London transportation, including the Docklands Light Railway, and I think some commuter river services - buses, underground, and railways.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Similar issues here and we haven't even gotten to the Oyster system yet. Station agents being reassigned or laid-off, ticket offices closing, etc. They are attempting to implement a security box - where you can push a button to get either information or assistance. There's a pilot program for it on the 6 line, apparently.

I found an article in the London Times - where the system shut down and caused chaos in the agency. Commuters got to travel free, but the agency lost a lot of money. Apparently it has happened twice?

[londonkds.livejournal.com]

Yes, the biggest one I remember was due to a bad software update that erased the data on people's cards when they touched in. Fortunately I wasn't travelling that morning.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

From what I read - I think you would have gotten to travel for free until they corrected it. (Although that might be another occurence).

[ubi4soft.livejournal.com]

For me as a tourist it was great

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I've always been impressed with the Oyster card every time I'm in London. Works better than any other public transport payment system I've encountered.

Also, for added nerd cred, there's this (http://wwww.kontraband.com/pics/25524/To-The-Man-Dressed-As-A-Wizard/).

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Hmm. What do you make of this article in the London Times?
Just curious as to veracity.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/jul/26/transport.london

Rather impressed by The Guardian, by the way, it seems a little less slanted than the NY Newspapers.

[beer-good-foamy.livejournal.com]

I'm only in London a couple of times a year, so I have no idea how common that is. Though there's no such thing as a computerised system that never breaks down, and at least they seemed to handle it the right way, ie not take it out on the travellers.

And the Guardian is great. I love their literature coverage.

[stormwreath.livejournal.com]

I'm more surprised that NYC doesn't have electronic boards telling you when the next train is due. Seriously?

But yes, Oyster works great. My only real problem is that I live in the far south of London and my local station doesn't have Oyster readers installed, so even if I'm travelling up into town I still have to buy a paper ticket. But the local buses and tram system all take Oyster even if the train doesn't... huh?

You've been able to travel on any form of public transport in London with a single ticket for years, long before the system went electronic. With Oyster, the total you have to pay in a single day is capped as well regardless of how many journeys you make, which is great for tourists or shopping expeditions.

[shadowkat67.livejournal.com]

Oh, they have electronic boards at Penn Station, Long Island Railroad's Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica Station, and at some other stations here and there. Subways - depends on the station, I think there's a few here and there.

We are a 24/7 service. Is London - 24/7? It wasn't in the 1980s, but then in the 1980s you had zones, and paper tickets. So it may have changed. I remember having to take buses after midnight.
NYC has always been 24/7 - dating back to the 1960s, if not before. So this may be an issue regarding implementation.

Currently we all have metro-cards for subways/buses, with rail tickets for trains.

Did read an article in the London Times about the Oyster failing on occasion.

[anomster.livejournal.com]

One of the most useful books I've read was a little red book--not Chairman Mao's, but one called How to Lie With Statistics. Of course, it's really about how to tell how you're being lied to w/statistics. Clued me in good. It was in my high school library--1 of several great books I read there that were never assigned in any of my classes.