Ticketing and Concessionary Travel on Public Transport - United ...

Transport Committee: Evidence Ev 83
<strong>and</strong> (c) honoured on all local buses for the same minimum hours, there is little scope for local variation.
Where this still exists, eg in terms of additional hours <strong>and</strong>/or modes of validity, this is likely to cause
confusion <strong>and</strong> argument when one authority’s holders try to use them elsewhere (eg London Freedom Pass
users making local rail or metro journeys outside London because they are entitled to do so within it).
There are many localities—though not in London—where some public transport links are provided only
by rail or ferry, not by bus. And a bus-only pass is of little or no use to passengers whose disabilities prevent
them from travelling on mainstream public transport vehicles <strong>and</strong> who are therefore restricted to door-todoor
services such as dial-a-ride or taxis.
We would therefore welcome the maximum practicable consistency in the times of operation of
concessionary fares schemes <strong>and</strong> the modes of transport which they cover, provided that this is achieved
through levelling-up to the st<strong>and</strong>ards of the best <strong>and</strong> not by depriving existing holders of benefits they
currently enjoy.
March 2007
Integrated Transport
Supplementary memor<strong>and</strong>um from London <strong>Travel</strong>Watch (TPT 09a)
1. Is ticketing suYciently integrated across diVerent modes of transport <strong>and</strong> diVerent geographical areas?
In our earlier written statement we said that “London <strong>Travel</strong>Watch has recently expressed concern about
the length of queues at Underground ticket oYces at major National Rail termini in London (Kings Cross,
Euston, Paddington, Victoria, Liverpool Street). Much of this problem stems from rail passengers arriving
without tickets that would take them onward via the Underground. In many cases this is because they have
not been made aware of the availability at their stations of origin of tickets which include a <strong>Travel</strong>card. In
the case of some journeys from places outside the former Network SouthEast area, no such through ticket
exists. For visitors to London staying for more than one day, it would be helpful if the longer distance train
operators (Virgin, Midl<strong>and</strong> Main Line, One, GNER, First Great Western) followed the example of Gatwick
Express <strong>and</strong> sold pre-paid Oyster Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) cards on their trains <strong>and</strong> at booking oYces. It
will be particularly important to resolve this matter before the 2012 Olympics”. We would advise the Select
Committee that whilst some eVorts have been made to resolve this situation, at Kings Cross St Pancras the
problem has got substantially worse since the Eurostar <strong>and</strong> transfer to St. Pancras International,
particularly at London Underground’s western ticket hall.
2. Does the Government have an adequate strategy for developing the integration of ticketing systems?
Since we submitted our evidence to the committee much of what we said is likely to have been or will be
overtaken by events. Firstly, that the government has made mention of ticketing systems within the High
Level Output Statement <strong>and</strong> in the Local Transport Bill there is also a commitment to review a number of
competition law applications in relation to the bus network.
The Use of Smartcard Technologies
3. Is the industry taking up modern smartcard technologies adequately <strong>and</strong> appropriately?
Transport for London are now trialling adding Oystercard to mobile phone applications.
4. Does the ITSO system cater for the needs of all passengers <strong>and</strong> travel providers?
No further comment.
5. What can be learned from the experiences of areas such as London <strong>and</strong> Scotl<strong>and</strong> where smartcard technology
is already in place?
The high take-up rate of Oyster in London has been boosted by the substantial fares savings oVered to
passengers willing <strong>and</strong> able to switch to electronic payment technology. But currently these savings are only
available to users travelling on services provided by Transport for London, <strong>and</strong> they could be withdrawn
at any time. Currently, there seems little prospect of their being extended to National Rail passengers when
Oyster Pay-As-You-Go becomes more generally available to them too. There have been a number of
extensions to Pay-As-You-Go on the National Rail network in recent months. However, Train Operators
continue to maintain the position that when Pay-As-You-Go is extended throughout London that they will