Southern's The Key

[route:oxford]

"The Key" is great.

I use one card on both Go-Ahead (Oxford Bus Company/Thames Travel) & Stagecoach services throughout Oxford.

It's good to live somewhere with a civilised integrated transport strategy - even if it is only for buses.


www.oxfordkey.co.uk

 

[34D]

The new SmartCities cards all facilitate bridge toll payments now, and it has been activated.

For which bridges, please?

 

[Lrd]

For which bridges, please?

The Itchen Bridge in Southampton.

 

[ProjectITSO]

i don't understand where it's available from this page.

It says between Bexhill and Worthing but shows Seaford on the map for example which is a different branch and what are the coloured lines all about? What is the list of stations for, why does it not show all the stations on the map?

That page just does not make any sense to me. :? :?

Hi Wintonian,

I work for Southern and thought I would send a reply to answer some of your questions:

The link you’ve posted for "Where the key is available” explains exactly where the key can be used at the present time. So the map and list only highlights the stations where the key is currently available for use. For example: you would be able to purchase a key ticket and use said key ticket at the station equipment from Brighton to Worthing. However, you would not be able to purchase or use a key ticket from Brighton to Chichester because any station past Worthing up to Chichester have not been enabled for use with the key.

So, based on the map, you would be able to purchase and use a key ticket for all stations between Bexhill and Worthing including all stations where the map branches off to Eastbourne, Seaford, Brighton and Preston Park. And also at Gatwick, Horley, Crawley, Three Bridges and Ifield.

As explained above, only stations that have been key enabled are shown on the map, all other stations will not appear until they are introduced to the scheme. Initially, the map only started with just 10 stations, which was the pilot between Brighton and Seaford and has subsequently grown to now show 36 stations. We will continue to add more and more stations to the map once the have been sufficiently set up. We should be extending the areas of where the key can be used towards the end of the month, so you will see an increase to the number of available stations (on the map).

In regards to the coloured lines, if you follow this link http://www.southernrailway.com/images/network_map_20110225.pdf you will see that the Southern network map (similar to the London Underground) has coloured lines to show the different routes, for example, green for the Brighton Mainline route, orange for Coastway East route, etc.

Hope this answers some of your questions? Give us a shout if you would like any more info...

 

[mattdickinson]

Southern's website about the Key has been updated to show extensions of validity to Merstham, Arundel and Reigate.

 

[swt_passenger]

Hope this answers some of your questions? Give us a shout if you would like any more info...

How (and when) do you intend to make 'the key' available on your services all the way to Southampton and Portsmouth?

Is anyone anywhere getting a grip on the main point of ITSO, i.e. that your ITSO cards should work on SWT's existing ITSO readers, and vice versa of course?

 

[sarahj]

With Portsmouth being SWT land, from what I saw of early key info is that it would be valid to Warblington only. The same going east, would be valid to Bexhill, as St Leonards W SQ is SET* land. (though what happens from Ore to Ashford I dont know).

Heading into london, once you pass Coulsdon south you are in TFL land and everying is Oyster, so issues will be there as well.

In responce to your second point. ITSO agreements are being implemented on a franshise by franshise basis with no current plans. I guess somewhere in the country there might be someone in an office with the brief for cross franshise implementation, but at the moment they are still reading the Metro.

Who said fragmentation was a good idea.



*, yes I know Southern and SET are owned by the same boys and girls up in Newcastle, but its a sep franchise under different agreements, perhaps one day.

 

[mattdickinson]

Some details of the PAYG product on The Key have now emerged.

From the ITSO website,

A new charge to account product will be
launched. This will be a back office based
Pay As You Go (PAYG) product (using an
ITSO TYP22 IPE), with customers able to
use it to travel within a certain
geographical area. The account balance
and journey calculation will take place in a
back office as opposed to on the card.
Customers would apply for this product
online, and have to sign up to an account
which links a credit or debit card to an
auto top-up mechanism of a set cash
value.
Customers would then simply travel as
much as they like and be charged the
best value fare for their journeys following
a retrospective back office fare calculation.

This is fairly similar to the account-based system that TFL are moving Oyster towards.

 

[jon0844]

As I always hoped, a smartcard can offer ongoing discounts and other benefits - which can then allow a shake up of ticketing so the one-off traveller might pay more, but anyone that uses trains a lot will be rewarded, and may not even need a season ticket anymore (thus encouraging businesses to go with flexible working or let people work from home occasionally).

 

[johnnycache]

Exactly right. The Oyster pay as you go system relies on all the information being held on the card. This limits its development as a card can never have the processing power of the main computer and speed of transaction will always be paramount. So TfL are moving to a system in which the card is just your bank card which simplify serves the function of identifying you. It won't even be possible to tell just by examining the card whether you have touched in or not. Southern are planning to use the key in the same way. You touch in and out and we can calculate the cheapest fare for the journeys made and ensure you don't pay more than that. This means we do not need to rebuild the fares structure on a single fare basis like Oyster we will just calculate the best possible price using existing fares and routeing/break of journey rules. I'm sure members of this forum will keep us on our toes!

 

[Paul Kelly]

This means we do not need to rebuild the fares structure on a single fare basis like Oyster we will just calculate the best possible price using existing fares and routeing/break of journey rules.

That sounds like a very ambitious aim indeed. A very sensible and logical one though.

 

[MikeWh]

It won't even be possible to tell just by examining the card whether you have touched in or not.

Hmmmm. Presumably revenue protection will also have to be delayed? The RPI can scan your card to enable a check to be made later on, then if you weren't touched in ...

 

[johnnycache]

A hand held device records the card number. If you haven't touched in then that would be a maximum fare (TfL) or we would email you for details of where you started your journey and to remind you to touch in every trip. Only if fraud was suspected would something harsher be required.

 

[34D]

This sounds brilliant. I guess at present this will be PAYG across Southern TOC only, but with future potential to be across the whole of GoAhead?

Incidentally johnnycache could you advise me (pos by pm) where you get your handheld ITSO readers from, as the bus company I work with could do with one.

 

[mattdickinson]

With Portsmouth being SWT land, from what I saw of early key info is that it would be valid to Warblington only. The same going east, would be valid to Bexhill, as St Leonards W SQ is SET* land. (though what happens from Ore to Ashford I dont know).

Heading into london, once you pass Coulsdon south you are in TFL land and everying is Oyster, so issues will be there as well.





*, yes I know Southern and SET are owned by the same boys and girls up in Newcastle, but its a sep franchise under different agreements, perhaps one day.

Southern's webpage has now been updated to show extensions from Arundel and Worthing to Littlehampton, Bognor Regis and Warblington.

 

[greatkingrat]

Will it be valid on other TOCs (such as FCC) that also operate over these routes?