Tap and Cap: does it work?

[nw1]

Whilst the single for almost all journeys is £2 and multi operator daily and weekly tickets are excluded from tap and cap i can believe there isn't really much interest in using it!

Where I am there is a £14 cap for weekly travel within the city zone so, given I could make 14 single journeys a week on routes which go out of the city (I usually end up using the bus at the weekends), I definitely have interest in tapping off even with the £2 max single fare!

 

[ALEMASTER]

Where I am there is a £14 cap for weekly travel within the city zone so, given I could make 14 single journeys a week on routes which go out of the city (I usually end up using the bus at the weekends), I definitely have interest in tapping off even with the £2 max single fare!

The problem in the South Yorkshire example is only First bus services and tickets are included. Some routes are jointly operated and daily and weekly passes are sold that include all operators, however these sit outside First's tap and cap scheme so more than one ticketing system is operating simultaneously. I've also heard complaints of passengers tapping on for a £2 single and forgetting to tap off and getting charged for a First Day ticket as a result.

 

[317 forever]

While I am perfectly happy to buy a paper ticket using my contactless card, I hate this tap on tap off process.

There is the matter of remembering to tap off, and even having our card handy. If travelling on say 8 buses that day, it means 16 taps instead of just 1.

Then there is greater scope when getting off the bus for someone to steal our card and do a runner.

 

[Skytower]

While I am perfectly happy to buy a paper ticket using my contactless card, I hate this tap on tap off process.

There is the matter of remembering to tap off, and even having our card handy. If travelling on say 8 buses that day, it means 16 taps instead of just 1.

Then there is greater scope when getting off the bus for someone to steal our card and do a runner.

Obviously, ultimately, no-one is forcing you to use Tap and Cap.

As mentioned before, my gripe is being overcharged and having to basically not trust the system to work. Rather than that, I’m back to buying weekly tickets for my trips around Plymouth.

 

[johncrossley]

If people are having problems with Tap and Cap then it is a problem with the way it is being implemented, as touch in touch out works fine in other countries. It seemed that the UK was finally starting to catch up with the rest of the world in removing drivers from the majority of ticketing duties, but, as usual, the UK messes up the opportunity. It is almost as if it has been deliberately mishandled to prove that driver payment is the only way.

 

[miklcct]

I always use it where appropriate / available instead of buying a ticket in the archaic way.

 

[317 forever]

I always use it where appropriate / available instead of buying a ticket in the archaic way.

While I do prefer paper tickets to tap on tap off, I find it archaic when people pay by cash, most notably when they require change.

 

[Mwanesh]

If people are having problems with Tap and Cap then it is a problem with the way it is being implemented, as touch in touch out works fine in other countries. It seemed that the UK was finally starting to catch up with the rest of the world in removing drivers from the majority of ticketing duties, but, as usual, the UK messes up the opportunity. It is almost as if it has been deliberately mishandled to prove that driver payment is the only way.

It's not the UK. It's individual operators. Don't be so negative all the time. It takes time to get things right.

 

[WestCoast]

Some First Glasgow buses such as the deckers on 77 don’t have tap off readers so you have to make sure to tap off on the drivers machine otherwise you get charged the max fare to the airport as happened to me last year. Tap off readers should be fitted as a priority if it’s not a flat fare operation. Of course no £2.00 fare cap like in England to negate this issue.

 

[johncrossley]

It's not the UK. It's individual operators. Don't be so negative all the time. It takes time to get things right.

UK buses have been slow at boarding ever since conductors stopped being used. There have been many low and high tech ways of dealing with ticketing used across the world but they have been almost totally ignored by British operators. So they have had about 50 years (so far) to get that right.

As far as I can tell, there is only one company making the ticket machines used for Tap and Cap in the UK and the tap off readers seem really poor when compared to other smartcard readers used in London and in other countries. Why does the UK bus industry have to keep reinventing the wheel?