An end to paper tickets (Oyster Card)

Member Name: rashedon89

Product:	Oyster Card
Date:	02/11/08 (230 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to top-up, easy to use, lightweight and sometimes get you free journeys

Disadvantages: Can't be used at every station.

The oyster card is probably one of the smartest moves made by the government when it comes to transport which is a great change! The oyster card essentialy offers you cheaper fares, rather than pay a staggering £2 a journey by bus the oyster card charges you £3 and im not sure about what it charges for trains but it works out a lot cheaper than having to pay for a travelcard which will cost between £4.80 and £7.

The advantages of this card is it certainly speeds things up for your journey on buses and trains and best of all when the system fails it means you get to come on the bus for free! Other advantages include the fact the card is easy to top up, from shops, from the stations even online and it can be topped up by cash or card. The card is the same size as a credit card, it has its own case but can easily fit inside your average wallet. It is only £3 to buy and it can be replaced easily. Another advantage to be considered is we are helping the environment by using less paper as no paper recepits are needed for every journey.

The disadvantages of the card are only minor annoyances. One problem is sometimes you may not realise how much money is left on the card and even if there is 80p you will not be allowed to get on the bus with card and will have to either go top up or pay £2.00. Thankfully on the trains the card can go into a minus balance. Another problem not so much with the card but with the service is that your journey requires you to touch in an out and sometimes when works on tracks require you to change trains and take replacement bus services you can end up being overcharged even though you are told the card will adjust itself. This accompanied with the fact that customer services are not helpful is a great annoyance at a time when most lines are being upgraded with the coming of the Olympics. Another problem is that the Oyster card cannot be used everywhere in London and making the mistake of going to a station where your pre-pay oyster is not available can get you a £20 fine!

Overall the oyster card is a great system with just a few flaws but it has definitely been an improvement to our travel system.

Summary: A great improvement to the London Transport system