Why TfL are right to get rid of cash fares on buses
There has been much outrage today from the Labour party and others about plans by TfL to phase out cash payments on buses.
Can anybody explain to me why?
Just 1% of all bus fares are still paid for by cash with the number declining every year.
Much of that 1% are people who are either unaware of how the Oyster card works or simply can’t be bothered to sort out getting one and topping it up.
The rest are tourists. I can’t lose much sleep over tourists having to visit a newsagent or tube station before getting a bus.
Yes the £5 deposit for an Oyster card is expensive, but nowhere near as expensive as paying regularly by cash.
Cash fares are a rip off. A single fare on pay as you go Oyster is £1.40. Cash fares are £2.40.
For once TfL actually want to force people to pay less money rather than more.
Oyster cards can be topped up in most newsagents and tube and train stations. You can also top up online or set the cards to top up automatically.
Even if you don’t have an Oyster card, London’s buses now accept contactless debit or credit cards.
Labour argue that getting rid of cash will leave people stranded if they lose their Oyster.
It’s possible, but you could make the same argument for people who lose their cash. It’s not TfL’s job to make sure you don’t lose stuff.
In any case, most bus drivers will still let you on if you say you’ve lost your Oyster card.
If some bus drivers refuse, then TFL need to make sure that this policy is enforced. It’s not an argument to keep cash fares.
Collecting cash is expensive and TfL are currently spending millions of pounds a year in order that a few people can retain their right to spend more to use a bus. This can’t last for long.
In years to come we will look back on this as a non-issue.
Getting rid of cash was inevitable from the moment that TfL first introduced Oyster and contactless technology.
It is the reason why cash fares were set higher in the first place.
If Ken Livingstone had won the election last year, then he would almost certainly be making exactly the same proposals right now and Labour would be defending him.
TfL may not phase out cash payments in 2013 and Boris may well decide to delay the whole thing.
But sooner or later cash is on it’s way out. Our politicians should just be honest about it.
15 Apr 2013
Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
The public are opposed to any new statue of Margaret Thatcher being erected in London, a new poll has found.
50% of the public oppose a new statue of Thatcher anywhere in the capital according to pollsters YouGov. Just 29% support it.
Even more people are opposed to placing the statue in Trafalgar Square. 64% reject the idea. Only 18% support it.
The idea of placing a statue on the fourth plinth was first raised by government ministers and initially backed by Boris Johnson.
However City Hall have since backed away from the idea saying that they are looking for more “appropriate” locations such as Parliament Square.
There is already one statue of Margaret Thatcher inside the Houses of Parliament.
Two days ago former Mayor Ken Livingstone said on the BBC that the fourth plinth was being kept vacant for a statue of the Queen.
He told the audience of Have I got News For You:
“When I became Mayor I was told that it was actually reserved for Her Majesty. I’m not supposed to say that so you can’t tell anyone.”
The suggestion of renaming Port Stanley in the Falklands “Port Margaret” is also overwhelmingly opposed by the public.
According to YouGov, 62% of the public are opposed to the idea. Only 17% support it.
The public were not asked what they think of Boris’s other suggestion of naming a new four runway hub airport in the Thames Estuary “Margaret Thatcher Airport.”
14 Apr 2013
Boris Johnson invites Tory campaign chief on Middle East junket
Boris Johnson has been accused of “blatant cronyism” after he invited the Conservative Party’s campaign chief on an official business tour of the Middle East.
Tory campaign chief Lynton Crosby will join Johnson on visits to Qatar and the United Arab Emirates next week.
Crosby ran Johnson’s previous two mayoral election campaigns and has been hired to run the Conservative Party’s election campaign in 2015.
Labour today attacked the Mayor for inviting Crosby on the trip:
“Boris’ choice of travelling partner is bizarre. Taking Lynton Crosby on this trip makes no sense at all. It’s blatant cronyism. Crosby supposedly doesn’t work for the Mayor any longer, and works as David Cameron’s new election chief, his company mainly operates outside the UK. It’s not clear why Crosby is going, or what’s in it for him or what’s in it for the Mayor.”
In 2011 Boris admitted that he had obtained a City Hall security pass for Crosby allowed only for GLA staff.
The pair remain close, despite Crosby’s recent appointment by David Cameron.
It is not clear what business opportunities there will be for an election strategist on a visit to two Middle East dictatorships.
However, Boris has ruled out discussing human rights whilst on the trip, telling the Evening Standard that he is against “megaphone diplomacy.”
A spokesperson for the Mayor said today:
“Lynton Crosby, in his capacity as co-founder of CT Partners, is part of the 12-strong business delegation accompanying the Mayor on his trip to the Gulf. All of the business delegation, including Mr Crosby, are paying for their own flights and accommodation so no public funds are being used. CT Partners already does a lot of business in the Middle East and is seeking to develop further contracts that will benefit London and the Gulf region.”
The following business people will also accompany them on their trip to the Gulf.
Philip Dilley – Chairman, Arup
Tony Pidgley – Chairman, Berkeley Group
Ian Mulcahey – Managing Director, Gensler
Rob King – Director, The Edge Picture Company
Gerry Grimstone – Chairman, Standard Life
Glen Manchester – CEO, Thunderhead
Joanna Shields - CEO, Tech City Investment Organisation
Dima Rifai – CEO, Paradigm Change Capital Partners
Rafic Said – Senior Managing Director, The Blackstone Group
Bob Wigley – Chairman, Hibu
David Thomson – Managing Director, Wembley Division, The FA Group
During the last election campaign Boris Johnson attacked plans by Ken Livingstone to go on a world tour to drum up investment for London, saying that “Londoners want a Mayor for London, not a Mayor for the world.”
Since his re-election Boris has visited India, New York and France and plans future trips to Brazil and China.
12 Apr 2013
Barn Owl - Void Redux
Barn Owl – Void Redux from Thrill Jockey Records on Vimeo.
The evocative California duo provide the perfect soundtrack for chilly desert nights.
11 Apr 2013
Analyse this: What does the Brixton Thatcher death party Say About Us All?
There’s frothing on all sides at the Margaret Thatcher death party in Brixton (and elsewhere) last night. Responses range from it’s a disgrace (Daily Mail) to it’s fine (The Guardian).
We can go deeper than this. What meaningful things do these parties Say About Us All?
Here are some theories.
1. The celebrations are performances, conjured by media command
Oh god, there’s a Thatcher is Dead street party in Brixton. Mostly attended by journalists so far, I think. I’ll avoid that then.
— Daniel Knowles (@dlknowles) April 8, 2013
There’s been something celebratory in coverage of the death parties. A sense that, whether defending or attacking them, the death parties angle was necessary to complete coverage of the death. Thatcher was divisive. No coverage which failed to recognise this could claim to be comprehensive.
If street parties celebrating Margaret Thatcher’s death did not exist, the papers would have had to invent them. In a way they did, since by publicising early gatherings they ensured they grew into newsworthy events.
2. Choreographed offensiveness is a healthy proxy for violence
Giving deliberate offence, choreographed offence, is an art and 21st century Britons are its masters. To act in a way you know will hurt people you don’t like is childish. When those people hold the keys of power, becomes childish but aubversive. Having a mildly offensive party is a sublimated riot. That’s better than a riot.
3. Death is the final vengeance
Death had done what the electorate never did: defeat Margaret Thatcher. Last night’s celebrations were originally intended for the night of the 1992 election. But the Conservative party stole the chance for the voters who despised her to depose of Thatcher themselves. These hopes have now been realised. Death was the agent required.
This leads to…
4. They celebrate death, because they fear it
Here were arrive at the deepest source of all. The celebrants yearned to defeat Thatcher, but in the end only death could do that. And so in the end it will defeat us all. Behind the flickering eyes and manic grins lies the darkest truth of all: this isn’t about politics. It isn’t about Margaret Thatcher’s death. It’s about our own deaths, which we so much fear. The parties were an offering to death itself. An unknowing, inarticulate recognition of our inexorable doom.
09 Apr 2013
Cuushe - I Love You
Stunning dream-pop from the softly-spoken siren.
08 Apr 2013
Mitsuda: Tribute to Yasunori Mitsuda
Assorted producers put years of bedroom-dwelling to good use on this free tribute to the much admired video game composer.
04 Apr 2013
London's rents keep rising. If you don't own your home, the outlook is bleak
There are two types of people in this city. Those who own houses, and those who are screwed.
03 Apr 2013
Boris Johnson to replace 'pop-up' Overground line with new Skywalk
London’s first “pop-up” railway, the East London Line extension, will close next spring and be turned into a high-level walkway “providing spectacular views of east London”, Boris Johnson will announce today.
A legal issue means the new rail route, from Highbury & Islington to Whitechapel, will close from 1 April 2014, the mayor will say branding the route – commissioned by Ken Livingstone – “a pop-up railway from a pop-up mayor”.
In its place, a new walkway, the Skywalk, inspired by New York’s High Line, will be created “at no cost to the taxpayer”, the mayor will tell a press conference this afternoon, alongside Peter Andre, Barbara Windsor and Kelly Brook.
Boris Johnson will say:
“Our neo-Victorian levels of investment mean that Londoners will be able to take in views that their great-great grandfathers could only dream of. People will be able to perambulate and stroll along the Skywalk, taking in healthy clean air and keeping fit.
“Following the great success of the Emirates Air Line, we’ve teamed up with Sky Television to create this modern piece of public transport infrastructure.”
It will cost £4 to walk or cycle along the Skywalk, with Oyster card holders being charged £3. Booths along the way will enable walkers to sit and watch football or cricket matches from Sky for £6 per game, although they will be free when England are playing. There will be discounts for regular “Skywalkers”.
Free copies of the Evening Standard, the official newspaper of the Skywalk, will be available.
The remaining London Overground routes will be handed back to London Underground and the National Rail companies, with 50-year-old trains being rescued from scrapyards to provide a trendy ‘vintage’ service from Shoreditch to New Cross. Land left over south of the river will be utilised for pop-up housing projects .
The mayor will add:
“The London Overground was a wonderful thing, but it was just a pop-up thing. We’ll be bringing back the old lines, which are fine so long as you keep your wits about you,
“You’ve got to get real here – if you want lasting investment, you have to create something that’s going to have people scratching their heads in amazement, like my cable car.
“Carrying fresh air across the Thames! That’s an achievement. Now we’ll create a peaceful route that will spark new investment in the footwear industry. We’ll be exporting clogs back to Holland!”
The creation of the Skywalk, due to open on 1 April 2015, follows Johnson’s plan to reintroduce slam-door trains to the capital’s rail network, announced a year ago today, and his scheme to build a third Blackwall Tunnel.
01 Apr 2013
The Wave Pictures record Jason Molina tribute
Previous Snipe interviewees The Wave Pictures tackle sadly deceased singer-songwriter’s heartbreaking compositions.
29 Mar 2013
Snipe Highlights
Some popular articles from past years
- Could red kites be London's next big nature success story?
- Peter Bayley has worked for 50 years as a cinema projectionist in East Finchley
- An interview with Desiree Akhavan
- Number of people using Thames cable car plunges
- The best church names in London, and where they come from
- Only 16 commuters touch in to Emirates Air Line, figures reveal
- London has chosen its mayor, but why can’t it choose its own media?
- Margaret Thatcher statue rejected by public
- The five spookiest abandoned London hospitals
- Nice Interactive timeline lets you follow Londoners' historic fight against racism
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