Transport in London is shit

Think we were £2 or £3 for buying a visitor oyster card, but not everyone KNOWS about it when you're just nipping down for the day or whatever.

(I still think transport in London is basically great, btw, because compared to transport in places in the UK that aren't London, it is)

I didn't realise the oyster top-up online took a day to process so ended up paying at the station as well. now I have to remember to activate it from Chancery Lane the next time I'm in town. grr.

Tube is great though, excepting the craziness of the central line at rush-hour

also, since I've been working in Lahndan 2 days a week I've been having vivid dreams that there's an underground network in Hull. I could easily draw the map and the trains and everything.

£2.20 if paying cash.

Or £3 if the driver says "I don't have any change, you know", like what happened to me at 6 o'clock on Wednesday morning.

Anyone used the bikes since they were opened up to general access?

nah, looks terrifying

how general is the access?

Think you have to pay with a Barclaycard.

At least that's what all the signs are for iirc.

> just buying a bloody oyster card costs, what is it now, a fiver?

yes, a fiver. but it's refundable when you return the card.

how general is the access?

Anyone with a debit/credit card afaik.

No helmets though.

bikes are tank-like, was exhausted just cycling across waterloo bridge and up to longacre. still, i like them v much, appreciate the ability to easily and quickly get to places not well served by bus or tube, when i can't be arsed to lug my own bike around.

brakes are pretty crap but you're not likely to get up to enough speed where that will be a problem.

I only go from Kx to Holburn, and there's no way I'm going to cycle that journey. just out of interest, how much do they cost?

I think the access fee for 24hrs is £1 and journeys of up to 30 mins are free (up to an hour £1 etc). If you join the scheme you can get savings on the access fee, but the duration of journey fees are the same.

Not being able to use prepay on the bikes is the wtf point for me.

yeah i dont know why you cant use oyster cards for them. would make it much easier.

because they have to be able to but a 300 quid hold on your card in case you nick one.

I haven't had a season ticket on my Oyster Card for donkeys' years (because I don't work in central London and I usually walk to work) so I just use the Top Up version. If I go for the auto-top up option, will it just top up whenever I need it to wherever I go? Or will it be like in the olden days when I bought a monthly ticket online and had to specify which station I was going to go to and get there within 3-4 days? Because the latter isn't very useful to me as I travel sporadically and usually don't know 24 hours in advance a)if I'm going to use the tube and b)which station I'm going to start my journey from.

When you first set it up you have to specify a station (pretty sure it includes NR stations), but after that it works anywhere, including buses.
Really don't get why people who regularly use PAYG don't have auto top-up set up.

without it, i like to pretend i'm keeping tabs on what i'm spending

also not sure how to set it up

Probably in the minority here but I also don't get people who get on buses when it's raining and immediately pounce on any open window. It's letting air in, not water, and now you you can't see anything and the bus smells of wet dogs.

if someone can get to a window that soon after boarding a bus, the bus is empty enough that i'll be comfortable whatever

Yeah, I get the not wanting money going on your Oystercard without you doing anything about it aspect, but none of the people i'm ever with don't change there mind about travelling, just go and queue or complain about the cash fare again.
uh, x-posts.

I'm happy for it to top up my card automatically as long as it tops up at whichever station I decide to go to (not just one specific pre-arranged station) and does this whenever I choose to travel again (which might be as much as 2 months after my Oyster has gone below the level the triggers a top up), rather than requiring me to get to a station within specified time period.

It sounds like the first part is true (apart from the first time you do it), still don't know about the second part.

Public transit in the western world is shit.

I also don't get people who get on buses when it's raining and immediately pounce on any open window. It's letting air in, not water, and now you you can't see anything and the bus smells of wet dogs.

but rain can often come in thru the window and the person a row or two behind might feel that. is a design flaw along with people not really getting the air from the window they're sitting under (but opened) whereas someone a few rows back will.

I'm happy for it to top up my card automatically as long as it tops up at whichever station I decide to go to (not just one specific pre-arranged station) and does this whenever I choose to travel again

yes and yes.

it just does it whenever you touch in (or out maybe) and are below the limit, you don't need to go to a ticket machine or anything.

I just had a go on one of the bikes. It was fine. I was wobbly and I went a lot more slowly than I'm used to, which made interactions with traffic a little alarming at times - found it a little difficult to get purchase away from junctions, and the lowest gear is, understandably of course, woah spinny, but yes, good idea and cheap - I've got 24hrs use for £1 and will only pay on journeys above half an hour, and only £1 on journeys above that.

Couldn't get it to work at either Warwick Avenue or Great Marlborough Street docks this morning. Still a fan in principle though, just seems not to like me.

with a key, or credit card? i've been through three keys and managed one successful journey, so yeah that's pretty shit. has worked ok with cards though - sometimes need to have a couple of goes with the code.

Just used my debit card. Didn't have any difficulties apart from a moment's panic when I didn't think I had the strenght to pull the bike out with my pipecleaner arms.

sometimes need to have a couple of goes with the code

Yep, same here in fact.

214, Thanks for everything! Julie Newmar

http://i.thisislondon.co.uk/i/pix/2011/03/RoyalOysterCard415.jpg

good god tfl pull yourselves together, this is an embarrassment

RMT Tube drivers are planning to walk out every day from Monday May 16 to Friday May 20.

Oh man. It would be great if someone could explain if this is justified. I'm totally for worker's rights and stuff but this action seems pretty excessive.

work from home! yay!

RMT claims Lynch and Thomas were sacked because of their trade union activities, although this has been denied by Transport for London.

"It is absolute nonsense to suggest that these individuals were dismissed unfairly due to their union activities and it is disgraceful that the RMT leadership has chosen to ballot for strike action when both cases are still going through the employment tribunal process," said TfL

pretty much with tfl here.

So one guy got agro and another breached safety rules. I can't find any details on the seriousness of either case and both sides seem to be debating what exactly happened. RMT are saying their trade union involvement is there only 'crime'. It seems both cases are under review and might get overturned? Anyway, why not strike say RMT. Great.

idk, very recently a friend's dad in a different industry got pulled up for 'disciplinary' reasons and it became very apparent very quickly that this was actually about his trade union rep work, and was the first step in an attempt at constructive dismissal. companies do target people for their trade union involvement, often in pretty flagrant ways. so... i don't know.

Yeah, I can see that. I've worked places where I've been warned of 'troublemakers'. It would be good to know details of what they have been accused of.

the guy who "breached safety rules" has already won an interim order at employment tribunal, which means "the Employment Tribunal believes it is likely at your full hearing that your complaint will be successful" but it's always inspiring to see people side with bosses to avoid minor inconvenience.

the employment tribunal is the right place to sort this out, not the picket line.

if people are being victimised for their union activities, which tfl says is "absolute nonsense" but the tribunal has ruled is "likely" then yeah, it's a matter for industrial action.

idk, maybe wait until the tribunal has fully run its course? and then see what redress (if any) tfl are made to take? i really don't see what striking is meant to achieve, at this point.