to think this new arrangement re bus fares is unfair?

No, it’s not the same because not having a TV doesn’t stop you from using the bus, paying for goods etc.

Despite what OP claims, this switch is also being done gradually. All that's changing is that the smart cards themselves can no longer be purchased (but they can still be topped up) on a bus.

We've had the digital Stagecoach monthly weekly passes for a while here. My DS had one for school travel, and got caught out a few times when his phone battery died, or he didn't have the data to activate his pass. For all the discussion of the possible harms of smartphones for children, issues like this mean they need them for day to day travel.

The bus passes for pensioners and people with disabilities are a different system administered by the local authority not the bus companies and continue to be a physical photo card.

The OP was talking about a monthly pass in one particular area. Presumably if your sister lived in that area and had a monthly bus pass, she'd either have to get a smartphone or pay individually.

It's not about elderly people who will have a physical card

My sister doesn't have a smart 'phone, she only has a mobile for emergencies. She also uses public transport, this system would restrict her ability to go out and about a lot. I am sure there must be thousands and thousands like her.

A lot have smart phones like my NDNs that is quite old and he can't use a lot of apps on it, the OS is too old so doesn't support them and probably not a lot of space on phone, he was telling me this a few months ago but he only used the phone for texts and calls

Yes, these are available in my area for children. They are 15% more expensive when bought physically than when bought on the app.

Obviously you’d save money if you were choosing to only buy your child a brick phone rather than a smart phone, which would more than cancel out the more expensive ticket. But if you couldn’t afford the smart phone in the first place, you are further penalised with more expensive tickets.

I haven't come across a transport provider yet that doesn't do physical passes for children including tfl

87% of adults have a smart phone. From my own circumstances, my dad doesn't have one & some of his friends don't either. Some don't have any type of mobile phone at all.

But a brick phone won’t have the app for the tickets..?

a brick phone doesn't have apps though?

I work in child protection, get your child a brick phone if it's necessary for a journey

Yes it's unfair. In my experience busses are relied on by people with very low incomes and elderly people and those are the people who are less likely to have data or even have a smart phone.

at this stage the "you don't need data / make a screenshot" is the "cancel the cheque" given that so many people have explained that this is not true for all tickets

I suppose linear TV will be the next thing to disappear, the amount of plugging of iPlayer and ITVx,

that is a completely different thing though - and IIRC the reason the switch was done over several years was to give people time to buy new TVs

The switch from being able to, say, go to the GP and make an appointment (eg when you were at your last check up, or passing on the way to the post office) to "no you have to use the app" to an old lady with no idea how to download an app, enter the details accurately is appalling.

TV is one thing, travel to work/school/appointments is another. Not only is digital exclusion A Thing, the chances of a DDOS or something where the systems simply don't work is fairly high. A backdoor for some, can mean an lifeline for all in cases like that.

Or do you think "oh minorities, pah" and handwave them and their difficulties (that need not be difficulties in many cases) away?

That’s not possible where I live. The tickets on the app are a weird image that changes every 10 seconds or something.

You don't need data for this to work.

It really is. New tech came along and replaced the old tech. If you wanted to keep using the old tech, tough luck. Many people had to buy new equipment and learn how to use it, whether they liked it or not.

Not really the same, though.

There can’t ALWAYS be a safety valve for those who can’t or won’t use tech. There was no safety valve for those who wanted to stick with analogue TV, for example,

It’s worse because the conservative government banned Huawei from our network without any alternative to replace them.

I mean this is the problem isn't it. We've all been trying to tell these agenda setters who are influencing headteachers (and the public) that banning smartphones is a terrible idea because logistically children need them these days, and they're shouting us down with "BUT CHILD PROTECTIONNNN" what's protective about leaving kids stranded outside school/near home because they can't get on the bus and can't even call mum or dad for help? Loads of kids live more than three miles from school/college and need transport to/from it. It's like they don't care about the kids at all and just want to push an agenda to look like they're doing something about a problem they can't actually solve. 🤔

When Hmrc made applications online only she took a free computer course at our local college so she could continue to work . And she was around 60 at the time.

well, when would most of us do that? having to work until 67 as we do... there should ALWAYS be a safety valve for the, hopefully very few, people who can't or won't use tech.

I think it's terrible to force people to have a smartphone and use digital payment.
My dad wouldn't have a clue what to do with a smartphone.