to think this new arrangement re bus fares is unfair?

[EmotionallyWeird]

I live in an area where most of the buses are operated by Stagecoach. For the last few years (since I started my current job which is too far to walk) I've bought a monthly travel card. At first it was a physical piece of cardboard and you had to get a new one every month, then it became a smart card (which looks like a debit card) which you had to top up online.

Today I found out that the system is changing again and when my current top-up expires, it will only be possible to buy an in-app version of the weekly or monthly cards, which you have to show on your phone. This doesn't really affect me as I can cope with the change, although I would rather it had stayed the same. But not everybody wants to carry a phone all the time, not everybody has a smartphone, and not everybody who has one has their own data - some just use WiFi when they can get on it (which you can't on the buses in this area). Does anyone else think that making this new system compulsory is rather unfair, as it will force some people to make a lifestyle change they might not otherwise have wanted to (or pay more for their travel by buying single or day tickets)?

I have a fairly new iPhone (about a year old now) and have to be very careful how much I use it when I go out, or carry a battery bank, I have a good one now that holds 2 charges, but it's not light to carry around all day (I can feel the difference in my bag with/without it).

Similar with my dad with ancient sim... He was paying at least 4 times more...

In the end I just said... Shall I do it - you'll still have same number... In the end the economy of it won out over his stubbornness!

The lack of data can easily be bypassed by having either a screen shot of the QR code for the ticket. Phone dead? Carry a physical photo of the QR code just in case.

I don't think I would want to stand in a bus queue with my quite nice iPhone which I got mainly for home use and the camera on days out at places as it might get swiped. I don't really have a need for my phone if just popping to the shops and that is the sort of place where they get pinched especially as I am an older woman so an easy target.

Interesting. I’m in London where we have Oyster cards and they’re still a physical card (though the price is the same as just using your bank card, I believe).

11-15 year olds have a zip card (which gets them free bus travel and reduced train and tube fares) and it’s only a physical card which is actually a bit annoying as we recently lost DD’s (not her fault) and it took ages for a new one to arrive (plus a £10 charge) and I thought then it would have been good if it was on her phone. But as well as, rather than instead of.

On our bus app tickets are moving with a different key word displayed (presumably to stop people sharing screenshots!) Don't know if this would be the same?

I’d agree if you were taking about the over sixties bus pass. My 80 year old dad wouldn’t cope. But anyone under sixty in today’s society needs to be able to use technology . My mum was an accountant and had always done everything on paper. 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.

Does the app require you to have data to open it and show the card?

Not all apps are designed to be used “online”.

It’s worthwhile checking if the app can be opened and the card shown offline.

I can use technology, I just don't want to cart my ££££ iPhone to the shops where it would stay in my bag anyway. If I am on foot or bus which I often am, I don't need it, I would take it if I used the car, which is very rare, in case it broke down. I have an older persons bus pass, I hope they don't go digital.

That's because you're in a privileged position. These decisions ignore the eldery, vulnerable and those in poverty. This is why for most poor people they can't get out of that situation, they're always paying more than most becaue they are living day to day.

I agree.

It’s also an issue if you have children at a school where smartphones are banned from the premises. People say “well we managed to get home without a smart phone when I was a child, children today can manage it too!” But they didn’t have to pay more expensive bus fares if they didn’t have a phone.

Do the tickets have a QR code? If so, screen shoot it and then print out a physical copy.

Basically everyone has a smartphone. The small percentage of people who don't and would need assistance are going to require far less man power to sort out than if they were physically serving everyone. The vast majority of people can now sort themselves out.

This is the way of the world for so many things. Adapt to the latest technology or get left behind. Sadly, it doesn’t work very well for my 82 year old mother or those like her but the powers-that-be don’t really care, they work on the ‘they’ll be dead soon, and younger people will adapt because they have to’ principle. It’s sad (and definitely unfair) but that’s life, unfortunately. 🤷‍♂️

Can you do a screenshot of the ticket? That's what I do with my train ticket. Wifi and mobile is shocking on the trains round here.

Surely 80 year olds won't have a monthly pass because they'll have a age-related pass. The stage coach pass will be for those of below pension age

And I disagree quite fundamentally about the "the ones that can't use tech will die out."
People's ability to use tech fades out before they do in my experience. Eyesight diminishes, my mum can't do the 2 factor authentication thing as its too fiddly. If an app needs updating she can't remember how to do it.

Phone signal is so bad in most places nowadays for apps and data, I have found often I can only do calls or text and that satellite thing often pops up if we are out for the day so no signal and getting worse. I put my Waitrose vouchers on my card at home for when I walk or bus to there

Bus passes are provided locally not by central government and aren't for over 60s but for what they decide locally eg. in our area it is 67.

Yes.

It’s a simple app. You load the ticket on before you leave the house, if your signal is bad.

If my 72 year old dad can do instagram and Trainline, you can use a bus app!

@notanothercheesesandwich Definitely get her a powerbank and get her into the routine of charging her phone at lunch. I assume she is allowed her phone out otherwise her battery would not be draining down from just sitting in her bag.

My Dad is 84 has iphone hand me downs because he knows where the buttons are for everything he needs. However I do believe that they should still offer the physical card to those who want it. It will be a cost issue, it always is.

Buses are full of old people staring staying a shiny new iPhones. The little old pensioners that don’t use one get on for free anyway.

While I largely prefer using my phone/tech for tickets over paper versions, I think there ought to be reliable wifi or 5G everywhere before bus or rail companies insist on "live" tickets - i.e. you need a connection to view them. DD2 was threatened with being fined the other day as the train wifi was crap and she couldn't show her 16/17 railcard (only available digitally) - fortunately it just updated in the nick of time. The conductor thought she was older and taking the piss - trying to catch her out "So when were you 18?" Even though she showed her provisional licence. She is 5'10" and does look older - it doesn't help perhaps that DD1 (20) is more petite and looks younger - people often think DD2 is the oldest whereas she only just turned 16. So they think they've done some kind of pass switcheroo perhaps. I don't blame them for checking these things, people do dodge fares and take the piss, but a paper print out or offline version may be helpful sometimes.

I always looked older though as I was quite tall - I remember being questioned about child fare when I was 11/12. The bus driver said I should get the 13/16 card to prove age. But you had to be 13 to get it...

Have you actually checked or contacted stagecoach to see if they don't offer an alternative a digital ticket?

You don’t require a connection to view the stagecoach tickets. You activate it up to 20 minutes before your journey (for a single). I’m assuming for the monthly ticket you just activate it the morning you need it.