To not pay my bus fare (London bus)

[KatRee]

Got on the bus today with my 1-year-old in the pushchair and my 3-year-old, who was walking. We went through the doors at the back to get directly into the wheelchair/pushchair space.
As soon as we got on, the announcement was played: “For your child’s safety, please stay with your buggy.” There were no seats, so my eldest also had to stand with us and hold on tight to keep his balance. I needed to supervise him to make sure he was doing that.
There were people standing in the aisle, so I couldn’t easily get to the front to tap my card to pay. So I ended up not paying.
This has happened maybe 2 or 3 times before since I’ve had kids and I always feel like I’ve done something wrong! But I’m not really sure what’s expected.
Usually we either get on at the front if the aisle is clear, as I have a little pushchair that fits down it, or we get on at the back, I quickly put the brake on, my eldest sits down and I run to the front and back to tap before the bus sets off.

Was I unreasonable not to pay today?
YABU – It’s basically stealing – pay your fare!
YANBU – For the love of God woman, supervise your small children and don’t worry about depriving TfL of £1.75!

It's not just about paying, it's about data collection and passenger number management on that specific bus, so shed need to tap even if there wasn't a cost.

Eg it's useful for TFL to know how many people registered for disabled travel are using the buses. And for the driver to know he has 50 on a bus with a capacity of 55 for example.

This is incorrect.

No need to tap at all if you're a wheelchair user.

Well yes of course you should pay. As others have said tap on and then go to the middle doors

I would be mindful of fare inspectors. I have not been checked by an inspector for years and have been checked 3 times in the last week (different routes) so they are obviously ramping up the checks

Whilst there are merits to cheap or free public transport in some situations, breaking the rules/law for minor things eventually leads to people thinking its okay to break bigger rules and laws and they can get away with it.

You should pay your way and if you want other people to respect rules and laws you should too.

It couldn't tell a driver how many passengers she has onboard because riders don't tap out. It could only tell her how many customers she'd had on so far. And it doesn't even do that because children under 11 don't have to tap in at all (which is also the case with wheel chair users - they don't have to register with TFL to travel free, they don't need any kind of ticket).

People in most of the UK would be bloody delighted to have the service that TfL offers.

I'm sure OP is too. Doesn't mean she wants to risk injury to her DC, though.

Oh, sure. And I wouldn't fancy wrangling kids across London transport on a daily basis, as many have to do.

Do what you like, but there is no excuse and it's a £100 penalty fare. What's easier - £100 fine or take 10 seconds to tap in. I am sick of people being subsidised by responsible fare-paying adults for "reasons".

I hope you get caught.

Just get on the front and pay.

It’s not optional to pay - you’re using a service (and already getting 2 free child spaces).

I never encountered this issue with years of using London buses with a pushchair. If the bus wasn’t so crowded that the buggy space was free, you could definitely have nipped to the front or got on through the front doors.

My buggy physically doesn’t fit down an empty bus / wheels are too wide so I have to get on in the middle…..

I live in London with my 3 year old and I think leaving your child at any time on crowded transport would be really dangerous. They could easily disappear in a second or fall over and hurt themselves. Drivers expect you to supervise your child at all times. I've never seen any young children doing what you described especially as young as 3 - that's really very young.

Passing your bank card to a stranger, to pass to various other strangers, in London?

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Yep, as other posters have confirmed it's a fairly frequent sight. It's almost as if London isn't the crime ridden hell hole some people believe it to be.

You've never seen a three year old stand by a buggy for 10-15 seconds whilst the adult nips down to tap their card? Really?! Keep your eyes peeled because it happens all the time!

Same. Forget about it. If the driver wanted to insist you pay he would have stayed stationary until you'd tapped in.

She was told to stay with the buggy...also why the fuck would she give a stranger her card?

Genuinely surprised that people do this in London. I assumed the poster writing it was on a wind-up!

I’m a pretty trusting person but there’s no way I’d pass my debit card down a line of strangers so one could tap in for me - no way at all!

I don’t think you need to be a neurotic over-thinker to believe this is crazy.

It’s not London, I wouldn’t do it anywhere. Yes, most people are trustworthy, but “most”‘ isn’t everyone.

And If Londoners are so trustworthy that you can play pass the parcel with your bank card, why is there a notice to tell you to stay with your buggy?

I don’t think you’re being unreasonable, but if an inspector gets in, they won’t be lenient. I speak from experience!

pearl clutching

That classic MN insult against anyone who disagrees 🙄. I'm pretty sure the police, banks and insurance companies wouldn't be impressed with anyone handing over their card or phone to strangers.

You said about sending a 3 year old to the front not the other way round

Go on at the front next time, everyone manages it here with buggies, we don’t have central doors

@Carla2601 then it’s too big for the bus, we don’t have middle doors yet large electric wheelchairs and double buggies manage just fine here. And it’s not quiet, standing is common for the first 20 or so stops coming home (I board at the beginning outbound)

YABU and you know it.