SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

When cash was used to pay for a fare on buses there was often quite a wait while coins were collected from pockets, purses, handbags etc but with fewer cash payments now that occurs less often. That slowness has however been replaced by payments using smart phones when people do not boot-up their phone until on the bus and the boot-up often takes a while. I appreciate it is safer to do that but some already have their phone ready and so do not hold up the bus. This is not meant to be a serious moan but modern payment methods do not always result in faster trips!

PS. Local buses now have a Ticketer machine by the entry/exit but I've never seen anyone use one! On asking a driver I was told they are a way of paying using a contactless card but the procedure needs using the card getting on and getting off as well as stating the fare or asking the driver. It is however reported to be a popular national payment way so I expect to see it used someday!

I thoroughly agree about using phones for payment. It is even worse than you imply , as many seem unable to get the damn things to work, and it is not just the time it takes to start them up. Contactless cards are very good however. Have used the system on the tube in London and it works beautifully and quickly.

That's one problem I don't have to worry about. Where I now live we don't have buses! Or to be precise after a long battle by our MP the bus service was reinstated - we now have one bus a week to the nearest market town. That's progress for you!.

a few years ago I was booked to give a talk in London. I stayed at an hotel in central London but had to get a bus to the site. The bus stop was outside the hotel entrance, but I needed an Oyster Card to pay for my fare. You get one from a Post Office and some shops. I had to get a taxi to the Post Office so that I could purchase the card to make the bus journey. (yes I know that I could have got a taxi to the site, but that would have involved taking out a bank loan!) Years ago I would have walked to the site. is this progress?

Its the same in supermarkets they pack all their bags then spend time looking for their card another pet hate is self checkout, the times i have had to wait for someone to reset the machine before i could scan the other goods.