Following the introduction of tap on/tap off on Cornwall’s buses in late July, I thought that I would try it for myself to see how it is working.
I am pleased to say that it seems to be working very well. I made a number of journeys on First Kernow and GoCornwall buses in the Truro/Grampound/Tregony area over a 7-day period, tapping on at the start of each journey and tapping off as I got off the bus, with one exception where I deliberately failed to tap off to see how the charging system dealt with that eventuality.
I used a debit card on each journey, making sure that I always used the same card - this is really important because the only way that the system can charge the passenger correctly is by logging all events against the particular card number. The system automatically sets up an account for that card the first time that you use it. There is no need to register with the bus operator or Cornwall Council before using tap on/tap off.
Once someone has used their card for this purpose, they can log on to the payments website, enter their card details and they will find all their journeys and how much they were charged logged there. The system works in real time - I found that if I logged on to it just a few minutes after completing a bus journey, all the information was already on there.
The link to the payments system is at mytrips.little pay
The fares charged are as follows:
On the first journey of any day, the passenger is charged for a single adult fare for the journey from A to B. If that is the only journey the passenger makes, then that is what it will cost them. Note also that these fares are the reduced ones that were brought in as part of the Bus Fares Pilot programme.
On the subsequent journeys that day, the single adult fare will again be charged, but the system will add up the total charged for the day, and if the total would be greater than £5 (the all-day, all-Cornwall fare), a deduction will be made to bring the total back to £5. Consequently, if several journeys are made on the same day, the passenger will find that the latter journeys are all charged at a net amount of zero.
Furthermore, the system will also track the spend over a 7-day period starting from the day of the first journey. Once the total spent to date reaches £20, all further journeys are free.
After the 7-day period, the system will reset for that particular passenger and a new 7-day period will commence the next time the passenger taps on again.
If the passenger checks their bank account, they will find the individual debits for each journey appearing on their account a day or so after each day of travel. The debits will be for the net fare after any capping has been applied.
Note the following points:
The charging system assumes that all users are adults paying standard adult fares. Anyone wishing to take advantage of child fares or family tickets must purchase their tickets either from the driver or from the bus operators’ apps in advance.
All fares are charged on a single journey basis and return fares are not possible. However, the daily cap will often result in the total charged for a return journey being no more than what would have been paid for a return.
The capping system only operates on the all-day, all-Cornwall basis. The town zone price cap of £2.50 per day or £10 per week does not operate on this system, although it may be that it will be incorporated in future updates.
If the passenger fails to tap off at the end of the journey, the system will charge the fare as though the passenger had continued to the end of the route and will apply that fare. However, it does still apply the daily and weekly cap so that, if the passenger is over those limits, they won’t pay any more anyway.
For an example of how the pricing system works, see the attached pdf of my journeys over 7 days from 9th to 15th August. You can see how in the first few days, the £5 daily cap applied, then after I had spent £20 (on day 5) the £20 weekly cap applied.
It is nice for once to be able to report that something is working well!