If anything, I'd have said it's the tap in, tap out system that disadvantages trip-chainers. If you fail to tap out, you'll get charged the maximum. At the moment, at least on First WoE and their subsidiaries, this doesn't make much difference if any to the fare you pay – and it seems very few people actually do tap out – but once the cap has gone, it will.
If you fail to tap out on a bus in Amsterdam, you get charged 4 euro. Then you wait 48 hours, and claim back the difference by filling in a form on a website.
To put This in perspective I have had journeys where the costs have been:
1.08 - Metro from outside my flat one stop north.
0.56 - Bus from the metro station towards one of the main shopping streets to goto the optician.
0.15 - Tram from the other end of the shopping street one stop to the supermarket to buy lunch.
0.25 - Tram down the road to the outdoor kit shop.
0.30 - Tram to the expat shop
0.20 - Metro one stop
0.80 - Tram back out of the centre
0.10 - Metro one stop home.
That took me about 4 hours. With each stop being no more than 35 mins in length. On London buses that would be 1.65 x 4. If we include the two metro's as tube journeys, then add 6 quid.
It works really well with trip chaining, and is a massive improvement on the zone system we had before.
Though for lots of short trips I can imagine a budget scooter soon becomes a financial win.
This. And a convenience win too – not bound by timetables, routes and stops.
Erm no. That assumes a) that the infrastructure is there for the safe use of such a scooter, b) the physical fitness required to use a scooter c) the weather is conducive.
Also where do you put the scooter while you're in the Pharmacy? or at the supermarket?
It also assumes that all trips are short. You might want to do a €3 trip across town, then half a dozen short hops around that area, then the €2 hop back home. The scooter might not be so good on that situation.
I typically use my Brompton if I want to do these things in the city, but when I hurt my leg and was hobbling about on crutches, the short stops on the tram became invaluable. We have to design the public transport system to transport all of the public, not just a subset of it.
J