The World is Not my Oyster, Not in Yorkshire it Isn't!

I first ran a story on contactless card technology back in October 2010.  For those of you foolish enough to have missed it, here’s a link:

http://charlottemooney.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/recent-trends-in-card-technology.html

Back then I reported that the main application for the new cards was likely to be in coffee shops and on public transport.  This prediction has turned out to be correct, with the contact readers starting to sprout in certain coffee shops and on London buses and black cabs. It looks like the great British public has definitely not got over-excited about the contactless concept, however, nor welcomed it with open arms.

Although the contactless system certainly gives another option to London commuters, who already have the benefit of the Oyster Card system, it is not perfect.  I have heard reports that the card readers get confused it your wallet contains both an Oyster Card and a contactless credit card. If you live in the provinces you don’t have many options.

A bus on the Headrow

I must say, I wish that First buses in Leeds would move into the 21^st century and install a contactless system. I use the buses to travel into work a couple of times a week, and have to pay by cash. As anyone who has ever been lucky enough to enjoy the privilege of using the Leeds buses will know, the drivers like you to have the exact change ready. Expect to be sworn at and unceremoniously kicked off the bus if you have the nerve to ask him to change a fiver.

My bus fare is either £4.60, £3.80 or £2.80, depending on the time of day, wind direction, the tides and the phases of the moon. I live in a semi-rural area about 8 miles outside the city centre. Not a shop in sight and no chance of nipping into a newsagent en route to the bus stop to get some change.  So a typical working day for me starts with the dawning realisation that I don’t have any change in my wallet.  The next 5 minutes are spent frantically tearing the house apart looking for coins. The best places to look are under the sofa cushions and in my husband’s jacket pockets.  It used to be easier years ago when my children still lived at home and I could rifle their money-boxes.

BTW, my children have now grown up and moved into their own place, not been taken into care.  If you bump into them please do not mention anything about their piggy-banks.