Further to the earlier post I am now able to comment further about the new journey history, and include a screenprint so that others who might not have any recent history can still comment. Oysteronline is very keen to recieve feedback on this project, good or bad. What we are currently seeing is the first beta version which was released at the beginning of August. There is an update due next month which will address some of the issues highlighted in feedback so far. Please keep it coming though, either directly from the Oyster online website, or by replying to this post.
Anyway, onto the screenprint. This is the current last week on my card which demonstrates some of the features and one of the issues so far.
The first thing you notice is that each journey is shown on one line with the actual fare charged instead of the old entry charge and exit adjustment that caused so much confusion. Where text or headings are coloured blue it means that there is a message which can be seen by hovering over the text concerned.
The orange star means that it is possible that not all journeys have reached the central system yet, particularly bus journeys which take a little longer to transfer. This indicator seems to stay for about 3 days, although rail journeys are usually complete by the second day, often the next day.
The green upward pointing arrow with a line above means that the journey triggered the daily cap for the zones covered and may thus be less than expected. The blue circle with an ‘i’ in it indicates that some other information is available by hovering over the line. In the screenprint above, the first and second ones tell me that that journey was zero charged because it was a continuation of the previous journey with no additional payment required. The other two explain that the system is unable to tell where the journey started or finished. Usually that is either because it started within the zones covered by a travelcard, or because the maximum journey time was exceeded or a touch was forgotten or not recorded, resulting in a maximum journey charge. In the example above, however, it is a fault in the handling of the data. The touch in appeared on the history the next day, but the touch out didn’t arrive until the following day. The developers are aware of this and are hoping to fix it with a future release.
I have also taken some other screenshots during the week which include some of the messages shown when you hover over a line. Click on each thumbnail to view the image.
Incidentally, included in the first picture is an example of an incomplete journey where touch in was within the zones covered by a travelcard.
Thanks. It’s all very well them adding new features, but when many of us can’t even register cards with the cursed system, it’s all rather pointless. They should fix the gigantic bugs before faffing around with cosmetics.
Hi Dave,
I’m not aware of any reason why people can’t register cards, in fact they actively encourage registration for security purposes. Can you explain what problems you are getting and I’ll try and suggest a solution.
Mike.
Just found the no-touch-out/no-touch-in scenario as per Saturday above, the problem is the touch-out looks line a £2.20 charge – not a credit (although this can be seen by the balance). Perhaps just putting a – or CR next to it would have helped.
Hi Martin,
Thanks for the suggestion, I see what you mean. Actually a “+” sign like on top up might make more sense. Anyway, the development team are aware of the issue and I think they’d probably want to fix it properly by joining up the two incomplete journeys rather than further complicate the fudge.
Yes, I can confirm that this issue will be fixed at our next update later this month. Development has been completed and it is currently undergoing testing. (The reason it doesn’t show a plus symbol against the credit is simply that it was never intended to split the joruney down in this way in the first place.)
I’d be interested to know more about the registration issues reported by Dave S above.
Mike, I think it may have something to do with not being able to load a travelcard on it for period longer than 7 days.
I have a PAYG Oystercard that I have registered online, however, I am not allowed to buy a monthly or longer travelcard with it. In order for me to do that, I need to complete a registration form and take it to a local LU office to process before I am allowed to add a monthly travelcard on it, the alternative solution is to order a new card and have it deliver to my home address. A bit silly I think….
Thanks Dave,
I think I see what you mean but if I can just clarify. You have obtained a PAYG Oystercard and have not yet registered your details. You have linked the card to your Oyster online account (rather than registered as that causes confusion). You don’t understand why that should prevent you buying a travelcard for longer than 7 days duration.
I’m going to steal oysteronline’s thunder here and have a stab myself. If the card isn’t registered then TfL cannot prove the identity of the owner. If someone stole the card with a zones 1-6 monthly travelcard newly stored then that’s nearly £200 lost. The thief could either sell the card on or get a refund (less a £10 admin fee). By insisting that cards with seasons longer than a week are registered, TfL are actually protecting the passengers interests. It should also be noted that National Rail insist on a photocard for all season tickets, including weeklies, so by allowing 7-day seasons to be purchased anonymously, TfL are actually being quite generous.
I might be wrong here, but I’m 99% certain that Oyster ticket stops (shops) can register a card for you, as well as Underground stations. That means that you shouldn’t be too far from somewhere that can sort your problem out.
Good answer, Mike. An Oyster card can be registered at an Underground or Overground station, Oyster Ticket Stop or Travel Information Centre, plus some National Rail stations in the London area.
More information about the benefits of protecting and/or registering an Oyster card, and how to do it, can be found here: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/tickets/14836.aspx
Mike,
Yes, you are correct, I have a PAYG Oystercard which I have added to my Oyster account. If I understand you correctly, is this card not registered?
I fail to see why having my card linked to my account is not good enough, afterall, if I order a monthly travelcard online, the card is considered ‘registered’ while linking a PAYG card to my account is not…
Dave,
It’s all to do with databases. There is a database of card registration details which needs to be populated before the card can have a monthly or longer travelcard loaded on it. This is not the same database as the online accounts use. They have to be separate because not all cards get linked to online accounts and more than one card can be linked to the same online account. Each card can have it’s own security answer though.
Checked my account this morning and there is now the option in the drop down menu to display “all available data” rather than just the seven day options.
There is also an option to display 4 weeks worth but am unsure whether this was there previously.
BTW Mike thanks for your help with my previous postings.
Hi Malcolm,
Yes, both the last 4 weeks and all available data options were added recently in response to feedback.
Fascinating – my first sight of and post on this site.
Possibly releveant question.
Most of my London jouneys are “free” as I’m over 65 … BUT
I have an Oyster, for occasional use.
Will my “travelpass” journeys show up on this?
What do I do when I want to split my journey between the two ticket modes, for example, if going from LT-to-ex-BR lines (eg transfer to National Rail from Central line at Ealing Bdy @ ~ 07.50 hrs?
Or, next year, going from Walthamstow to Ware – pass to TfL boundary, then Oyster to Ware – and how do I “touch in” whilst still on my train?
Um.
Hi Greg,
As far as I can tell the Freedom Pass is an Oyster like card which cannot have separate pay-as-you-go credit loaded. Therefore you cannot currently access journey history online because to do so requires you to order a topup online. I understand that the system will be changed as part of the current improvements, so it may well be that you will be able to access journey history in the future.
As for mixing freedom pass with an ordinary Oyster card, you have to touch in or out as you cross the boundary. This means that you cannot travel on a through train unless you can hop off to touch on platform validators and hop back on again.