Interaction between hopper and Z1-2 cap

Note that this post is based on an adult oyster with a railcard linked. For the sake of clarity, the Z1-2 offpeak cap is £5.60, Z1-3 offpeak cap is £6.60, the bus cap is £5.25, as of the time of writing this post.

I’m aware that trams are NOT covered under the Z1-2 cap, but buses are. However, what if the tram journey is free because it’s covered by a hopper started by the bus?

My assumption is that the first £1.75 from the bus would contribute to the Z1-2 cap. Would the next tram journey (within an hour) be charged £1 (to compensate for the Z1-3 cap) or £0 (under the hopper) or £0.15 (to compensate for the £1.75 hopper fare)?

Take, for example, the following made-up journey history.

09:59 Battersea Park NR (2) -> Victoria NR (1) (£2.00)
10:30 Victoria NR (1) -> Putney NR (2) (£2.00)
11:30 Bus 493 (would have been £1.75, now £1.60)
12:15 Tram at Dundonald Road (£???) <- here, the oyster would have recorded £5.75, which is over the £5.60 Z1-2 cap, but under the £6.60 Z1-3 cap.

If the tram were to be charged £0.00 under the hopper fare, then the passenger would have paid £5.60 for the whole day’s journey (under the Z1-2 cap), but still managed to get on a tram despite it not being valid.

Would the tram charge £0.15, to bring the original bus 493 back to £1.75?

I appreciate that this is such an odd edge case, but I’ve been thinking about it for such a long time.

• This topic was modified 1 week, 1 day ago by Mike (admin).