Cashless bus travel threatens most vulnerable

Following the lead set by London, plans are underway for cashless bus travel across Britain; a move that looks set to leave vulnerable passengers stranded.

Britain’s biggest bus operators including Stagecoach, National Express and Arriva look set to follow London and withdraw of the option of paying with cash by introducing ‘tap-and-pay’ technology on every vehicle by 2022.

Bus operators across the North are receiving £150m in funding from the government as part of the plans update the payment system.

Cashless bus travel: Winners and losers

Bus companies prefer so-called ‘tap-and-pay’ technology because for them it offers a more efficient and cost-effective alternative to cash, but the digitised ticketing systems in London are unforgiving and have already put vulnerable passengers at risk.

London buses do not allow travellers to pay by cash under any circumstance. The following account we received from a mother in London refers to an incident by no means isolated, but one rarely addressed by proponents of cash-less tickets.

My eleven-year-old son tried to board the X26 bus service, but was without his Oyster Zip card so the driver would not allow him on. This took place on his second day of secondary school and it was the first time he had commuted by bus. He was left on the pavement in floods of tears and had to wait on his own for one hour before I was able to collect him. Beyond the responsibility of a child to remember their card, surely bus operators have a certain duty of care to make sure that vulnerable passengers are not left stranded on their own.

The problem is compounded by the fact that in such a case, a fellow passenger who wants to be a good Samaritan is unable to pay for the stranded child by tapping their own Oyster card twice.

Nearly four in every five pounds spent in British shops is now made through debit and credit cards, but this is not a reason to overlook those who find themselves needing to travel by public transport but have only cash. At present there is no safety net for the most vulnerable - something that surely runs counter to the ethos of public transport.

The ethical choice

The ETA was established in 1990 as an ethical provider of green, reliable travel services. Over 30 years on, we continue to offer cycle insurance , breakdown cover and mobility scooter insurance while putting concern for the environment at the heart of all we do.

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