Training | 2009.12.02
In praise of… the Oyster card
The daily transportation of millions of passengers is rarely acknowledged for the miraculous feat that it is. Only the malfunctioning train or striking worker grab attention. Yet news that London will, from January , be seamlessly negotiable with any Oyster card is in the transport system\'s best tradition of vision and innovation – and shows what political will can achieve. The cards, set to open the gates to trains as well as tubes and buses without requiring separate tickets, join the congestion charge, bus and cycle lanes in transforming the quotidian life of the city and serve as models for improved transport around the country. They save time dissipated in such frustrations as queueing, barriers swallowing tickets or drivers counting change. A gaggle of tourists at the bus stop no longer signals a lengthy delay. And, as for many the map of London is mentally superimposed on the tube map, the new Oyster plan promises to free the mind as well as the feet. An overland chug to Beckenham Junction will hold as little fear to the uninitiated as jumping on the Piccadilly line to Covent Garden. Civil liberties fears of a system that can track every individual\'s movement should not be overlooked – you can resist registering your card, and top it up with cash. This aside, their effect has been overwhelmingly benevolent. Some commuters have reportedly transposed their Oyster chip to the end of a stick to open the barriers with a small wave of an improvised wand. An ostentatious but fitting tribute to their magic.
For more information, please visit
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/[...]er-card-tfl-london-underground
