| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Re:Can bus drivers legally refuse to allow a child to board without an oyster? | |
| Posted by: | Paul Cavanagh | |
| Date/Time: | 04/02/11 14:20:00 |
| The problem is that it is much more profitable for bus companies and TfL to withdrawn travel cards from children than adults. If an adult gets caught without a ticket they pay an on the spot fine. If a child misuses their travelcard i.e. fails to swipe in then it is confiscated and the extra cost to parents is much more than the adult fine. Inspectors target children for this reason - although to be fair to them the dangers of tackling adults who haven't paid has been demonstrated all too clearly in Ealing recently. This means that there are currently thousands of children in London who have had free travel withdrawn and some of them will try to use the buses. Drivers certainly used to let this happen if the child was clearly under the age at which they had to pay but in recent years there has been a change of policy. Drivers are now being told to not let children on without their zip card. They probably have some guidance about when to let a child on if they might be in danger but the emphasis from the bus companies seems to be that drivers should refuse travel if in doubt. The result has inevitably been more attacks on children forced to make their way home without access to public transport. How much Adrian Jones is personally responsible for this state of affairs is impossible to say but he clearly must share some of the blame with TfL and Boris Johnson. |