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Students pay full fare as free Oyster cards are lost in post
Katharine Barney, City Hall Reporter01.10.09
Tens of thousands of students face having to pay to travel across London after their free Oyster cards were delayed by the post strike.
They are the latest victims of a series of strikes since June that have seen up to 10 million items lost or delayed. The Communication Workers Union is in dispute with Royal Mail over pay, conditions and possible job cuts.
Students over 16 qualify for a range of annual Oyster cards that offer discounts or free travel on buses and trams, but these expired yesterday.
It means that from today they face having to pay £3 for an alternative Oyster card and pay-as-you-go fares or the £2 cash fare for each bus journey.
Transport for London today said it had brought in emergency rules requiring bus drivers to accept expired cards “until further notice”, but confusion could result in many paying to travel.
TfL says its computer systems make it impossible to automatically renew expired cards, insisting that students have to complete a form on the first day of term which is then stamped by the school or college.
These applications and new student Oysters have been stuck in the post. But TfL says it is processing 4,000 additional applications a day — meaning 11,000 a day are being posted out.
However, TfL is refusing to reimburse costs incurred as a result of the strike, saying it has employed extra staff to tackle the backlog of applications.
NUS vice president for further education, Shane Chowen, has called on Mayor Boris Johnson to take immediate action and stand by his election pledge to give free travel to over-16s.
Mr Chowen said: “Boris Johnson should be holding talks with London colleges and Transport for London in order to ensure that no students are out of pocket.”
Labour's transport lead on the London Assembly, Val Shawcross, said: “I'm not sure why the Mayor has failed to sort this out when he knew there was a problem coming.
“If he can tell TfL to change their Tube map he can tell them to show some compassion, extend the deadline.”
A TfL spokesman said it would normally reimburse commuters for lost fares that were its responsibility, but the post delays were out of its hands.
£4 for travel or a two-hour walk'
When 16-year-old Charlotte Simpson signed up for her free travel card on the first day of sixth form, she had no idea it would take a month to process. She now finds herself paying £4 a day for travel or face walking for up to two hours from her home in Orpington to Darrick Wood school and back.
Her mother Marion today said she was furious TfL had not foreseen the problem, and called for refunds. She said: “It might not be TfL's fault directly, but it's certainly not the children's or parents'. Charlotte will have to walk to school meaning she will have to leave home at 7am.”
A TfL spokesman said: “Given the difficulties caused by disruption to postal services, guidance is being issued to bus drivers that until further notice they should allow holders of expired young persons Oyster photocards, or photocards with not enough credit on them, to travel without further payment. Young people will be asked to confirm that they have applied for a new Oyster photocard.”
Reader views (22)
i would also like to comment that i am over 18 i pay for my travel and childcare, dont claim any benefits so nobody can tell me that should be grateful
- Steph, east london
i am a student and also a full time mum, i have to travel my tube and dlr to get to college and to get my son to his creche, i paid the 5 for my oyster card but it still didnt arrive, it is costing me a fortune to travel and i can't afford to keep it up, if tfl don't buck up their ideas there will loads of college places left as everyone like me will have to drop up, im sorry im not making a small child walk miles everyday due to tfl's stupidity.
- Steph, east london
Boris Johnson has no idea in what he's doing for London. I'm 16 and my oyster card is somewhere in the middle of nowhere. Some of my friends who managed to get theirs have two cards. 1 one for the bus and 1 for the tube. How inconvenient is that? Having to carry BOTH cards when ideally it was better last year to carry one. Talk about trying to save the planet... Seriously, haven't these people noticed that we are in a recession right now? What 16 year old in FULL time education has the time to FIND a job? There isn't enough jobs to go round and still people are expecting us 16 year old students to go look for one!
- Mimi, LONDON.
This is stupid matter which should be just be sorted out. Students that are forking out money which they havent got at the moment.This whole situtation is bleeding students dry from what money they barely have.These people that are calling them self adults but they are acting very childish and the people who are complaning about when they were children they had to pay need to stop complaining, times are changing, GET OVER it at least you have a job to pay for your travel dont you think people who come from a low income have to spend more money then needed, its not as easy with the credit cruch, intrest rate rising, dont you think students are feeling the pain of the recession too.
- Cassie, London
My daughter is in her second year at sixth form college. We had no trouble obtaining her oyster card for free bus and subsidised rail travel to college last September. I am not convinced that these delays are due solely to post strikes, particularly as Tfl has admitted to having to draft in more staff. Come on Boris. Get this mess sorted out. Many families are already struggling and this is one more burden they could do without.
- Daphne Stephenson, Teddington
i feel sorry for her having to walk to school at 7! poor girl! 
- Alice, London
For everyone leaving rediculous remarks towards students, I'm going to remind you of a few things:
1) These are not University students, these are 16-18 year olds so all this talk of "worthless" degrees is rubbish. And if they're not at College you'd all be moaning they'd be roaming the streets - young people can't win with you people.
2) Cut the "in my day" sob stories. We live in a different world to when we were young. Travel was no where near as expensive - neither was course fees for that matter, in fact it was free.
3) Boris promised this. Would we ever see the same cock up with the old-persons freedom card that I've just got? No way. Plus this shouldn't even be that difficult to sort out.
4) You can't moan about this now - you knew it was in his manifesto and you voted for him!
We wonder why young people have "no respect" for adults - reading these comments I can see why. Tarring everyone with the same brush, getting your facts all wrong, comparing the youth of 2009 to the youth of 19whenever, taking every opportunity to do down the majority with the reputation and stereotype of the minority. Shameful.
- Dave, City of London
Wow! So according to the people posting here we should just turn chidren out at 16 and let them try to compete with graduates from other countries. You can only go to further education if your family have money, which will help social mobility. I'm a mature student wanting to make a career change studying Maths. Do I qualify?
- Mark, London
My daughter starts uni on monday two weeks ago we applied for the 18+ oyster at a cost of £5.00.This card arrived on Monday so why havent the free oyster cards.
- Fay Casey, coulsdon, Surrey
The oyster card is for 11-18 year olds who are still in full time education. It's designed to encourage parents not to drive children to school, and help those with low income families and encourage children to stay in education. If you are in Uni you can't qualify for a free bus travel oyster card. So it's for GCSE and A-level/IB students.
But a 2 hour walk really isnt anything, or you could cycle to school, like i do as i live an hour away from my school.
I can see why people think there should be a curb on the hours people can use their oyster card, but this will then discourage people to stay late after school to do work, as it may not be feasible for them to do it in school.
- Kieran, London
My daughter had to pay to travel today. We are having a problem renewing her travel card she is now 18 and still at school, the form we collected from the post office was rejected by the counter assistant, I have spent half an hour holding on for TFL to be told that the form was the right one 16+ and that the assistant should have processed it and that the bus driver should have let her one the bus without paying. I dread to think this whole process will have to be repeated tomorrow. Thank goodness for all this technology that makes everything so much easier for us all.
- Bernadette, London, london
People that dont have to get a bus everyday to and from school shouldt comment as it is not easy spending money on a bus all the time.
Not all students that get a bus hang around on street corners drinking. so they wouldt be trying to save their money, if u get a bus too and from school thats 4 pound a day everyday it is not cheap and it isnt easy for students to get jobs at the moment either. students should be able to have free bus travel.
- Dan, Orpington
Why are they getting these cards for free anyway? Students have to learn responsibilty at some point and paying for their own transportation to college is a small start.
- Brandon Thomas, SW7
Get a job!
- Andy, London
"I had to pay when I was a student." - Steve, London
Did you also have to pay £3000 / year tuition? More than likely if you were educated in the UK, you education received more subsidy from the taxpayer than today's students, so I don't think that you're in a position to criticise...
- Mark Lee, Vauxhall
Get rid of the free children on buses or the best alternitive to get them home in the evening instead of hanging around shopping malls altogether is only free travel between 4pm and 5pm to there home destination after that time they pay
- Terry Chambers, London
It appears these are A-Level students. Not people doing 'worthless' degrees. Unless you mean politics of course, where the only qualification you need is to be able to keep a straight face while lying and telling people what they want to hear.
- Anon, London
No more free travel for students and children doing worthless degrees.
Live within your means if you can't afford to get your education without subsidy do without why should I pay for your media studies degree and your subsequent life on the dole.
Create a small list of degrees that add value to the nation and only help those students. Lets start with medical and engineers. I can't think of any others that create real value as a wider public service !
- James, City of London
They shouldn't be getting free Oyster cards anyway the spotty nerds.I had to pay when I was a student.
- Steve, London
What a shame for the licensees, now their takings will go down as the poor, poor, students will have to pay for their travel instead of drinking in the local. My heart bleeds, not. When I started work I walked to an hour to the station and on my arrival in the City of London walked another half an hour to get to work. Do students not have legs anymore. I also had to work in a busy banking office in the middle of this travelling, normally being on my feet a lot, what would the students of today make of this. Only have to see them in my home town meandering along to know they would not cope. My day used to start at 7am and finish at 6pm counting travelling time. People nowadays do not know when they are well off.
- Anon, England
What a shame for the licensees, now their takings will go down as the poor, poor, students will have to pay for their travel instead of drinking in the local. My heart bleeds, not.
- Anon, England
Typical Transport for Chaos they have had plenty of time in advance to sort this out, GET A GRIP BORIS
- Mike, London England and once GREAT Britain
