(27 Apr 2018, 8:41 pm)Tamesider wrote I'm not sure the number of people without smartphones is "tiny". I think recent figures suggested 22% of the population didn't have them - and I don't have contactless. I confess, I don't know what you mean about a £50 "default", and also don't forget a concessionary pass does not mean free travel at all times. What about octagenarians who don't understand mobiles, never mind smartphones, but still have to pay to get to a peak hour medical appointment? And that's before we get on to the reliability (or lack of) phone reception, as raised by others.
22% of the population seems like a lot, have you got the source of the data? Unless you specifically request otherwise, your next issued bank card will be contactless and all banks will exchange your current one for a contactless one free of charge. By "£50 default" I mean that pretty much any mobile phone costing £50 or more to buy outright is equipped with the technology to enable contactless payments; as well as all the other beneficial features we won't go into. The proportion of the population not engaging with this technology will continue to decline and progress will march on, for better or worse.
As for concessionary pass holders who need to pay their fares at peak times, the technology is in place for them to be billed after travel. Their data is already saved on the card, the council could send them a quarterly bill for all their 50p's which they could pay by phone, cheque, carrier pigeon etc. It could even pave the way for the basis of an efficient concessionary contribution system. All conc. fares at all times could then be a flat 50p, up to a maximum fare of £10/week. These fairs would be re-iburshed to operators, in addition to the current statutory reimbursements. A fair contribution which would make so many withdrawn, yet socially essential, bus services viable once again. I don't think a £1 return fair to town would put off vulnerable people from making journeys, but could help keeping their village bus running in the first place.