New, Simplified Fares

[OrangeArrow49]

You’re one of a very very small number of users that still rely on a Key Card. Single figure percentages of customers still use them, and they’re mainly corporate passes through an employer.

As usual, streetdeckfan, you’re a fan of something that most others don’t like!


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Are the zones going to be updated on The Key?

Can day tickets and Flexi 5 be purchased online for The Key?

[Rob44]

Pretty sure the prices haven't changed if you use the app.

You are slot on with that but I have a Samsung off about 5 years ago and the battery is shit.... so I'd rather have a paper tick but I'm penalised for that ...

[Adrian]

You are slot on with that but I have a Samsung off about 5 years ago and the battery is shit.... so I'd rather have a paper tick but I'm penalised for that ...

Maybe so, but not uncommon and I can see why operators might want to incentivise switching to mobile ticketing in this way. It removes a repetitive task of issuing tickets from the driver, but I imagine it also speeds up boarding times.

On another note; depending on the Samsung model, it may be relatively simple/cheap to replace that battery if it's causing you problems. The average lifespan is usually 3-5 years on them.

[Rob44]

Maybe so, but not uncommon and I can see why operators might want to incentivise switching to mobile ticketing in this way. It removes a repetitive task of issuing tickets from the driver, but I imagine it also speeds up boarding times.

On another note; depending on the Samsung model, it may be relatively simple/cheap to replace that battery if it's causing you problems. The average lifespan is usually 3-5 years on 

Tbh I wouldnt trust my phone OR the CNE Ticket machine. I've been on buses where people have put the phone in and it come up near ner and they stood there arguing the toss with the driver for 10 minutes. Wasnt the one day whennit went down completely????? Doesnt happennwith a paper ticket

[Adrian]

Tbh I wouldnt trust my phone OR the CNE Ticket machine. I've been on buses where people have put the phone in and it come up near ner and they stood there arguing the toss with the driver for 10 minutes. Wasnt the one day whennit went down completely????? Doesnt happennwith a paper ticket

When mTicketing first came out, I refused to use the GNE app because it was bloody awful and for the reasons you describe. The one they use now is the same as a lot of other companies use, and to be honest, I've never had a problem with it. My only grumble is that it doesn't allow you to save passes to Google Pay, which you can do with the LNER app.

I can't recall the GNE app going down any time recently, but I know Arriva seem to have had nothing but trouble with theirs. On the most part, and given I tend to use apps now when travelling around, I've never had a problem with anyone's in the past couple of years.

[Ambassador]

I think the GNE app is excellent, my only build would be adding to Apple wallet

I don’t have a problem with prioritising app use it makes sense - the card payment is woefully slow. There’s always going to be winners and losers in ticketing changes

[streetdeckfan]

When mTicketing first came out, I refused to use the GNE app because it was bloody awful and for the reasons you describe. The one they use now is the same as a lot of other companies use, and to be honest, I've never had a problem with it. My only grumble is that it doesn't allow you to save passes to Google Pay, which you can do with the LNER app.

I can't recall the GNE app going down any time recently, but I know Arriva seem to have had nothing but trouble with theirs. On the most part, and given I tend to use apps now when travelling around, I've never had a problem with anyone's in the past couple of years.

I don't think the app is as bad as it was in the past, but it's certainly not great. I constantly have issues with the ticket not loading, the quick link at the bottom to go straight to the ticket disappearing. 

Edit:

Actually, I take that back, the new app is far, far worse than the old one in one very important way, tracking.
The tracking on the new app is bloody awful, especially if you want to track the bus that you're already on. How do I find out what time my bus gets to it's destination? 
You'd think you could just tap on the bus on the map like every other app and it would tell you, but no! That just tells you the bus has Wi-Fi and that it's quiet (even when it's packed!). You have to find a stop further ahead of you, tap on the service that you're on, then you can see. 

I think the GNE app is excellent, my only build would be adding to Apple wallet

I don’t have a problem with prioritising app use it makes sense - the card payment is woefully slow. There’s always going to be winners and losers in ticketing changes

I just think they should prioritise the app and The Key equally. They say the main reason for wanting to make the app more appealing is to speed up boarding times, because like you say card payments are slow, and cash is even slower if change is involved.

But, to me, The Key is even faster than the app as you don't have to stand there trying to get the QR code in the right position for it to scan.

Seriously, what do they have against The Key since MG took over? The system is already there and they're purposely making it worse and worse.

[Adrian]

I don't think the app is as bad as it was in the past, but it's certainly not great. I constantly have issues with the ticket not loading, the quick link at the bottom to go straight to the ticket disappearing. 

Edit:

Actually, I take that back, the new app is far, far worse than the old one in one very important way, tracking.
The tracking on the new app is bloody awful, especially if you want to track the bus that you're already on. How do I find out what time my bus gets to it's destination? 
You'd think you could just tap on the bus on the map like every other app and it would tell you, but no! That just tells you the bus has Wi-Fi and that it's quiet (even when it's packed!). You have to find a stop further ahead of you, tap on the service that you're on, then you can see. 

I don't think the tracking is awful, at least if you select a stop to view next buses. It's quite handy that you can click one of the next buses in the list, and it'll show you on the route where it currently is. I do agree that clicking a bus on the map is awful though, as really it displays no useful information. Having some sort of linear route with minutes until it reaches each, would be a lot better.

Try the mTicketing with the app though. You might even find yourself impressed!

I just think they should prioritise the app and The Key equally. They say the main reason for wanting to make the app more appealing is to speed up boarding times, because like you say card payments are slow, and cash is even slower if change is involved.

But, to me, The Key is even faster than the app as you don't have to stand there trying to get the QR code in the right position for it to scan.

Seriously, what do they have against The Key since MG took over? The system is already there and they're purposely making it worse and worse.

Perhaps the Key infrastructure is considered legacy now? I notice (when I found it) on the website, that it's still essentially the old portal sitting there in the background. If that's the case, then I'd imagine their group are still having to pay a third party to support that infrastructure, in the wonderful world of outsourcing. 

The ideal solution for me would be the ability to register contactless cards like TfL, then for those who don't use the app, you don't have to faff around with a separate card.

[streetdeckfan]

I don't think the tracking is awful, at least if you select a stop to view next buses. It's quite handy that you can click one of the next buses in the list, and it'll show you on the route where it currently is. I do agree that clicking a bus on the map is awful though, as really it displays no useful information. Having some sort of linear route with minutes until it reaches each, would be a lot better.

Try the mTicketing with the app though. You might even find yourself impressed!


Perhaps the Key infrastructure is considered legacy now? I notice (when I found it) on the website, that it's still essentially the old portal sitting there in the background. If that's the case, then I'd imagine their group are still having to pay a third party to support that infrastructure, in the wonderful world of outsourcing. 

The ideal solution for me would be the ability to register contactless cards like TfL, then for those who don't use the app, you don't have to faff around with a separate card.

The only time I use the mTicketing on the app is when I'm going to be using it regularly and I get a Flexi5 ticket, otherwise I just get a paper ticket, and will continue to do so until I'm no longer eligible for a 5-25 ticket, then I'll go back to The Key!

I do actually find the paper ticket much more convenient once I've actually bought the ticket though, I just keep it in the clear section of my card wallet so I don't even have to remove it to scan it.

With The Key infrastructure, as Dan says most of the people using it are corporate passes, and they probably aren't going to switch any time soon, so they're going to have to pay to support it anyway, so unless they have to pay per-head, it's not really going to cost much.

I do agree with being able to register contactless cards, but that would probably require the roll-out of TOTO to every bus in the fleet, which probably won't be cheap (despite the actual hardware being cheap to produce!)

[streetdeckfan]

Is it just me or is there basically no mention of the single fares on the website now?