(18 Jan 2014, 5:52 pm)Greg in Weardale wrote Exact fare systems work very well in urban areas where people are used to them, eg. West Midlands, Ipswich, and in London if you didn't have an Oyster card it was coins in the roadside machine. It certainly speeds up services and encourages people to get seasons or prepayment cards. It also stops the inconsiderate morons giving drivers £10 or even £20 notes for tiny fares thinking they are a bank and have hundreds of pounds of change at 8am. My rule of thumb was always that notes were acceptable for fares more than half the value of the note. I always asked those who proffered tenners if that was the smallest they had and 2 times out of 3 they found near enough the right money.

Bit harsh isn't it? Do you think people purposely try and pay with a £10 or £20 note, or do you think it's simply because they have nothing smaller? I must be missing all these cash machines that dispense withdrawals in coins.

The bus industry is stuck in the past when it comes to payment methods. The developed world has long since moved on from cash payments, yet we still seem to insist on it on the buses. Faire enough, I can buy a day m-Ticket from Arriva or GNE, but there's nothing in place if I only want to make a single or return journey. We should have had a smart card capable (and in service!) of storing credit 10 years ago.