I'd be in favour of cashless or exact fare buses, but only once stable infrastructure was in place to support it.

I'd expect a smartcard, which I can top up with credit, is cross operator, I can use to buy absolutely any ticket from any operator, has the facility for automatic topup, and is robust enough to be resistant to general wear and tear. In addition, I'd expect operators to fully publish single/return fares, so I'm not making blind payment.

I'd also expect contactless credit and debit cards to he accepted for all tickets.