American Reacts to London's Public Transport
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- Опубліковано 30 січ 2023
- As an American who does not live in a big city I have had almost zero exposure to using public transport, and I feel that this is the experience of the majority of Americans. Public Transportation is just not popular in America. That is exactly why today I am very excited to learn how you use London's public transport. If you enjoyed the video feel free to leave a comment, like, or subscribe for more!
Mailing Address:
Tyler E.
PO Box 2973
Evansville, IN 47728
I know many people in the UK that are nervous of the underground. I’m a London girl, and although I haven’t lived there for over 30 years, when those doors open on the tube and you get a gust of warm air from the tunnel that smells of steel from the train tracks, it always smells like home 😁❤️
That brought back happy memories. I lived most my life in London and miss it so much. Now retired to Eastbourne where you don't live any longer, it just seems like it!
I'm not at all nervous when I visit London and use the underground. Users of the underground are so warm, friendly and welcoming. They're eager to engage in cheery conversation with everyone! (now that's the trouble with the internet, it's so difficult to convey sarcasm.)
That description reminded me of work. I used to drive on the tube. Now retired to an island without any railway at all
I’m not nervous of it at all. I’m not familiar enough to know it, but if you check where you’re going and where you need to change etc it’s OK
Oh that brought me back to so many happy and warm memories! How I miss London! ❤
The ‘ferry’ you referred to is called a ‘clipper’ it goes up & down the river Thames with lots of different stops & definitely the least stressful & I think quickest way to travel around London. They’re very very frequent, clean & even have a bar on board! 🍻
Best way to travel through London
Best thing about it, is there's plenty of seats and you'll always have one, used to live in Woolwich Royal Arsenal and I worked in Greenwich not far from the o2 Arena and I would always get the Thames Clippers to and from work, and every time I would ride them, there was always plenty available seats.
There's a phrase, "your world's your oyster". Not sure how the saying came to be, but that's the reason.
It has evolved from Shakespeare's "The world's mine oyster." (The Merry Wives of Windsor).
Transport for London were instrumental in the creation of a global standard transport payment system with the Oyster card, and probably had a significant influence on the development of contactless payment in general.
London Underground was the first underground railway system and is a piece of living history as it continues to keep pace with a changing world. I feel a little burst of joy every time I see a perfectly sized train coming out of the tunnel into the station.
In Antalya, Turkey you have the Antalyakart which is an oyster card pretty much. It's also super cheap, plus you have the mobile app to keep track of the amount you have left. So convenient.
The tech and concept for Oyster card started on Hong Kong Metro.
But yes, 3 companies made contactless payment cards a common concept in the UK: Transport for London, Tesco supermarkets (who have 100's of convenience stores in London), and McDonalds. All rolled out the hardware in London really early.
The oyster card was introduced in London in 2003. In 2004, the OV Chipkaart was introduced in to the Netherlands and has the same purpose. However, unlike the Oyster card which is only valid in Greater London, the Chipkaart is valid countrywide for all modes of public transport (trains, metro, trams and busses).
As one who moved from the sticks (the countryside) to London, I had great nostalgia as I recalled my first experience commuting in London...took a week before I stopped ducking down when pigeons flew at me, got left on platform as I tried to follow the queuing system we would have on buses, arrived 45 minutes late for my first job interview as I went wrong way on tube for a few stops before I realised there must have been a platform for the opposite direction. All good fun! I got the job!!! I was only 19. Thanks for the memories and smiles!
*styx
@@gibsonms Or sticks, like where I live.
@@gibsonms the Thames can look like the Styx sometimes. yuck.
@@hareecionelson5875 Funny that you should say that as the River Thames is one of the cleanest urban rivers in the world. (Don't believe me? look it up!)
When you come to the UK, you do have to learn to tut, roll your eyes and shake your head, so you can do all three when someone is standing in the wrong side of the escalator, not queuing correctly or committing some other major sin.
It's so engrained into my mind now that whenever I'm standing on an escalator, my brain shouts at me to stand on the right, even if there's no-one rushing anywhere
4:00 you get to keep and reuse the card. When the balance runs out, you just top it up again at a tube or rail station, and some stores let you top your card up too. Locals also use them, they aren't just for tourists.
One reason to use an Oyster card rather than contactless, is that you probably don’t want to be continually getting out your plastic in case a tea leaf steals it. If you lose an Oyster card you only lose 15 or 20 quid at most, but if you lose your credit card it could cause you a mountain of grief.
EDIT: the boat is great if you want to go to the tourist sights in Greenwich (Cutty Sark, the National Maritime Museum and the Royal Observatory).
Also Children do not have debit or credit cards usually
Everyone should have their bank's block card phone number in their phone. The river can be faster during tube disruption than buses.
@@MrNifts also it costs a full fare even if it’s a child’s account (if one was to use a debit/other preloaded card instead of a zip card)
@@tonys1636 What the hell is a block card????
I like the cable car to the O2 in Greenwich!
9:05 you may have to pay extra fees from your bank for paying in GBP and not USD, so an Oyster card is a one-time fee plus any top-ups. you can also buy a "Visitor Oyster card" from Transport for London and have it posted to you worldwide (extra postage)
Joolz guides are very good. He comes from North London where I grew up many many years ago. I recommend his one on Highgate etc. He went to Highgate school, It is some way from the centre of London and retains the air of a country village. It had many ( still does ) famous residents and some great old pubs. His guides are well researched and funny & informative. He must be one of the few UK residents that has made it to Pitcairn Island ( without being involved in a mutiny )
Using a contactless credit or debit card instead of an Oyster card isn't limited to locals, anyone can use them. It's probably more common to use a contactless payment option (Apple Pay etc. works too) than to use an Oyster card these days.
I still use my oyster card if I travel to London. I just top it up as soon as I get into Victoria station and use that during my stay, it's a lot more practical imo
I visit London fairly regularly, I do have an Oyster card but most of the time now I just tap my watch to go through the gates. So much easier and saves the anxiety about losing my cards.
A few things about oyster cards and london transport in general.
Oyster cards were one of the first contactless cards used in wider circulation. Because TfL pushed for this tech to be rolled out we now have most UK banks using similar tech in their payment cards, and you can use this contactless to pay for up to £100 at a time with no other security (this being why people MIGHT want to use an oyster, if you lose it or it gets stolen they can only drain your Oyster rather than your bank account directly)
You can use the Oyster card anywhere in the TfL zone system. TfL (Transport for London) operate and manage all transport inside the london travel boundary (about 20 miles outside the center of the city) and you can use your card on all public transport, including mainline trains, light rail and trams, underground, busses and the fast ferry services (which go out east from the centre of the city and are extending almost 30 miles out into Kent from this year)
The fares are capped on a daily basis, equivalent to a paper daily ticket, so long as you "tap in and out" for each and every trip you take. If you don't do this, or the system cannot compute your trip it will charge you a higher limit (about £25)
One little known thing about the london fare zones is because it was designed using one letter of computer language the system is limited to 15 zones, all of which have now been used...
Another reason a lot of younger people have an Oyster card is because you can add a railcard to it and get discounts on off peak journeys - this isn’t possible when using contactless or Apple Pay
I suppose TfL was keen to stop the loss of revenue resulting from travellers 'donating' their used paper one-day travelcards to beggars outside their exit station. Oyster cards also makes so-called dumbbell fraud impossible.
And being over 60 I travel around London for free after 9.30 Mon-Fri all day weekends and bank holidays in all 9 zones. I can’t use it on Uber boats and of course taxis but everything is free for me.
"so long as you "tap in and out" " - apart from a few different modes, such as buses where you only tap in.
Like many cities and towns, London grew up by the river. Therefore there are many old buildings and very interesting things to see from the water. Taking a boat down the Thames is a very good way to see these sights.
Yes, like Paris! Taking a boat trip helps you to understand the city's lay out, and where the places you want to see are in relation to each other. Many guide books will give the nearest tube or bus route to major attractions, so you can plan your day without spending hours on the tube or bus. Joolz has the best walks on his channel.
I have seen narrow boats vids on UA-cam. The canal system is awesome. Yes I'm 61 and say awesome. I think you can rent them. Looks like a great way to spend a vacation.
The US never needed such a canal system since we have better rivers for navigation.
It's been a long time since I've been to Europe but the public transportation was impressive.
Yes zone 1 to pass by expensive by anyway 10£ you can go to all zones
It didn't grow up by the river, though. lol It was founded by the Romans there intentionally.
@@pvuccino The Romans chose to build Londinium there because the River Thames was a quick way to move soldiers and goods between Britain and the rest of the Roman Empire. Same reason Rome was chosen as the centre of the Empire.
Some banks charge for transaction abroad. If you get an Oyster card it cuts down on bank charges for foreigners
The name oyster comes from the saying “The world is your oyster”. As in, gives you freedom to travel round London.
I would love this to be true or have you been listening to too much Frankie Goes To Hollywood? Can you post a link? (I could Google it myself but I'm at work. (At home. Watching UA-cam))
@@maxlothar9719 "Oyster was conceived ... because of the metaphorical implications of security and value in the hard bivalve shell and the concealed pearl. Its associations with London through Thames estuary oyster beds and the major relevance of the popular idiom "the world is your oyster" were also significant factors in its selection".[21]
Taken from Wiki page under “Brand” section. Also, when I got my first Oyster card (nearly 20 years ago 😱) the cover had the wording on, so always thought that’s where it came from.
The Oyster card (or using a contactless credit or debit card) also covers above ground trains all over Greater London and trams (which are only in certain parts of South London). The buses have a flat fare no matter the length of the journey, so you only tap in when you board. Also, if you change buses within a certain time to continue your journey, you still touch your Oyster on the second (or subsequent) bus but the system knows and doesn't charge an additional flat fare.
The zones are approximately concentric rings outward from the Central London area. Zone 1 is the approximately oval area in the centre and the numbers go up to 9 but 7, 8 and 9 are just extra areas at the outskirts, so it's mainly 1 to 6. The more zone boundaries you cross, the more the fare (except buses). That's why it's important to tap in AND out, otherwise the system assumes you have travelled the maximum distance and charges the maximum fare.
Doesn't it cover all TFL stuff?
Hong Kong introduced the Octopus card. London called there's the Oyster card because it does much the same thing, and continues with the seafood theme. Also, "the world is your Oyster" is a saying in the UK, and you can explore it (at least within London) if you have an Oyster card.
I use my contactless card to get around London. If you have a bank card that doesn't charge per transaction for foreign expenses, you should use that too. If it does charge, an Oyster card might work out cheaper because you minimise the number of bank transactions you make.
It's the 'world is your lobster..'. 😂😂😂😂😂
The Netherlands has the "OV Chip Card", which is a contactless card that covers all public transport (bus, train, ferry, waterbus, metro, and trams) all over the country. Just one card for everything, everywhere.
Same in Finland except we also have an app that covers the same thing
Almost everyone uses the app by now lol
I hope an oyster/OV Chip Card/similar equivalent comes to all of the UK. Would probably make it easier I’m guessing as a Londoner
I thought public transport was pretty good here in the UK until I went to the Netherlands and actually traveled outside of Amsterdam for a few festivals. UK public transport could be a lot worse but it made me realise it could also be a lot better.
@@Ro99 Would never be UK-wide. Could defo imagine the devolved governments introducing something like that though
@@HunkumSpunkum Literally no one mentioned Scandinavia lol
I'm a northerner who's lived in London for 22 years. Like most Londoners, i complain constantly about tfl and public transport. Then I go home for a couple of weeks and after waiting 30 minutes in the rain for a bus I remember how lucky I normally am!
Most foreign tourists are impressed by the frequency of trains on the Underground. I remember once saying to some tourists that they could take the Circle Line but they might have to wait ten minutes and they said something like, "Ten minutes? That's really good, where we come from we wait half an hour."
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When it comes to getting around, London is divided into ‘zones’ 1-9, with ‘Zone 1’ being the city centre and ‘Zone 9’ being the outskirts of the city. The system itself exists as a method for TfL (Transport for London) to calculate a customer’s travel distance and charge accordingly.
Realistically, most visitors to the city will never have to travel outside of ‘Zone 1’ as this is where most of the main attractions and the city centre are located. However, for those venturing further afield, it is important to consider how many ‘Zones’ you’re travelling through as this will affect the type of ticket you need to buy.
The time of day that you travel will also affect travel costs; TfL charges higher fares at busier times of the day, also known as ‘peak hours’. These hours (excluding public holidays) are from 06:30-09:30 and 16:00-19:00, Monday-Friday.
The ‘Zone’ system does not apply to buses in London - you can travel anywhere in zones 1-9 on any travelcard.
Peak fares do not apply on buses.
I used to get the uber boat to work everyday - loved it! Saw the same people every morning.. built up a little commuter community.. chatting with our coffees as we whizzed down the Thames :)
Also worth noting you can get the overground and national rail on the oyster, as long as its within zone 9
I drove the number 15 Routemaster buses in the 1990's from Eastham to Paddington Station. Never realised how lucky I was to be driving one. Wish I could turn back time and appreciate the time I spent driving one.
I always use my Oyster card on the tube,which is the fastest way to travel in London. I loved the old Routemaster buses because you could just jump on even if the bus was leaving the stop. On the tube you can calculate the length of the journey by allowing two minutes per stop.
Sadly the Heritage service is no longer running.
Unless you are travelling on the northern part of the Metropolitan Line where there is quite some distance between stations.
This is quite an old video. It's much more common now to just use contactless bank cards or phone/watch. You can only put on discount railcards etc on an Oyster though. You can keep it, the return deposit is more for tourists or short-term visitors. There are also pink card readers. These are at stations with interchanges where there are multiple ways to get there, tapping these halfway through the journey will ensure you pay the lower rate, otherwise it will assume you've taken the longer more expensive route.
Also it’s no longer a deposit, the card costs £7 now
I lived in a little town here in England and yes people do travel by bus or train. Those that use the public transport frequently will buy either a weekly or monthly bus or train pass. If you are pensioner here in England, you get a free bus pass but it will details the time you can allow to use it and in which city or town.
I'm an Ex Pat living in the Republic of Ireland and our OAP/disabled travel pass covers buses trams and trains and it's nationwide. Can also be used as ID when travelling between the CTA countries as is a biometric photo card. (Not on Ryanair though they want one's passport just to be able to book the ticket).
The old Routemaster buses (with the open platform) are still one of the quiet thrills of travelling in London. They were once ubiquitous and you weren't a proper Londoner until you had tried to run after one as it pulled away from a bus stop only to land on the ground with a face full of tarmac.
Over 65 and you get a bus pass which gives free travel after 0930 .
Any visitor should get an Oyster card which can be bought on line prior to your visit to the UK its way more convenient than pay cash
In Singapore we have the same system, depend on how often you use the public transport, it's better to get the card cause you can buy the monthly pass which tend to be cheaper for some than the daily fares. The pass isn't available for the debit card. Also adult, children, senior and student have different pass too
The locals in London use Oyster cards. They can save you money on London’s expensive public transport system.
Londoners don’t like taking. It’s different up north, we’re more friendlier. 😁
A common misconception. Us "real" Londoners are just as friendly and up for a chat as any northerner. It's those that move to London for work and call themselves "Londoners" that you need to keep an eye on. 😉
I remember my first time on the New York subway and thinking it was total chaos!! 😂 We really take the queue very seriously.
GREAT REACTION. I love watching your reactions you make my day. Your so happy and open to learning so much even though the UK do complicate things at times especially slang words. But public transport is huge across the Uk and it helps people who cannot afford cars. If you lived in London you really wouldn’t need a car for day to day living only for wanting to go travelling around the UK but saying that internal flights are cheap especially compared to Railway travel. But if you do visit you can hire an automatic car and you will get to see so much more beautiful places which you will need to get to by car especially small villages etc. trains and coaches do get you everywhere but not always to some remote areas. I hope you do get to come over as I think you would enjoy yourself but please do not just stay in London as all of the UK has amazing places to see. As for castles which you seem to like Wales, Ireland and Scotland has amazing castles so don’t forget these places.
Look forward to your next reaction.
Love from UK❤❤
Yes the bus 2 way Journey so 3 50 £ and free all day!
The fare zones are used for working out how much you pay for a journey by rail or Underground. Zone 1 is the centre of London, and zones 2-6 are concentric around zone 1 (Heathrow Airport’s in zone 6). There are also zones 7-9 even further out on a few of the Underground lines. Property adverts will often say which zone they’re in, as it affects the value of houses.
You will have noticed the yellow disc shaped readers at the entrance and exit to the Underground, and on the buses, but there are also pink readers on some rail/underground lines which you touch your Oyster or contactless card to _during_ your journey - this is to prove that you’ve travelled on a route that avoids Zone 1 (which is more expensive than any other zone), so you save money.
Fare zones don’t apply to the buses - it’s a flat fare (currently I think £1.55 increasing to £1.65 in March) regardless of how far you travel on a bus; however, as there’s a “hopper” fare you only get charged once regardless of how many buses you board within one hour.
Why would you use Oyster rather than contactless? Well if you have a foreign card your bank may charge you a fee for each use, so you only get charged once if you load up an Oyster card. Also, if you use contactless you get charged the adult fare - not so good if you’ve got kids. I think the entry gates on the Underground also react slightly faster to Oyster cards than contactless. Oyster cards can’t be used on the Elizabeth Line between Reading and West Drayton (a few stops west of Heathrow) so you have to use contactless there - the reason being that when Oyster was designed around the turn of the century it was never envisaged that the system would grow as much as it has done, so it simply can’t handle the extra zones that would be needed on the west of the Elizabeth Line!
There are hop on / hop off tour busses. They are expensive, but if you want to find out about where your going and why places are called what they are, there is someone giving you the talk. its extremly interesting and worth doing once.
Some have commentary in different languages as well.
We have the same card system here in Vancouver, different name, can also use credit cards. The Compass Card does not tie into your bank account, it ties into your transit account. Can add to it online or at a machine. Locals and visitors use it. Quite handy. We use it on the bus, our Sky Train(like the Tube), and the Sea Bus.
One huge difference, though. Oyster caps your fares on any given day to the price of a Day Pass. Compass doesn't. (Also, Oyster isn't completely time-based, so if it takes over 1½hrs from Langley to Richmond because you miss a once-per-30-min connection, you don't get charged extra.)
@@WerewolfLord something Translink can work on with the new Skytrain line coming. A lot of disruption thanks to Covid but getting more normal again. Compass had a lot of growing pains but we can get around quite a large area one-way or another but with the Metro area so expensive for housing it is even more important to be efficient.
Joolz has lots of really interesting and amusing videos about London. Well worth checking out.
Hello Tyler. I live in South Wales. We have plenty of public transport, bus and train. I live about a 20 minute walk from my local bus station. From there we have buses going north up the Rhondda Valley and south to Cardiff. East takes us to the town of Pontypridd and west to Bridgend & Porthcawl, these are the main routes. Other subsidiary routes are very local and go around some housing estates, the local big food store.. two of the routes have been rerouted through the local hospital. My local railway station is about 2 mile and is on the main line from Paddington, London and west to Fishguard & Milford Haven. Main line trains don’t stop, just commuter services. If I want to go to London its a 15 minute trip to change train in Cardiff and takes 3 hour, about £89 return.
Also in the UK the devolved governments has given, free, over 60 year old's concessionary passes for bus the size of a credit card with owners photo. With this pass I can get on any regular bus in Wales, show my pass, and get free ride. If I need to go to local hospital there are 5 different buses that stop outside the main door. The local city , Cardiff is about 12 miles away, that’s free as well.
ALWAYS REMEMBER: The 'EE' Rule (Escalator Etiquette); STAND on the RIGHT - WALK on the LEFT !!! 😄
Also, to clarify, this is an 'older' video. They discontinued the 'refund' system (only an Oyster Card issued before February 2022 will still get the £5.00 deposit back).
Also, unlike the Tube, tap IN only, on any buses. And if you need to make a journey using MORE than one bus, remember; as long as you change buses (get off one and onto a second, within an hour period), you will be charged just one fee. It's considered a continuation of the same journey.
Really the rule is just stand on the right. I don't think anyone minds whether you walk on the left or the right, as long as you accept that other people will be standing on the right.
@@barneylaurance1865- I'm quite confident that you are VERY likely to suffer the consequences of ANY attempt to circumnavigate the EE Rules. This may actually mean total humiliation in front of the general public. Followed by a flogging on the platform (posted over the internet & filmed on the security cameras).🤔😎😂
@@stewedfishproductions7959 I've never had any complaints from other commuters when I've walked on the right. Why would they care?
@@superfluidity - Because that's the side you STAND on - DUH!!!???
@@stewedfishproductions7959 I know. But I wasn't standing, I was walking. No-one cares.
I've an Oyster card for work commute (some social); I live in SE London & work the other side of the river across London. My commute is 1x bus, 1x DLR (Docklands Light Railway) & 1x either underground/overground all covered by my Oyster & as costs are capped is cheaper than using a bank card - also good for security purposes as not getting your bank cards out. I could also use the River Taxi but for me is a longer commute. Do have a car btw.
Costs are capped for debit cards as well.
The boat.. somewhere like Greenwich such a cool part of London would take tubes, docklands light railway and tube... take a boat! half hour from central London and it's so nice, everyone should try it its quicker and chilled
I make London my birthday destination every years. I've bought my Oyster card maybe 3-4 years ago and it's still functional. Definitely worth getting.
I live in Lambeth, so I use the river whenever I visit Greenwich. Saves time driving through London, and it's just a lovely journey. And the benefit of the oyster for tourists is you will save on the transaction fees for foreign payments when you pay once forthright Otster over each and every card transaction. Those Foreign Exchange fees add up.
What he called "The Boat" is a river bus that goes along the Thames and stops at various points on each side.. They have the same in Venice - called vaporetto
As someone who lives in London. The Thames clipper or “boat” is the easiest way to get from the city to Greenwich. Greenwich full of museums and pubs. And it takes you past a fair few sights of London for cheap
That strange looking boat is a river bus… my grandsons loved using it when we went to the ‘smoke’
As a Londoner, an Oyster card is still very valuable to this day. If you hit the cap, (they stop charging), you get refunded the amount they overcharge you at midnight just in case they did charge you over the cap. The other advantage is that there are many places that will not accept oyster but if you have it, you will still get a discount. Some places in London are Oyster card access only which is fun to find. There are different types of Oyster card for foreign visitors. Some will charge you far less and the cap is a lot lower. Some visitor Oyster cards allow you to return any money as long long as it's not over a certain amount. As an example, my cousin who visited credited fifty pounds. He used twenty seven. He returned the card and was refunded the amount left.
It may be an outdated system but it still works flawlessly.
Are you sure it's midnight? Normally a one-day travel card is valid until 4:30am. the next day.
You could also include Robslondon, Geoff Marshall and Jago Hazzard as they too have done hilarious videos in London.
When we were in London we loved the boat. We took it into London everyday from Greenwich
The boat is nice to take in the very hot summer months, because the tube can be unbearably hot as it doesn't have air conditioning. I use it to get from Central London to Canary Wharf (the business district in East London). It's a nice breezy way to quickly get up the river.
I've been to cities around the world and London still is one of the best connected cities for public transport. And if you would rather go on foot the place is incredibly flat and walkable
No, four underground lines have air-conditioning.
Yes putting air conditioning on some of the deep tube lines is a very difficult engineering problem. You could air condition one train but then it would have to dump hot air out the back and that would just heat up the train behind. Even the earth around the tunnels apparently holds heat for years.
You can use the oyster card on overground trains too.
Ferries are used for work travel and leisure. You can take a ferry to Hampton Court (Palace) too for a lovely day out.
We have a similar card in the Netherlands too. Just with one card you can go on trains, buses, trams, metro, ferries that are used as public transport and rent a bike with this card! This is all over the Netherlands. And when you tap out (don't forget), you can see on the screen the costs of your trip.
Oyster Card, probably named after the phrase 'the worlds your oyster', with the card all of London is available to you.
12:15 London is split in half by the river thames so some boats can be used to get from one side to the other if there are no bridges, tunnels, or trains near your area but also some boats are just for sightseeing
Not all overseas banks are recognised by the contactless system used by Oyster so an Oyster card may be preferable to visitors.
I stay in Scotland and visit London at least once a year. I got an Oyster card in 2013 and still top it up each year when I’m down visiting, still works perfectly.
If you use a debt card from outside the UK you will get exchange charges on each transaction. This gentleman has lots of clips about different areas in London. The reason you tap in and out is you are charged by the length of the journey. But the is a cap on the price per day. There is also a light rail tram which was not showed in this clip.
As he said at the start. Having an oyster card prevents u from getti g foreign bank charges every time you use it. Also as a brit that used to make regular visits to London I found the oyster card quite useful I would top it up at the start of each month an not have to think about transport cost for the rest of the month
Yes, London's public transportation is simply awesome. You don't need to return your Oyster Card, I've had the same one for four years now and have used it for three visits already. And I'm returning in a few months and the first thing I'll do when I leave Heathrow for my hotel will be to put 20 GBP on my card and hop on the tube right there. For someone who doesnt live in the UK, it's more practical, since you won't get any bank foreign fees (you might get them on a US bank card) plus you'll have a daily cap no matter how many basic trips you make. And yes, you're right, the vintage bus 15H service didn't have many customers and went away with the pandemic, but now there is a new one also with Routemasters between Waterloo Station and Piccadilly Circus (Route A), hopefully it will be more popular because those old open platform buses are really fun. Hope you can get there one day soon! Oh, almost forgot, the boat is not to cross the Thames but to take tours or trips along it. I did it once to visit the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, just took the boat near Westminster Bridge (where Big Ben is). Nice trip.
In Liverpool we have thw "Walrus Card" (as in I am the walrus ...) which can be used in a similar manner.
In Japan the have the Suica and Pasmo cards which actually also work in restaurants and other places.
The Oyster card is useful if you dont have a bank card that works in the uk,
Depending how much time you have and how far you want to go public transport maybe faster and easier than walking.
In Singapore, we have a similar thing we call Ez-link. You can use it on all forms of public transport including taxis! Additionally, you could use it to pay at supported retail shops (eg 7-11) as well. Ez-link can even be used to pay wirelessly for tolls and parking via an in-car unit that is mandatory for all Singapore-registered cars. Apart from topping it up at a machine, you could also top up using your phone through its app, enable auto-reload and check your transaction history. If you don't want to use an ezlink, all public transport accept contactless payments as well!!!
My friend catches the boat to get to work and back each day. It’s relaxing and efficient.
Same thing in Canada on escalators (and on sidewalks etc). Pedestrians basically follow the same rules of road as cars do: slow, stay right; pass on left. We don't need signage for it though, we just do it.
Once you've paid for your Oystercard, all bus, train and tube travel is free within the pay zones you've chosen to have, as are the Thames ferries - although, they charge you a bit more. The Emirates Airline - which is a White Elephant basically, gives a discount, it is about £4 per single journey I think. There are various coach, bus and rail rover and ranger tickets covering other areas of the UK too, sometimes with travel prohibited before 0930 - but as a foreign visitor you can buy BritRail passes through your travel agency for less money than you might pay for them here. These are usually valid for unlimited travel on all National Rail routes, but you'd need to pay a supplement if you wanted a bed on a sleeper train between London and Scotland, or Cornwall. They're also not valid on tours, such as city bus tours, steam-hauled charter trains including the Jacobite (Harry Potter) service between Fort William and Mallaig in Scotland, nor most Preserved Railways - though they may attract a discount on those, privately-operated services.
Why not do some reaction videos to some of the many other transport-related videos on UA-cam? Try searching for "Highland Mainline," "Caledonian Sleeper," "The Jacobite Steam Train," "Hogwart's Express train," "Cornish Riviera," "Aberdeen to Penzance" (which is the longest single train journey in the UK at present), etc. ?
The oyster card gets its name from the saying "the world is your oyster"
The exact pricing varies with mode of travel, (busses are fixed fare everything else is zonal) and number of zones used... But will never cost more than a day travel card for the zones you have used
There are some oddities on the rail network as there may be a cheaper slower option that avoids zone 1 (the inner city) where there are special purple oyster readers you have to touch when changing train to prove you went the long way round
As for the buses the ones you commented on are really old and are only used today on the 1 route specified which just happens to link up many of the main tourist attractions.... All the rest use modern buses (still mostly double decker)
Few reason to use Oyster Card
* Need a travelcard for a month, or a year
* Railcard discounts
* As a backup (just in case your bank card failed)
There’s even more forms of public transport in London covered by oystercard such as the Overground, and the DLR (Docklands Light Rail) which is fully automated i.e. no driver
Also the cable car.
@@jaxcoss5790 He did mention the cable car in the video.
@@jaxcoss5790 the cable car was already mentioned
As a local you want a Oyster card as well. Those seem minimal fees when you use you card but it does add up.
Transport in London is great! You keep your Oyster card and top up whenever you need also in many convenient stores. Students (school children) gets one with a photo and use public transport for free.
When you use Oyster or a Contactless Debit/Credit Card multiple time during the day , the best fare is calculated up to a maximum (capped) amount for the day, and if you use the card for three days in a week, the weekly cap is applied.Your account is debited once at the end of the day.
Oyster cards are handy for anyone how doesn’t have a contactless card. If you have a foreign debit or credit contactless card, using an Oyster card may be preferable as you load up credit when you think it best.
Something the video didnt cover, which does catch people out, is that you can get on normal trains using an Oyster or debit card, but you cannot use that form of payment if your train journey takes you outside the London zones.
There is a travel Zone map across London. Central London is Zone 1, just outside that is Zone 2, and so on until the very outskirts of London, which is Zone 6. The Zone map isnt an exact science and it even includes stations that are not technically London at all, but have been included as part of its primary communter belt. There are maps on line, as well as at stations within the Zone boundaries, that will tell you which station is in which Zone. That should help you to see if the station you are travelling to is inside or outside the Zones, and which Zones you will need to travel into. The cost of travel depends on which zones you are travelling through. Oyster/debit tap in & out, only covers those stations in the Zone map.
As an example of where is this a problem is South Western Railway terminates at London Waterloo and stops at a number of stations within the 'London Zones', before going on to stations that are well outside the London boundary. You could board at Waterloo and use your Oyster to get the train to Wimbledon (a station within the London boundary) and be fine, but then take the exactly the same train the next day but instead of getting off at Wimbledon, you wait a few more stops until Epsom, only to find that Epsom it outside the boundary, the Oyster card is not accepted, and you are without a valid train ticket. Often they will announce on the train that 'your oyster card is not valid beyond the next stop', but the announcements are not always clear, and it means you have to get off the train to tap out with your oyster card, purchase a paper ticket, and then wait for the next train, when you could have saved yourself time, money & hassle if you had realised the oyster wasnt going to be valid and purchased a paper ticket before you started your journey. This is just one example of 1 station on 1 line. There are mutiple train lines that will stop at stations both inside and outside London on the same route, and it is for the commuter to establish whether they need a paper ticket or are able to use Oyster/Contactless for their entire journey
the boat thing, in my experience it’s usually for tourists to see all the touristy things along the thames (like the houses of parliament) but can also be used if some necessary public transport isn’t working between two places and the boat is easily accessible. for example, if you wanted to go from charing cross to london bridge (or the other way around) and there’s maintenance work or something along those tracks, you could get on the boat and travel across the river. or it could purely be for a more scenic journey
Every year bar Covid years ,I go on a Boat Trip or 3 along the Thames from Greenwich to Westminster which is 3 hour's return and only £9 for an O A P. concession.
It's more if you carry on to Kew Gardens.
AVOID the Commuter Boats that stop 7 or 8 times b4 Westminster. The City Cruises Tourist Ones only stop at Tower Bridge.:)
A boat is the fastest way to get from one place to another down/up river when you add the time it takes to walk to a bus or tube station and wait for the bus or train ... and possibly have to switch transport and wait again.
The oyster gives you a record for travel for work expenses.
You can keep the card for the next visit as well.
You can buy a weekly or monthly unlimited travel on the oyster as well.
FYI, you would use an Oyster instead of your Debit Card particularly if you're buying weekly, monthly or annual package, in which case its advisable to register it so you can block it or replace it if lost. You can do pay as you go of course but its unnecessary on a daily basis unless you'd like to get a receipt for your travel. The £5 deposit has been scrapped in favour of adding it as credit to the card. You also have to tap IN/OUT because the card is always calculating your journey and if you don't, it will assume to charge you the maximum usage. Tip: do not keep your Oyster in the same card holder as your Debit card or the wrong card can be scanned.
Get the weekly pass if youre there longer..
you pay once and its UNLIMITED rides!
Also.. no conversion fees with the Oyster card, otherwise you pay the conversion currency fee EVERY TIME!
12:30 the boats are pretty decent, and can be used to practically get about, but a lot of the time you will find that taking the Tube (or Overground, or DLR, or some national rail services) will be faster in some journeys. Google Maps will generally give the best info on the quickest public transport ways to get around.
In London I get a card that I can use on ,the tube ,busesas often as I like,as a senior citizen for free.It is easy to find your way around London on the tube,just get one of those little maps that are for the tube,each line is a different colour,and shows quite clearly where you can change onto a different line
You can keep the oyster card and top it up as and when you need to do that, if you are coming to London on a regular basis, your. Oyster card can be used when you come back, you can use it on the bus, tube, overground train and trams 24 hours a day.
It's nice to go on a boat for a trip on the river Thames. Loads of great sights to see in a relaxing way.
The boats (Thames Clippers) are water buses and look calm in the videos, but they have massive twin water jet engines …… they really shift once they get out past Tower Bridge.
The Oyster card system also works on mainline trains out to the border of London. It’s how most of us commute into central London.
I used to commute on what used to be the Thames Clipper from Greenwich to the West End / Embankment. The Thames is a nice clear “road” through London, but more expensive than tube, DLR and overground. There are routes from beyond Woolwich in the east and Putney in the west, but don’t take my word for it!! Check TFL
£1.50 everytime you tap for the bus (the bus doesn't require you to tap the card on your way off the bus, only on the way in). £3 for the tube or train (this is one complete journey in and out) but if you hit a certain price, it will cap meaning it will not charge you any more money for that day and the card is called oyster card, based on the phrase "the world is your oyster"
You can use oysters on bus, Tube, tram, DLR, London Overground, most of the Elizabeth line, Cable Car, National Railway services (in curtain areas) and Thames Clippers River Bus services.
What does the world is your oyster really mean?
In English, “the world is your oyster” means that you can do anything you wish or go anywhere you want in your life because you have the ability to do so. I image that's why it's an oyster card.
As opposed to a prairie oyster (sometimes also prairie cocktail) which is a traditional beverage consisting of a raw egg (often yolk alone), Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and/or hot sauce, table salt, and ground black pepper. Tomato juice is sometimes added, reminiscent of a Bloody Mary.
The egg is broken into a glass so as not to break the yolk. The mixture is quickly swallowed. The unbroken yolk causes the drink to bear a texture similar to that of an oyster. The concoction has been referred to as a traditional cure for hangovers, and has appeared in media for decades.
We didn’t use to have contactless credit/ debit card use on the tapping things- back then oysters were needed unless you paid in cash. Now most people use their contactless card- but if you’re a tourist you should get a oyster to avoid as many changes between foreign banks and uk banks, probably get out cash and don’t use the conversion the uk bank offers and top up your Oyster card by going to a corner shop/ top up at a station.
You can order an oyster with money already on it and get it sent to your home in America so that when you arrive at Heathrow you already have the card ready to use
The airline cable car thing is the Emirates Air Line. It is a cable car between two points in the London Docklands, which would be inaccessible to each other otherwise. Emirates is an actual airline, who happen to sponsor it.
I think the card name comes from the expression 'The World is your Oyster' applied for travelling anywhere in London easily.
I live in Québec Canada and we have a card just like the oyster card but ours is called Opus
2:58 My understanding is that it's called an Oyster card from the phrase "the world is your oyster", that is, the Oyster card allows the "world" (in this case, London) become your oyster
The boats are probably the best way of getting from a place like Westminster or somewhere further East to more out of the ways like Battersea. Plus you get really good views!
9:35 yes, the charge is £1.65 for a single use of the bus, and every subsequent bus journey made within the next hour are free. The same holds true for tram journeys, but if you get on a bus and then half an hour later get on a tram, you will pay £1.65 for the bus and then £1.65 for the tram.
That video man is an entertainer, he boarded a heritage Routemaster bus, designed in the 1950s crew operated, they are not in public service, a limited privately run single route sometimes runs, but the fare paid separately.
They used to be in public service back then on heritage route 15 all he had to do was used his Oyster card with a device held by the conductor called a movie device
@@ReclaimOurFreedom A clickbait monetised reaction channel, I don’t bother with it anymore.
2:30 hilarious 😂 ‘which is perfect’
9:50 yes, Oyster cards can also be used on riverboat services (fares are posted at each pier), national rail services within London, the DLR, Overground, and the cable cars. All fares are posted online and at many of the major stations within central London
In Melbourne Australia we have a Myki card that can be topped up in convenience shops and as well as train stations
It is used on trains buses and trams
Kids don’t have credit cards, some of them use Oyster cards to get to school.
zones are the area of the city. idk if it's the same all over europe, but zone 1 is the center, zone 2 is the areas in between the center and the outskirts and zone 3 is the outskirts of the city. the more zones you got the more you pay, so travelling in zone 1 is the lowest price because you're only travelling inside the zone, travelling in zone 1 and 2 is a bit more expensive because you're covering a bigger area of the city, and zone 3 gives you full access to all the zones so you'll pay more.
it's basically to determine how much you gotta pay in terms of distance you travel. my city is small, so it only has 3 zones, a bigger city might need more zones to be able to cover all different zones without making them massive. and the further you are from the city center(zone 1) the more you pay for transportation
You don't swipe out on the buses but must for everything else. And the boats are great - especially for pub crawling on different sides of the river....
You can give an Oyster card to your children if needed or if you are an visitor and there are fees associated with using your card abroad.