Buying Leap Cards in a shop

Hollister11

Can you buy leap cards in a shop and how much are they ?
Also where do you scan them in a train station

yes there

Buy them online and top them up online is the easiest way. Touch them of dedicated points in the same way as an oyster card.

You.can use them in cork now aswell.

Victor

Hollister11 wrote: »

Can you buy leap cards in a shop and how much are they ?
Also where do you scan them in a train station

You must pay a €5 usable, refundable deposit. You can eat into the deposit, but you must have a positive credit balance before you start your journey. If you want to get rid of the card, you get your €5 (or whatever amount is left) back.

You must also top-up by a minimum of €10 when you buy the card. After that, it is a minimum €5 top-up.

At train stations you tag-on/off at the ticket gates at the Leap card symbol - hold the card there - don't swipe. Where there is no ticket gate, use the standalone validator.

Tag-on/off for Irish Rail and Luas. Tag-on only for Dublin Bus. Read up on www.leapcard.ie

Child and student Leap Cards available.

Beano

why not just tag on and tag off on dublin bus? No need to go near the driver at all then.

TheBandicoot

There is no provision for tagging off on the bus. The right hand validator just deducts a max fare each time you tag on.

I think in other countries bus fares are flat so no need to tag off to calculate a distance band, or they have dedicated exit doors with tag off points- we have neither.

n97 mini

TheBandicoot wrote: »

I think in other countries bus fares are flat so no need to tag off to calculate a distance band, or they have dedicated exit doors with tag off points- we have neither.

London £1.45 flat fare, £4.40 daily cap. Brilliant system.

LXFlyer

n97 mini wrote: »

London £1.45 flat fare, £4.40 daily cap. Brilliant system.

Indeed and you have a congestion charge that is funding that.

L1011

lxflyer wrote: »

Indeed and you have a congestion charge that is funding that.

And far higher usage, in part due to knowing that its not going to potentially cost you an absolute packet.

All fare measures must be looked at in at least a medium-term view rather than the initial panic of "oh no, the farebox is down". The utterly random fares imagined by drivers that can't understand the stage fare system coupled with no transfer fares drives people away from using buses here.

LXFlyer

MYOB wrote: »

And far higher usage, in part due to knowing that its not going to potentially cost you an absolute packet.

All fare measures must be looked at in at least a medium-term view rather than the initial panic of "oh no, the farebox is down". The utterly random fares imagined by drivers that can't understand the stage fare system coupled with no transfer fares drives people away from using buses here.

Well I think with the financial position that Dublin Bus are in, you have to look at the financial consequences of any change - I don't think that sort of switch could happen currently unless some additional support was sourced.

That's why, for example, Irish Rail's Dublin area fare anomalies are being recast by the NTA over several years, to avoid a major distortion in farebox revenue.

Like it or not funding is a huge issue and a switch to flat fares would need other measures to ensure the company stays financially viable.

I can certainly see a switch to zonal fares as being an option, but whether a flat fare is viable in Dublin given the sheer length of many bus routes is a tough call.

AlekSmart

n97 mini wrote: »

London £1.45 flat fare, £4.40 daily cap. Brilliant system.

And don't forget the local Taxation element....

It is also worth noting that London Buses are costing an absolute fortune to run,with Central Government constantly seeking an out.....

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CCEQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gfirstlep.com%2Fdoc_get.aspx%3FDocID%3D54&ei=ghYUVNGXMuLE7Ab3soCoCA&usg=AFQjCNFigmve36obA5ZjazlWABERTomrOw&bvm=bv.75097201,d.ZGU

Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) can support the provision of bus services which no commercial operator is
operating. These services include off‐peak, rural and housing estate services. Around 21% of total bus miles are
supported in this way at a cost of £475 million a year.

BTW a Bus Only London Cap of c.€5.50 actually compares well with our €6.90....?

Victor

AlekSmart wrote: »

It is also worth noting that London Buses are costing an absolute fortune to run,with Central Government constantly seeking an out.....

Does Central Government contribute to London buses? You missed this part of the quote "In England outside London public support for bus services comes in six main forms."

BTW a Bus Only London Cap of c.€5.50

Does that include express services and the likes of Balbriggan-Ballymore Eustace?

LXFlyer

Victor wrote: »

Does Central Government contribute to London buses? You missed this part of the quote "In England outside London public support for bus services comes in six main forms."

Does that include express services and the likes of Balbriggan-Ballymore Eustace?

There are only a handful of express buses operated under tender from TfL (and covered by Oyster) such as the X26 from Heathrow to Croydon.

Similarly, excepting Night Buses, bus routes would tend not to be as long as those in Dublin, and often don't operate directly along main corridors - that is left to the tube and rail systems. The bus routes often tend to feed into the tube/rail networks.


Having said that, for £4.40 you can travel on the entire London bus network all day without restriction. That extends from Brentwood in the east, Redhill in the south, Slough in the west and to Potter's Bar in the north.


However, you would have to (in general) take 4-6 buses to make a trip from any of those extremes to another. In Dublin you can virtually reach anywhere using two buses.

AlekSmart

lxflyer wrote: »

There are only a handful of express buses operated under tender from TfL (and covered by Oyster) such as the X26 from Heathrow to Croydon.

Similarly, excepting Night Buses, bus routes would tend not to be as long as those in Dublin, and often don't operate directly along main corridors - that is left to the tube and rail systems. The bus routes often tend to feed into the tube/rail networks.


Having said that, for £4.40 you can travel on the entire London bus network all day without restriction. That extends from Brentwood in the east, Redhill in the south, Slough in the west and to Potter's Bar in the north.


However, you would have to (in general) take 4-6 buses to make a trip from any of those extremes to another. In Dublin you can virtually reach anywhere using two buses.

It all only goes to show the futility of attempting comparisons between London and Dublin....or indeed London and ANYWHERE else....:D

Tfl's world is so very unique,that I shudder when I read of the NTA waxing lyrical about it's adoption of the "London Model" in it's presentations to The LRC recently.

Gerry Murphy and his crew know damn well (and if they don't,they SHOULD),that their 10% tendering proposal involve a single element of the "London Model",which works for London only in conjunction with ALL of the other elements.

I would heartily welcome the adoption of "The London Model",IN ITS ENTIRETY......but our Irish Solution to an Irish Problem appears to be picking bits off willy-nilly and seeing how it looks.....:o

The Oyster vs Leapcard scenario underlines just how our two thought processes differ at the most basic level !