art not ads

The London Underground uses Oyster cards instead of paper tickets. There are many benefits to Oyster, they can all be read on the London Underground and Oyster websites.
There are also a few problems. For example, the Oyster database contains hugely valuable information, most likely including the age, gender, social status and travel habits of Oyster card users (a lot of this coming from correlating Oyster card usage with credit or debit card payments). Unfortunately the London Underground service coerces people into purchasing and registering Oyster cards, by raising the price of paper tickets and keeping Oyster prices relatively low. Paper monthly travel cards can no longer be purchased, and Oyster season tickets require registration. So it’s doubtful that the caring, sharing LU and Oyster executives sat around the boardroom wondering “How can we best serve the people of London?” You can picture the guffawing and the mopping of tears from mirthful eyes. No, far more likely, they pondered “This database was commissioned in order to generate profit; how can we maximise that profit?”

Is the Tube really run for profit, instead of for the benefit of the paying public??? Surely not! Well, yes of course it is. But is that a bad thing? Surely there’s nothing wrong with making profit? Hmm, maybe not. But maybe there’s a problem with a profiteering monopoly that forces its captive audience to provide valuable information in order to generate yet more revenue? That seems remarkably close to exploitation.

Incidentally, if you want some idea of the sort of cash that’s injected into the Tube, let’s look at the sorry facts. In July 2003, responsibility for running the London Underground was passed from the Government to the Mayor of London. The Government had already put in place a Public/Private Partnership, and this remained intact after the transfer. The Government will provide TfL and the Mayor UK£1billion per year, until 2010. That’s an awful lot of money, but the Tube gobbles it up quickly. Mayor Ken Livingston has been sceptical about the PPP, and in April 2005 his Tube advisor Bob Kiley described its performance as “bordering on disaster”. The program of work continues to be way behind schedule despite making millions in profit for the private firms involved.

The horrible truth about Oyster is that it isn’t even fully functional. Many stations, particularly overground stations, don’t have the Oyster card facilities necessary to register a customer’s passing. Changing or boarding at these stations can lead to the dreaded “incomplete journey” which of course carries a penalty fare, instantly deducted from funds registered on the card. “Ah,” say the Oyster defenders, “but this is just an inconvenient side-effect of a system that is used to trap fare-dodgers. It will save us all money in the long-run by preventing crime!” Really? I’d like to see the figures that categorically support that. And the problem with this sort of attitude is that it’s one-sided. Prevention of fare-dodging is only one requirement; surely it’s just as important that any ticketing system doesn’t penalise legitimate users? Imagine going to a theme-park or concert and being charged £4 more for going through one entrance rather than another, indistinguishable entrance. “Ah,” say the bouncers, “it’s just an inconvenient side-effect of a system designed to stop ticket-touts. Now pay up or get out, you filthy proto-criminal.”

I personally experienced a nasty side-effect of the system recently. Specifically, some Oyster card readers can be “turned up” so they read the cards at an increased distance. This was confirmed to me by station staff. It was the only explanation they could come up with for why I was unwittingly being charged a penalty fare every day while using paper tickets, while my Oyster card remained in my pocket. I lost quite a lot of money before I realised. Nice one. Wish me luck claiming that back. (In case you wish to recreate the problem, I’ve noticed it has since stopped. The journey was: enter Chalk Farm using Oyster pre-pay. Exit Euston. Walk to train platform, purchase paper return ticket to Wembley Central. Pass through barrier using paper ticket [barrier also has Oyster reader]. Take train to Wembley Central, exit using paper ticket. Reverse journey in the evening.)
So. What does this have to do with Art Not Ads? Very simple. The Oyster database collects hugely powerful information that can be used to make decisions about which ads are placed on which platforms. Maybe that’s no bad thing, it’s your call. Personally I don’t want to provide the sort of people described here with any more information that will help them wring more cash out of the public while they fail to provide the service required.

What can be done? Here’s where there’s a small, interesting loop-hole. In Euston underground station, there is an Oyster card vending machine which sells the cards for £3. It’s a mechanical vending machine that takes coins, not cards. I have recently discovered that the cards are “registered”, although they of course contain no personal information about you, the proud new owner. This means you can purchase one and “load” it with pre-pay and season tickets, and the Oyster database will not be able to collect any useful information about you: no name (from which software can guess gender and age), no association with credit/debit card details (name, possibly marriage status, credit card reference for credit checking and estimation of social status) - in short, no information that LU has been forcing its customers to provide. Provided you always pay in cash, the card is completely anonymous.

What a lovely gift.

Of course there are problems. If you lose the card, you lose the cash. Plus you don’t get the convenience of paying with plastic. But with convenience comes complacency, and that’s a slippery slope.