On the evening of 9 June 2005, about 30 SCGB members and their guests filled the boardroom at the Transport for London (TFL) headquarters at Victoria Street to hear a talk on the Oyster Card programme. Charles Monheim, a director with Transport for London, graciously served as host for the event and was also the speaker for the evening. After some refreshments, Mr. Monheim proceeded to share with us highlights from an official presentation that had been made to journalists to launch the next phase of the Oyster card programme. He conveyed the success of the Oyster card thus far in becoming the method of choice for season ticket passengers on buses and tubes. Furthermore TFL has larger plans for the Oyster card, specifically to transition it into a cashless electronic payments card for small purchases i.e. for purchases under £5. There were numerous questions fielded from the audience and as Charles answered each of them, what became obvious were the numerous payment possibilities that could be facilitated with the Oyster card. The card has the potential to transform our lives as residents in London. In summary, this was a truly insightful talk on a simple card that we currently take for granted but in the near future will have a large impact on our method of payment. We wish Charles and the TFL team behind the Oyster Card programme the very best in achieving their plans.
Kevin How
Event review contributed by Event Committee.