来源：《卫报》
原文刊登日期：2022年6月23日
It was reported that the rail industry is planning to phase out paper train tickets and shut almost 1,000 station ticket offices in England. The government says nothing has been decided. But the transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has made no secret of his desire to see savings delivered in this way; some stations, Mr Shapps likes to point out, sell only a handful of tickets each week and the vast majority of transactions have moved online.
据报道，铁路行业正计划逐步淘汰纸质火车票，并关闭英国近1000家车站售票处。政府表示尚未做出任何决定。但交通部长格兰特·沙普斯毫不掩饰他希望通过这种方式节省开支；沙普斯先生喜欢指出，有些车站每周只卖出几张票，绝大多数交易都转移到了网上。
The direction of travel is clear. In the name of modernisation and cost-cutting, station ticket offices are likely to follow many high street bank branches and rural post offices into the vaults of memory. For those who have grown used to the advantages of organising travel via a smartphone, there will be little to mourn. But for people without online access or skills – who tend to be older, poorer and more vulnerable – another small social barrier will have been erected.
前进的方向是明确的。在现代化和削减成本的名义下，车站售票处可能会像许多商业街银行分支机构和农村邮局一样，进入人们的记忆。对于那些已经习惯了用智能手机安排旅行的人来说，这没什么好伤心的。但对于那些无法上网或没有上网技能的人——他们往往年纪更大、更贫穷、更脆弱——另一个小小的社会障碍将被树立起来。
More and more key services are now delivered digitally. Local councils, cash-strapped and in search of efficiency savings, are moving inexorably online in the way they do business. BT plans to phase out traditional landlines by 2025. As this revolution takes place, unjustified assumptions are being made about the ability of some users to cope. In the case of health and social care, it will often be those most in need of assistance who are least able to navigate a digital route to accessing it. A recent Ofcom report estimated that around 6% of households – 1.5m homes – have no internet access. As digital technology becomes the gatekeeper to swathes of everyday life, a significant minority risks exclusion and isolation.
现在，越来越多的关键服务是数字化提供的。地方政府在资金短缺的情况下，为了节省资金，正在无情地将他们的工作方式转移到网上。英国电信计划在2025年前逐步淘汰传统的固定电话。随着这场革命的发生，人们对一些用户的应对能力做出了不合理的假设。就卫生和社会护理而言，最需要援助的往往是那些最无法通过数字途径获得援助的人。英国通信管理局最近的一份报告估计，约6%的家庭(150万户家庭)没有互联网接入。随着数字技术成为日常生活方方面面的看门人，一个为数不少的少数群体面临着被排斥和孤立的风险。
The inexorable shift online is inevitable, but its fallout needs to be managed with more care. Technology should not be allowed to drive people to the side of their own lives, as anecdotal evidence suggests is increasingly the case. Ros Altmann, the former pensions minister, recently wrote of being contacted by an elderly woman who no longer drives to her local park, because she cannot download the car parking app required. As the sheer range and complexity of digital requirements expands, the desperate recruitment of middle-aged sons and daughters as unpaid consultants has become a phenomenon of our times.
不可阻挡的互联网化是不可避免的，但其后果需要更加谨慎地处理。不应该让技术把人们逼到自己生活的一边，坊间证据表明，这种情况越来越多。前养老金部长罗斯•奥尔特曼最近写道，一位老妇人联系了她，她不再开车去当地的停车场，因为她无法下载所需的停车应用程序。随着数字需求的范围和复杂性不断扩大，拼命招募中年子女担任无薪顾问已成为我们这个时代的一种现象。
The debate over ticket offices offers an opportunity to reflect more broadly on the increasing role of technology in our social landscape. Clearly, much more needs to be invested in helping marginalised groups gain easy online access. But a diversity of provision also needs to be protected. Some people will never become comfortable using smartphones or tablets to get vital tasks done. Alternative and viable offline options must be maintained for important services. Contactable telephone numbers and staffed public access points should always be available. This will cost more. But that is the price of being fair to those who find themselves on the wrong side of the digital divide.
关于售票处存去的争论提供了一个机会，让我们更广泛地反思技术在我们的社会格局中日益重要的作用。显然，需要投入更多资金，帮助边缘化群体更容易地上网。但是，多样化的服务提供也需要得到保护。有些人永远无法适应使用智能手机或平板电脑来完成重要任务。重要的服务必须保持可选和可行的线下选择。应始终提供可联系的电话号码和配备人员的公共接入点。这会花费更多钱。但这就是对那些发现自己站在数字鸿沟错误一边的人公平的代价。