General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

I'm not sure if this is old news or not, but it looks like the MBTA is finally working something out with CharlieCards and the commuter rail.

I used the exit from State Street Station from the Bowdoin-bound platform about a week ago and spotted this posting on the wall next to the elevator:

tNekDia.jpg


It looks like they'll be trialing a monthly disposable CharlieCard preloaded with a monthly subway pass and a commuter rail zone pass printed on one side.

If successful, this could finally bring the benefit of tap-and-go fare validation on the subway and buses to all of the MBTA's monthly pass types. It could also finally solve the absurdly too-frequent problem of magnetic strip failure on the CharlieTicket monthlies.

Since the passes have to be disposable, the MBTA should consider using paper RFID tickets so as not to waste the plastic CharlieCards. In fact, they should consider eliminating the stripe-based tickets altogether. They'd work great for tourists and occasional users, and dropping the need to maintain the mechanical readers on faregates should cover or at least offset the higher cost of ticket-stock. The last time I was in Montreal, my 3-day pass (l'occasionnelle) was RFID, presumably for these reasons.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

^ My heart be still! Great catch!

Also, what a weird place for the notice. I haven't noticed them anywhere else on the system.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

^ My heart be still! Great catch!

Also, what a weird place for the notice. I haven't noticed them anywhere else on the system.

It looks like it's targeted internally, so I'm not sure what it was doing in a passenger area at all.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Meh, still wouldn't help with my zone 1A charlie card.

Although, I cancelled that. So yeah, I guess that's been resolved... sigh.

Great to wean them off Charlie Tickets, but still not allowing more flexible use of the commuter rail.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

It's preposterous that the Zone 1A pass and the LinkPass are separate products. They simply shouldn't be able to sell a subway/bus pass that is unusable on rail in the 1A zone -- it's tantamount to consumer theft. If we could get that particular absurdity resolved in 2015, with full Green Line tracking to boot, it would be a pretty good year for common sense.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

It's preposterous that the Zone 1A pass and the LinkPass are separate products. They simply shouldn't be able to sell a subway/bus pass that is unusable on rail in the 1A zone -- it's tantamount to consumer theft. If we could get that particular absurdity resolved in 2015...

Don't worry, that's coming in Summer 2007.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

I get my Zone 8 Pass through work so getting this email was a pleasant surprise. My hope is that this is the first step is fully modernizing the commuter rail ticket system.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

I received one of the new plastic commuter rail CharlieCards for January and am looking forward to trying it out. I loved it back in September when the T's ticketing vendor screwed up all those passes and I got to use a CharlieCard again for the month. It made me feel young and invincible, like I did when I was young. And invincible.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

I received one of the new plastic commuter rail CharlieCards for January and am looking forward to trying it out. I loved it back in September when the T's ticketing vendor screwed up all those passes and I got to use a CharlieCard again for the month. It made me feel young and invincible, like I did when I was young. And invincible.

Is it the thickness of a normal CharlieCard or something between a paper ticket and the card?
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Is it the thickness of a normal CharlieCard or something between a paper ticket and the card?

They're printed on the same plastic stock as normal CharlieCards.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

They might announce higher fares for post 12:30 service, but I would be very surprised if they announce that it's going to end.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

They might announce higher fares for post 12:30 service, but I would be very surprised if they announce that it's going to end.

I hope you're right. I always felt that it was perfectly reasonable to double the fair after 11pm (maybe workers could get special passes, but drinkers would pay full fare).
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

I hope you're right. I always felt that it was perfectly reasonable to double the fair after 11pm (maybe workers could get special passes, but drinkers would pay full fare).
While not quite as surgical as that, simply keeping Pass rides free (included in passes that workers tend to buy--or would be encouraged to), and doubling ticket and stored value fares would get you most of the "progressive" effects you are trying to achieve
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Based on the early ridership numbers the heaviest usage came (not surprisingly) on the Green & Red. I wouldn't be surprised if they focused the service on these lines along with their key bus routes and pared back the Orange/Blue service.

A price bump up seems logical if they can figure out the logistics with the machines but I think they have a long way to go to get close to a decent fare recovery number.

Any credence to funding from liquor licenses within a half mile of a T station as well? I'd be curious to see if anyone is looking at increased business at bars as a result of the service changes.
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

Based on the early ridership numbers the heaviest usage came (not surprisingly) on the Green & Red. I wouldn't be surprised if they focused the service on these lines along with their key bus routes and pared back the Orange/Blue service.

A price bump up seems logical if they can figure out the logistics with the machines but I think they have a long way to go to get close to a decent fare recovery number.

Any credence to funding from liquor licenses within a half mile of a T station as well? I'd be curious to see if anyone is looking at increased business at bars as a result of the service changes.

Willing to bet Uber and Lyft have more impact than all of the T service after midnight
 
Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos

The T is preemptively warning commuters about delays and degraded headways due to equipment-killing cold this week: http://www.universalhub.com/2015/advance-arctic-cold-mbta-pre-announces-delays

The main event will be Thursday, where it's the MBTA vs a -32 F (wind-chilled) temperature. FWIW it has started already, there were disabled trains all over this morning. I personally had a 45 minute red line commute from Davis to Kendall today due to a dead red line this morning.
 

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