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:
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.
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:
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.
