MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

[RandomWalk]

Some scuttlebutt on RR.net that Silver Hill station is coming back online during the next schedule revision.

I always understood that the station had some powerful patrons, which enabled it to survive the dark times of the postwar era.

 

[themissinglink]

MBTA estimates 25% of south-side commuter rail fares not being collected

“That’s a lot – 25 percent,” Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said. “That’s a really big loss of revenue.”

commonwealthbeacon.org

 

[ritchiew]

MBTA estimates 25% of south-side commuter rail fares not being collected

“That’s a lot – 25 percent,” Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said. “That’s a really big loss of revenue.”

commonwealthbeacon.org

I was just wondering about this on the Fairmount Line. I don't ride that often, but you're supposed to be able to use a CharlieCard and I've never once seen one of those validation machines working. I rode the other day and told the conductor the validation machine was broken. He said "Yeah," walked away, and I never saw him again.

Is that still supposed to work? Or they gave up on that integration? Or just no one cares about the Fairmount Line?

 

[737900er]

I was just wondering about this on the Fairmount Line. I don't ride that often, but you're supposed to be able to use a CharlieCard and I've never once seen one of those validation machines working. I rode the other day and told the conductor the validation machine was broken. He said "Yeah," walked away, and I never saw him again.

Is that still supposed to work? Or they gave up on that integration? Or just no one cares about the Fairmount Line?

Not collecting fares on Fairmount when the validators are broken is reasonable. How many people are riding this line that aren't connecting to another service and don't have a pass?
On inbound trips, in theory you're supposed to be able to show the receipt from paying on board to an Ambassador to gain free entrance to rapid transit but they don't understand the nuance of the fare policies in the first place. Even more insane is expecting someone starting on the Fairmount line to explain to a bus driver why they don't have to pay (especially say Fellsway or Lynn). How are you supposed to pay the difference in fare to board a 50x bus downtown?
On outbound trips the conductors can't read CharlieCards or tapped credit cards to see who has already paid. The validators can't even read tapped credit cards in the first place.
I really hope there is finally a push to a unified fare structure because the current system is totally nuts.

 

[themissinglink]

MBTA estimates 25% of south-side commuter rail fares not being collected

“That’s a lot – 25 percent,” Transportation Secretary Monica Tibbits-Nutt said. “That’s a really big loss of revenue.”

commonwealthbeacon.org

MBTA backs away from commuter rail fare loss estimate

The MBTA is backing away from a statement made last Thursday by the agency’s senior manager of fare policy and analysis, who estimated 25 percent of fares on the south side of the commuter rail system are not being collected.

commonwealthbeacon.org

 

[nortor]

At Thursday’s board meeting, Eng said the new “fare engagement representatives” are performing mostly an educational role now, but T officials have noticed fare collections have increased about 35 percent when the representatives are at above-ground Green Line stations.

From the Commonwealth article — this is a really high number especially considering some people may still not be paying. Hopefully continued presence of these employees (article said 16 were hired) leads to a decrease in evasion even when they’re not around.

 

[bakgwailo]

From the Commonwealth article — this is a really high number especially considering some people may still not be paying. Hopefully continued presence of these employees (article said 16 were hired) leads to a decrease in evasion even when they’re not around.

I'd be interested in how much the new headcount costs vs the amount of revenue actually recovered.

 

[Riverside]

The FLIRTs [...] and the WINKs

That's hilarious.

 

[TheRatmeister]

I'd be interested in how much the new headcount costs vs the amount of revenue actually recovered.

On some other thread I did the math and with each person receiving a 100k per year salary you basically need to convince like 1/3 of non-monthly pass riders just on GLX to pay. It's almost certainly worth it.