Charlie Card system-wide shortage?

[taipeitigers.livejournal.com]

I was trying to get a blank Charlie Card at the Davis Square Station today.  I was told there was a "system-wide" shortage so there was none at the MBTA booth.  I had to settle for the more expensive Charlie ticket.

Did anyone else hear about the "system-wide" shortage problem?

Comments

[gentlescholar.livejournal.com]

I was told this a couple of weeks ago and was told that they would have a new supply "in a couple of weeks" according to a T employee at Harvard Station.

[aroraborealis.livejournal.com]

We use a similar card for access cards at my workplace, and we are also experiencing a supply shortage. Could be related?

[mimiambic.livejournal.com]

If only they weren't designed to "expire" if you don't use them for a while! I keep an extra on hand for visiting guests, and was disgruntled to discover that it expired -- with funds in it too.

(According to the MBTA website, I could send/bring it in and get the cash refunded to me. No clue about getting to reuse the card too though.)

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

I have heard something about this expiration before, but have not figured out whether there is ANY way to tell whether a card is going to expire or not. Does it expire only if not used "for a while", or does it expire simply if the card issue date is before such-and-such a time? and how long is "a while", and so on? Sigh. I don't have an extra card with money on it, but the card I use on a fairly regular basis was probably picked up from a T station right when they first came out with the Charlie Card system.

[pekmez.livejournal.com]

Ah. The answer to my questions are mostly here:
http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/charlie/default.asp?id=22672

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

There's some info here:

http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/charlie/default.asp?id=22672

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

Ah. I hadn't refreshed before I replied. I see we found the same thing moments apart.

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

We had several Charlie Cards that we hold turn up expired just this month. (Usually friends visiting from out of town and just leave their cards with us with some remaining cash on them). I find it hard to believe I've had most of them for anywhere near 5 years, though. We'll have to head to Downtown Crossing sometime to get them transferred over. Except if they have no Charlie Cards, how will they give me a new Charlie Card with the value? or can they reactivate the expired ones? I guess I'll find out.

[squirrelitude]

Hmm. We've got an old (probably empty) card that's been sitting on the banister post for about a year -- I should leave that at a station for someone to use.

[trtls.livejournal.com]

I'm not surprise. I have cute kids (obv!) and on so many occasions T workers just handed out CharlieCards for no reason whatsoever to them despite my protests. So, I have about 6 cards we aren't using. If you want to swing by my house, I could leave one on my porch for you to pick up. email me karen (at) mkmiller (dot) org. (Anyone else, too!)

[ruthling.livejournal.com]

I'm kinda glad to hear this, otherwise I would think it was just a MBTA scam to make people pay more for service.

[rethcir.livejournal.com]

Nah, it's better for the books for them to have the excess balance on your card than for you to buy one-use tickets.

[pearlythebunny.livejournal.com]

My Charlie Card expired sometime this past winter when I was trying to use it in Davis Square. A T employee at Davis Square station updated the card for me, and I'm still happily using it. It only took a minute or so to update the card. I didn't need to go anywhere else to have it done.

[jbsegal.livejournal.com]

They're not _designed_ to expire... From what I understand when all of these similar systems were new no one was certain how long the components would last and so, rather than risk them aging out uncontroledly, they put expiry dates in to the system.

The extension is, in part, acknowledgment that the cards last longer than they were originally worried they would.

Requiring that they be used in a short window before the original expiry date or else lock up your funds (as happened to you) is just bad management of the whole situation, imho.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

This spring, several regional transit authorities around the state started accepting CharlieCards (Merrimack Valley, Montachusett, Worcester, and Cape Ann, in addition to the existing MetroWest, Brockton, and Lowell).

This probably isn't a major drain on the card supply. But it is a little ironic and frustrating that the shortage is happening while the system is supposed to be expanding.

[nathanjw]

The key component, purchased new today, is still only rated for a particular finite lifetime (can't remember offhand if it's 5 or 10 years). I don't know what the industry as a whole thinks about the lifetime of the antenna coil in the cards, but it's probably going to be shorter than that.

[ron_newman]

The original Charlie Cards were given a 5-year expiration date, but new ones that have been distributed for the past year or so have a 10-year expiration.