Need fresh CharlieCard in Davis Thur or Fri

[siderea]

I have a friend coming in from out of town on Thursday. They're planning on using the T to get around. I recommended getting a CharlieCard as opposed to a CharlieTicket, for convenience, but where does one score one?

According to the handy "locate a place with CharlieCards" doohicky on the New!Improved! mbta.com, the one source in Davis is... Tedeschi.

Soooo does anyone know if the 7-Eleven the Tedeschi turned into has adopted the sacred trust of distributing free blank CharlieCards to the good people of Camberville? Or where else one can get one?

ETA: Just realized, it also lists the Johnnie's Foodmaster on Alewife Brook Parkway which turned into a Stop-n-Shop... how many years ago? Not feeling really trusting of this list, mbta.com.

ETA2: Nov 3: the 7-Eleven does indeed have CharlieCards and was quite willing to give us a blank one, though my friend decided to buy a 7-day pass on the spot. All set!

Comments

[justphoenix]

You can get a Charlie Card at Harvard Square. The T staff hand them out.

[ruthling]

i don't know if they do blank ones, but you can certainly still get charlie cards with money or a pass on them at the now-7/11, I did a few weeks ago. Go ahead and get one with like $5 on it to start and then fill as you go if you're not sure how much you need.

[siderea]

Whoohoo! Excellent, thanks!

[nacht_musik]

In my experience, MBTA station attendants generally have a supply of CharlieCards available for the asking.

[ruthling]

sadly in my experiences, even if I find an actual agent/ambassador, they don't usually have them.

[redbird]

It seems to depend on the station. I happened to see a poster in the Porter Square station a few months ago, listing stations at which one could get a CharlieCard, and the days and times they should be available. All I remember offhand is that it was less than half of stations, and that in theory you should be able to get a CharlieCard at Harvard, but not at Alewife. (The last time I needed a card for a visitor, I got it from a bus driver; I asked him because the automated announcements keep saying "ask an MBTA employee" and he was one.)

[dcltdw]

I think the station attendants at Alewife have them as well, but not at Davis.

[sauergeek]

My data is several years old, but last I knew, any T bus driver had them.

For what it's worth

[mattdm]

You call always get one at the "Charlie Card Store" at Downtown Crossing.

Harvard Square is more likely to have them than Davis, but they're often randomly out.

This is ridiculous -- the system basically seems designed to make it a pain in order to nickel-and-dime people. I don't know why we didn't do what most other cities do, and have the machines dispense the cards for a few dollars extra. One time small fee none of this hassle and randomness.