Charlie cards

[bgum.livejournal.com]

So whose idea was it to make the Charlie cards (which supposedly will be universal in a year) so that they don't work at turnstile gates (e.g. Davis, Porter)?

I bought a $5 (4 swipes) ticket at Prudential, but when I tried to use it to go to work the next day, lo and behold, I had to jump the turnstile. They do have what look like magnetic strips to swipe with, but they, like many things with the MBTA, don't work.

Or am I the only one having such luck?

Comments

[ron_newman]

In any station that has been converted, you can buy a Charlie Ticket with a token.

[transformergeek.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but the other day at Haymerket they had 6 machines. Only 3 of the 6 took tokens (the other 3 were credit only). Out of the 3 that accepted tokens, one was out of order. So there were only two stations that accepted tokens. Each one had a loooong line that was filled with people that had no idea how to use the machines. It took me about a half hour just to get my friggin' ticket!

And then, of course, my favorite part: all the litter in the stations from all the tickets. Could they have possibly found a more wasteful method?

I mean, really, what was wrong with the tokens?

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

The plan is to switch to a complicated scheme where you pay different amounts depending on which station you get on and off at. That is, a new way to raise fares without actually saying "hey guys! another fare hike". That'd be hard with tokens.

[ron_newman]

No, the plan is actually to have a single uniform (but higher) fare, removing all of the current differences between stations. You'll notice that there is no provision for inserting a fare card when exiting a station.

[transformergeek.livejournal.com]

Then why wouldn't they just stick with the tokens and raise the price a bit?

[ron_newman]

Because another part of the fare-increase proposal introduces automatic free transfers between buses and subways (like NYC has with their Metrocard).

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

The new machines can't possibly be more expensive than machines that hand out paper transfers whenever you leave a train station or bus...

It seems to me the new system would be completely compatible with different prices for rush hour and non-rush hour? (I'm not saying that's been in any of the proposals, just musing.)

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

As someone who does the bus-subway thing on a regular basis, I have wondered why there is no transfer between the two.

The Green Line construction proved it possible. They just had a machine at Government Center, right as you left, that you could hit a button on that was a valid transfer to their crappy Green Line shuttle to Lechmere. I think the transfer was good for two hours or something.

[mistergoat.livejournal.com]

I don't think that that's definite, Ron. Last I saw, the T had made some vague statements that left the door open to variable fares. It's certainly been in the dicsussion. If they've formally ruled it out and I missed it, I'd love to see the statement, though!

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

Possibly. They've certainly kicked around the variable-rate thing, and it was specifically given several times as one of the advantages of the charlie card system.