MBTA Charlie Card.

[randomness]

Mostly a note to self.

Got one at Haymarket T this afternoon, after tracking down a friendly T employee. They'd stopped handing them out for the day, but he had an extra one. (Later discovered that they were still handing them out at Davis, but it was still necessary to find the employee and ask for one.)

Tested that my card holder blocked read of the card at a gate, which it did, just like the way it did the SmarTrip card I tested at a Metro faregate. So that's good. Otherwise reads fine, which is also good.

Edit: corrected link to the card holder.

Comments

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

It seems so.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

My bad. Fixed the link.

[hotpoint.livejournal.com]

I think he's using a metal business card holder, which I've seen at places like Bob Slate.

I believe the reason that the Charlie Tickets are significantly slower than the old swipe cards is that the old swipe card readers on the bus fareboxes and subway turnstiles were read-only, while the new ones are read-write; they read the card, decide what kind it is, if it's a cash-value card they deduct the fare and write it back, and then they return it to you. That involves mechanically swiping the card twice, and while a card can be read at the variable speed of a human swipe it can't be accurately written that way. The subway turnstiles have a separate read head and write head, so it doesn't have to reverse anything to give it back to you. I think.

I think the T has been so aggressive about the CharlieCard because the tickets have been more of a pain to deal with than they expected. I remember the press about them earlier this year said they'd charge $5 for them but that the cash/ticket fares would be even higher to convince you to switch. Now they'll probably charge $5 sometime after January, once they think they've distributed the million plus they have allocated for free distribution.

I don't think they expected the lines that formed at the machines so people could buy exactly one subway fare on a card and then toss the card on the ground, when this was both the behavior that you'd see at the collector's booth at stations beforehand and something you might expect when the transit authority says "Put money on this card! Oh, it doesn't work at half of the stations, so you'll have to keep some cash to buy tokens too." And I'm guessing they underestimated the extra time for people to figure out where to insert the card and in what orientation on bus boardings. What kills me there is the coin slot, on a 90c fare -- exact change requires 5 coins.

So the whole process should go faster with the contactless cards, with rider and operator experience, with finishing the conversion to the new turnstiles and fare boxes later this month, with shaking the bugs out (like the failure of the fare machine credit card transaction system at the beginning of the month) and with riders leaving some money on their cards. At least I think the T management is fervently hoping so.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I think he's using a metal business card holder, which I've seen at places like Bob Slate.

I haven't tested one of those, although I have no reason to think it would be less effective.

If someone gets one, I'll be glad to try it out. Or if you get one, test it and let me know what happens.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Another problem is that a paper card screams "disposable". In San Francisco and Washington they reduce litter by having the turnstile simply eat your card if there's no value left on it. I suppose Boston wanted people to keep using their Charlie Tickets, but it didn't work out that way.

Chicago and Atlanta have also had programs where they waived the initial fee to issue a card--Atlanta's is ongoing--in those cases they've required that you register in order to get a free card. I guess Boston's even more eager to get cards out there than either Chicago or Atlanta.

Atlanta's Breeze Ticket/Card rollout has not been without its problems, either:
http://www.cobbrides.com/MARTA'sSoleTole.htm
http://www.gophernet.org/archives/2006/10/#e2006-10-15T22_44_50.txt

[frotz.livejournal.com]

Chicago has sent me two free cards that are definitely unregistered; when I got them, I was offered the option, but it was not a requirement.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Interesting. I'd thought by giving them a mailing address they'd registered the cards. But I got mine a while ago, and my memory for these things is awful. I'm probably conflating my memories of getting an Atlanta Breeze Card with my memories of getting a Chicago Card.

LiveJournal misparsed that first URL, so their link fails.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Let's see what happens when I hand-define the URL:

http://www.cobbrides.com/MARTA'sSoleTole.htm

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

My bad. Fixed the link.

[marith.livejournal.com]

Charlie Cards? As in "get Charlie off the MTA?" What a cool name to use for them!

[ceo]

Yes, the T wins big irony points for that name. (I vaguely recall they ran a contest and that was the overwhelming winner).

[redbird]

Thanks for the post; I'll see if I can pick one up at either South Station, or Harvard or Porter, on Friday afternoon. (I take a bus to Arlington, so don't always get out at the same Red Line station. And I want to get a card before 1 January.)

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Sure. Persistence helps. I had to visit two different entrances to Haymarket before I found someone to talk to.

[tla]

So what's the Charlie Card then (as opposed to the Charlie Ticket)? You're the second person I've seen mention getting one. Are they in high demand for some reason?

[tla]

Or I could follow the link you provided. Heh.

[bookly.livejournal.com]

Any chance you could pick one up for me if you happen to find yourself in a place handing them out?

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

Alas, I don't ride the T as much as a lot of other people, so it's probably best if you make a general request to your friends list for people who ride it daily, particularly as I'm going out of town in the next couple of days.

[miss-chance.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you mentioned it... I didn't know they were giving them out and happened to have just enough time to skim LJ this morning, so when I got to Davis I asked and they had one left. bookly asks for one, which makes me think that for the next couple of days I'll ask for them every time I see a new employee, so I can give them to peeps who aren't around to get them.

cmeckart discusses the sucky bus systems... What she doesn't mention is that in many cases I've experienced the drivers don't want to wait the 3 minutes for the cards or for the coin counter and just put their hands over the fare collector for anyone who starts to put in a CharlieTicket or coins. The last couple buses I've taken only people with paper money and plastic cards have paid.

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

What she doesn't mention is that in many cases I've experienced the drivers don't want to wait the 3 minutes for the cards or for the coin counter and just put their hands over the fare collector for anyone who starts to put in a CharlieTicket or coins. The last couple buses I've taken only people with paper money and plastic cards have paid.

Talk about unintended results! Bet the MBTA's real glad the drivers have hit upon that solution.