Boston Transit: A recommendation to get the Zone 1A commuter rail pass instead of the LinkPass...

[randomness]

...from Train Mon, at http://trainmon.blogspot.com/2006/12/zone-1a-read-fine-print-do-detective.html:

By now, after reading a few other's blogs, it seems those chosen few savvy of us, such as myself, who live in the inner-city and inner-suburbs and regularly chose to beat the "rapid" transit bus and subway system by taking the Commuter Rail have come to the realization that, once January hits, the newly minted "Monthly Zone 1A Pass," not a CharlieCard loaded with the "Monthly LinkPass" will be the way to go. This is especially a concern for those of us who get our passes, way a gracious discount, through our prospective employers and have only another week or so to make sure we're getting the right pass for next month.

Train Mon goes through the logic in exhaustive detail.

Discuss.

Comments

[hotpoint.livejournal.com]

I'd noticed the odd discrepancy between the two myself. My guess is that they could have had the paper version of the LinkPass work on commuter rail, but not the contactless version; having the same pass have fewer privileges in the new device they want everybody to use is probably bad PR. The number of Zone 1A/1B stations is relatively small, and I don't know how many people take advantage of the current pass privilege at them. The T could also be attempting to discourage subway riders from taking commuter rail, but I think it's more likely that the Zone 1A Pass is just a temporary hack as the article concluded.

Now, I wonder how the MBTA can build on the new fare machinery to implement a Proof of Payment system for the Green Line and buses, or to no longer require conductors on trains (fare gates at the ends of platforms at North, South and Back Bay stations, akin to London commuter stations, and ticket-franking machines on distal platforms?) Hmmm...

[r-ness.livejournal.com]

I came up with a tinfoil-hatter conspiracy theory on this one which I shared with bedfull_o_books as we were considering the pluses and minuses of getting the Zone 1A over the LinkPass.


Theory goes like this: those riders who are most likely to complain about the rollout of the new system are likely to be the onese who notice the pass discrepancy. They'll buy the 1A pass, which means that they won't be affected by any of the usual glitches one would expect to have on rollout of the new system. So, this means they'll generate fewer complaints. What's more, the T will get fewer of the informed, difficult-to-handle complaints from picky transit geeks.


*I* don't actually believe this, myself, because it assumes way too much forethought on the part of MBTA management.

More seriously, this points up another reason to get the Zone 1A pass, particularly for those who are getting their pass through their employer. bedfull_o_books was told that after she switched to a LinkPass, at the end of each month, the next month's pass would be automatically encoded onto her CharlieCard. It seemed like maybe giving them a few months to get the bugs out of that procedure--given that it requires some coordination between the employer and the MBTA, and thus, even more chances for dropped balls--might not be a silly idea.

By contrast, the Zone 1A pass uses the same distribution procedure all monthly passes used to use, and commuter rail pass will continue to use: someone from HR distributes them. A physical object changes hands, so verification is simple and immediate. The procedure is well-understood, in place, has established ways of dealing with failure, and will continue to operate until the T manages to put all the commuter rail passes onto CharlieCards. By which time, the bugs in the new, automagic system should long since have shaken out.

At least, that's what we hope. :)

Now, I wonder how the MBTA can build on the new fare machinery to implement a Proof of Payment system for the Green Line and buses, or to no longer require conductors on trains (fare gates at the ends of platforms at North, South and Back Bay stations, akin to London commuter stations, and ticket-franking machines on distal platforms?) Hmmm...

Clearly possible, and worth doing...but I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting for it. :)