(no subject)
Jan. 10th, 2019 04:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
randomnessMy friend Lisa Weber of Better Mass Transit, a public advocacy group here in Boston, has asked me to share her two-question survey about one aspect of the MBTA's new fare collection system.
Here's her post:
"Friends who take the T. They've started switching to their new payment system which eliminates cash payments on board, but will allow you to pay with a smartphone, fare media card, or contactless credit card. You'll still be able to pay cash at fare vending machines to buy the fare media cards before boarding.
"They have announced their plan to charge a $5 mandatory overdraft protection fee for each kind of payment (each new fare card, smartphone app, credit card).
"Would you please take this two-question survey to share your opinion about the required $5 fee. Feel free to share it with anyone who takes the T. I'm happy to answer any questions."
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VMV3BF6
Here's her post:
"Friends who take the T. They've started switching to their new payment system which eliminates cash payments on board, but will allow you to pay with a smartphone, fare media card, or contactless credit card. You'll still be able to pay cash at fare vending machines to buy the fare media cards before boarding.
"They have announced their plan to charge a $5 mandatory overdraft protection fee for each kind of payment (each new fare card, smartphone app, credit card).
"Would you please take this two-question survey to share your opinion about the required $5 fee. Feel free to share it with anyone who takes the T. I'm happy to answer any questions."
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/VMV3BF6
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(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-14 02:51 am (UTC)This reminds me of Citibank (IIRC) back in the days when ATMs are new. Citibank in its wisdom decided that (1) it wanted to encourage people to use ATMs, as operating ATMs was cheaper for the bank than paying tellers, and (2) it would charge people 50 cents per ATM transaction to pay the capital costs of the ATMs. After a year or two, someone in the bank had the wisdom to notice that they were incentivizing the behavior that they wanted people to avoid, and so they stopped the fee. For some strange reason, after that, customers stopped waiting in line to get cash from tellers.
If the MBTA wants people to use non-cash payment systems, they shouldn't charge people to use them.
(no subject)
Date: 2019-01-18 06:52 pm (UTC)In a recent meeting with a friend's advocacy group the T representatives expressed surprise that they had been "misunderstood" and that they were rethinking proposed policies in the light of public feedback.
So, we'll see.