Assembled in the USA from 100% Chinese parts.

Chicago's new Ventra card.
Chicago is having a rather difficult time rolling out its new Ventra fare payment system. Ventra is meant to replace its earlier Chicago Card. This is not going well.

I myself got a Ventra card to replace my Chicago Card.

One of the problems with giving your contactless fare card MasterCard debit card functionality is that it makes the activation process much more complicated. This is for understandable fraud prevention reasons.

As a result, however, the activation process is significantly more difficult than registering a new credit card. This is the case even if you never decide to active the debit card functionality at all.

Here's what I had to do:
( A long procedure behind the cut. )
This is a rather elaborate procedure to set up a transit farecard.

I am never going to set up the MasterCard debit facility on this card, not only because I have a bank account and a credit card, but because the fee structure is annoying (pdf). To be fair, it's probably not any worse than most standalone debit cards. But I'm not the intended market for the debit card: all I want is a farecard. So none of the above complexity is a direct part of setting up the debit card account, although I'm sure some of it exists so that the debit card functionality can exist.

I am an experienced Internet user with some understanding of security issues, and a transit geek who has proved in the past to be very willing to jump through elaborate hoops to get a transit farecard. I had little trouble with the process, which I completed without ever speaking to a human. But even I thought this process was a bit much just to get a transit farecard.

I don't have to imagine how this process has been received by other users, because it's been reported in the press.

From a story in today's Chicago Tribune:

CTA fare options that expired this week are back in place until the company that is being paid almost a half-billion dollars to manage the implementation of the new Ventra system fixes problems that have left thousands of customers frustrated, the president of the CTA said Wednesday.

The transit agency made the abrupt, if temporary, reversal in response to angry riders who this week overwhelmed a Ventra hotline in an effort to activate their new cards and in some cases have demanded their old, time-tested fare-payment choices back.

So until further notice, sales of magnetic stripe transit cards will continue at rail stations, and Chicago Card customers will be allowed to add value to their cards. But CTA President Forrest Claypool said Wednesday he is determined to stick to a Dec. 15 deadline to stop accepting the old fare cards on trains and buses.

...

"The security procedures, in retrospect, were a little too complicated with the access codes," Claypool said.

"That's why we are getting the confusion and that's why we got so many calls to the customer support system, which had insufficient numbers of operators," Claypool said after a CTA board meeting in which the issues with Ventra were not raised.

In response to questions on the issue, Cubic spokeswoman Kim Gregory responded: "Our policy with the CTA is to not answer media questions and refer them to the agency."

Yes, the operator is Cubic Transportation Systems. Yes, the CTA did pay $454 million for the new system.

From http://s.zoomerang.com/s/mbtamapsurvey (go there to see the maps in full size, comment, and vote):

This past spring, the MBTA launched the New Perspectives MBTA Map Re-design competition. The response was overwhelming, not only because of the dozens of responses received, but the impressive quality of many of the entries. A panel of experts including the MBTA, academics, urban planners, and mapping aficionados evaluated each of the entries against a set of criteria. The six maps below were the highest rated.

Please review these finalists and let the MBTA know what you think of them—would any of them be an improvement over the current MBTA rapid transit/key bus routes map? With so many new projects opening (new Fairmount Line stations and next year’s opening of Assembly Square Station) and many more in the pipeline (Green Line Extension, South Coast Rail and Silver Line Gateway) the MBTA will need to modify and redesign our system maps. The MBTA may use the map with the most favorable public response from this contest as the new MBTA map, so please be sure to vote!

Click on the map image to open a larger version. You must cast a vote for each map to complete your voting.

Voting will be open until September 20. The MBTA expects to announce the winner by the end of the month.

Thumbnails of each map ( behind the cut )

ETA: Twenty designs that didn't make it.

Hat tip: thespian.

From boston.com:

The MBTA says train and bus service will be suspended for another day as crews try to clear the snow that piled up in Massachusetts overnight. A ban on driving that started Friday night for all non-emergency vehicles remains in effect and officials aren’t sure when it will be lifted.

The problem with the cunning plan of parking at Alewife is that it depends on the T running.

I suppose I could trudge there if they lift the driving ban before the T starts running.

Most of the public transit in the Northeast Corridor will not be operating Monday. One major exception is the MBTA in Boston, which will be operating all services except commuter boats, which are suspended as of the start of service Monday morning.

( Here are some relevant websites to check if you want to check what's up with your local operator: )
( long-distance rail and bus: )
Check with your airline if you're scheduled to be flying into or out of anywhere between Washington and New York tomorrow. It's probably worth asking if you're flying into or out of anywhere on the US East Coast. From FlightAware's update:

1,251 flights cancelled to/from/within the US today. Most affected is Newark (EWR), with 305 cancellations today.

5,559 flights cancelled to/from/within the US tomorrow (Monday). Most affected is Philadelphia (PHL), with 1084 cancellations.

Most airlines are suspending operations this evening at DCA/IAD/PHL/JFK/EWR/LGA. Virgin Atlantic plans continue operations through tomorrow morning in/out of EWR and JFK.

Airport-specific updates:

EWR/LGA/JFK - PANYNJ is recommending that airlines cancel everything tomorrow but airports plan to remain open to the extent practical.

PHL - no operations tomorrow and not returning until mid-day Tuesday.

DCA - over 95% of flights cancelled for tomorrow

BWI - almost all flights cancelled tomorrow except for some limited morning cargo operations.

Every airline is allowing fee-free changes (and refunds in some cases) for itineraries potentially impacted by the storm. The best way to make flight changes is on airline websites; call centers are typically overwhelmed during major events.

You can also check FlightStats airport delay map, which currently lists "Excessive" delays for every airport on the US East Coast between RDU (Raleigh/Durham) and PVD (Providence).

Safe travel, everyone.

http://bikes.oobrien.com/ has real-time bikeshare maps for many cities around the world. A few cities, like Paris, have stopped sharing data for some reason. Most of the others, including Montreal and Washington, seem to be okay sharing their station data. The maps also list how many stations are empty and how many are full, as well as circling them on the map. If you click on a station, you get a graph of how many bikes have been at that station in the last 24 hours.


It's really quite cool.

Thanks to alphacygni, who pointed me at NextBus, my experience of the MBTA bus service is greatly improved. NextBus supplies real-time arrival information using GPS data supplied by transit authorities. You can retrieve the information via the web, SMS, or voice call.

I've found it particularly useful now that it's cold out.

This is a system that is more useful in places where the headways can be long.

Normally I feel that video screens in public transport should show information designed to help you get around. The best of these I've seen are the ones in Dutch buses, which list the next few stops in order, along with other rider information. This is helpful and an excellent use of screen area. Another example is Tokyo's Yamanote line which has video screens which display useful stop and transfer information.

( Yamanote line display video behind the cut )
The worst, I think, are video screens which show nothing but advertisements. I'm not going to bother showing any of those. In general, I think video screens should be used to help people make sense of the transit system, not distract them.

However for the following series of short subjects, currently being shown on subway systems across China from Beijing to Guangzhou, I'm prepared to make an exception. They feature 豆儿 (dou4er), an animated soybean sprout.



( More videos behind the cut )
They are almost painfully cute, and I looked forward to seeing them when I rode the subway. The ones below, which include his girlfriend--identifiable as such because she is pink and has long eyelashes--also provide a view of gender stereotypes in modern China.


( One more video, also featuring both bean sprouts, behind the cut. )

Back in June, I posted a question as to which subway systems run all night.

In September, http://mic-ro.com/metro/24h.html answered my question.* Thanks, guys!

Their list, and my comments:

24/7 (daily)
Chicago, USA: Red and Blue lines
Copenhagen, Denmark: Metro
London, United Kingdom: Thameslink only (no tube lines)
New York, USA: 20 subway lines, SIR, PATH, partly LIRR
Philadelphia, USA: PATCO

Chicago's Red and Blue Lines are the busiest two lines in the system and cover a substantial part of the city. It's a pretty serious attempt to run a working service all night. Also, because the Blue Line serves O'Hare, it means you can get to the airport 24 hours a day. (Or leave it 24 hours a day, whichever.) No service to Midway, however.

The Copenhagen Metro opened in 2002 and features driverless trains, which makes overnight running less dependent on staff: an important consideration in high-wage Denmark. Its two lines are complemented by a much more extensive S-tog (suburban rail) network which does not run overnight. The Metro itself isn't a very big system but in concert with the S-tog, which is used like a metro, service covers a lot of the city, just not all of it overnight. The train cars were designed to accommodate the disabled, including light signals for the deaf to warn that the doors are closing.

When they say none of the tube runs in London, they mean it. Thameslink is a single mainline railway route run by First Capital Connect which runs in a series of north-south tunnels from St. Pancras to Blackfriars. Counting it as an 24-hour metro service is a bit of a stretch. It's as if the New York City subway closed at night but you counted LIRR service from Jamaica to Penn Station as overnight metro service. On the other hand I say technicalities count, since we only have five systems that actually run 24/7, so it's in, even if it only runs once every half hour during the overnight.

"20 subway lines, SIR, PATH, partly LIRR" covers the vast majority of New York's system. You can get to almost every station at any hour of the day or night. In fact, they're not even designed to close. Many entrances lack gates or doors, which makes securing them during strikes more challenging.

An additional point I'd add to New York's listing is that AirTrain JFK also runs all night, making it possible to get to Kennedy Airport any time as well. This may make Kennedy and O'Hare the world's only two airports with 24/7 rail service that actually goes somewhere beyond the immediate area of the airport. (Many airports have inter-terminal people movers that run all night. AirTrain Newark even takes you out to the New Jersey Transit Newark Airport rail station. Unfortunately, then you're stuck waiting on the platform until morning, because that station doesn't have any service that takes you away from the airport overnight.)

Until 1991, Philadelphia ran "Owl" service overnight on both the Broad Street and Market-Frankford lines, but it's been bustituted since then. It saves them money.

PATCO is the cross-Delaware equivalent of PATH. It still runs 24 hours, should you have some pressing need to visit Camden in the wee hours of the morning.

And that's it. Kudos to mic-ro.com for doing the research. Someone should edit the relevant Wikipedia articles.

Edit: I missed the obvious point that Copenhagen's Metro goes to Kastrup Airport, which makes it the third airport with a 24/7 rail link.

*I'm sure they've never actually seen my post or even heard of me.

I did specify 24/7 in my question, but the folks at mic-ro.com did find number of systems--Athens, Berlin, Bochum, Hamburg, Stockholm, Vienna, Warsaw--which run overnight Friday and Saturday, and two in Spain--Barcelona, Valencia--which run overnight Saturday only. See the page for details.

...SEPTA went out on strike at 3AM this morning.

From http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/67620912.html:

What SEPTA Service Will Not Run?

Market-Frankford Line

Broad Street Line/Broad Ridge Spur Line

ALL City bus routes, trolley, and trackless-trolley routes

Frontier bus routes

No service on bus routes 90 through 99, 124, 127-132, 134, 139, 150, 201, 206 and 304.

What SEPTA Service Will Run?

Regional Rail:

Train service will be the best choice for travel in and around Philadelphia

Suburban Transit:

Bus, trolley, and route 100 lines will not be affected.However route service will change for those buses that normally travel into the City (See the Suburban Transit section)

LUCY (Loop through University City):

Green and Gold Loop service will operate from 30th Street Station to selected University City destinations.

CCT Connect: Regular service will operate for, registered ADA and shared- ride customers. There may be some delays due to increased demand and local street traffic.

Good luck, people.

Vélib’ in Paris seems to be having more trouble than BIXI in Montréal, if the NY Times is to be believed.

From http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/31/world/europe/31bikes.html?_r=1&hp=&pagewanted=all:

Many of the specially designed bikes, which cost $3,500 each, are showing up on black markets in Eastern Europe and northern Africa. Many others are being spirited away for urban joy rides, then ditched by roadsides, their wheels bent and tires stripped.


Renters of Vélib' bicycles in Paris say it can be a challenge to find functioning ones among those that have been vandalized.
With 80 percent of the initial 20,600 bicycles stolen or damaged, the program’s organizers have had to hire several hundred people just to fix them. And along with the dent in the city-subsidized budget has been a blow to the Parisian psyche.

The heavy, sandy-bronze Vélib’ bicycles are seen as an accoutrement of the “bobos,” or “bourgeois-bohèmes,” the trendy urban middle class, and they stir resentment and covetousness. They are often being vandalized in a socially divided Paris by resentful, angry or anarchic youth, the police and sociologists say.

Bruno Marzloff, a sociologist who specializes in transportation, said, “One must relate this to other incivilities, and especially the burning of cars,” referring to gangs of immigrant youths burning cars during riots in the suburbs in 2005.

He said he believed there was social revolt behind Vélib’ vandalism, especially for suburban residents, many of them poor immigrants who feel excluded from the glamorous side of Paris.

“We miscalculated the damage and the theft,” said Albert Asséraf, director of strategy, research and marketing at JCDecaux, the outdoor-advertising company that is a major financer and organizer of the project. “But we had no reference point in the world for this kind of initiative.”

At least 8,000 bikes have been stolen and 8,000 damaged so badly that they had to be replaced — nearly 80 percent of the initial stock, Mr. Asséraf said.

JCDecaux must repair some 1,500 bicycles a day. The company maintains 10 repair shops and a workshop on a boat that moves up and down the Seine.

The Daily Telegraph says:

It is rare to find a Parisian who has not pulled a Vélib’ out of its docking bay ready to pedal off only to find that the chain was missing or the wheels were blocked. At one stage, it was easy to spot a faulty bike, as a previous user would have obligingly turned the saddle round. Now that there are so many ruined bikes, the backwards saddle rule is no longer reliable; only a thorough prior examination before choosing a cycle will suffice.

As for thefts, JCDecaux even has full-time employees who do nothing but scour the capital for stolen or abandoned bikes; they pick up around 20 every day from the streets or police stations, though many are taken further afield. At least one has been found in Romania. Many are stolen and customised almost beyond recognition.

On the one hand, I am suspicious of any analysis that blames problems on France's immigrants, because that often seems to be the favorite French explanation for social dysfunction. Disaffected French youth in general strikes me as more plausible. On the other hand, I haven't been in Paris since the Vélib’ system rolled out, so I don't know from direct experience how bad things actually are. But the numbers sound pretty awful, given that they started with 20,000 bikes.

Certainly the condition of BIXI bikes and stations were nowhere near as bad in Montréal this summer. Perhaps young Québeçois are less angry and resentful than French youths? Boy, wouldn't the French hate that comparison.

I guess we'll see how things go when they roll out the system in Boston next year.

Edit: bikeradar.com suggests that JCDecaux is exaggerating the scale of the problem in order to get a better deal out of the city.

Also, that $3,500 price seems out of line.