madness at 30th street

I was at 30th street station yesterday. It was more then i was expecting. I dont get why septa doesnt have a bank of tvms. There was a line with 40 people waiting for to get tickets, and missing trains. Even if they had one choice, like "trenton " it would have been better. They had 1 teller at 4pm working. Seriously Septa should just copy everything NJ transit does. Every station has at least 2 tvms, which allow you to buy tickets for any trip. Also their app allows you to buy tickets. All i have to do on NJT is select a station, and i get all the trains there.

The people at 1234 are implacably hostile to TVMs. They royally screwed up their first and only attempt by getting machines that couldn't be upgraded; when the Treasury issued new bills the machines stopped working. They also claimed it was too cumbersome to keep TVMs secure and serviced, even though commuter systems all over the country use them every day. Now they say they're not going to bother because TVMs won't be needed once the Key goes live on the RRD ... whatever decade that will be.

In the meantime they're quite happy to collect their infernal onboard surcharge from all the riders who can't find a place to buy tickets in advance. A bit of admittedly unscientific estimation yields a figure in the range of $1.5 to $2.0 million annually in "found money" from the surcharge.

Steampowered wrote: Every station has at least 2 tvms.

False. More than a few NJT stations only have one TVM, and the lines can get rather long at the end of the month.

Ditto at most MARC stations. If the one at the station breaks, it's "Buy w/cash on train, get monthly/weekly at Union or Penn." The only stations with both TVMs and staff are Union Station DC, New Carrolton, BWI, and Baltimore Penn Station. Only Odenton is staffed (it's a Commuter Direct office now) w/o a TVM.

Well that maybe true, but guess what you can still use the app. Because NJT has redundancy in the system. IN NY penn, you can see a teller, use a tvm, use the app, buy tickets for round trips. Okay Septa, see a teller and wait.

And don't forget Septa contracts the tellers out, they are not Septa employees, your complaint should be directed at the right company, although Septa should also have input into how many tellers at a location are available as well as the oldest complaint being opening hours of the offices.

Limited-Clear wrote:And don't forget Septa contracts the tellers out, they are not Septa employees, your complaint should be directed at the right company, although Septa should also have input into how many tellers at a location are available as well as the oldest complaint being opening hours of the offices.

Agreed. MARC's tellers are split between Amtrak (at Amtrak stations) and Commuter Direct (for Odenton). The latter learned real quick to double up on staff at Odenton the first few days of the month (namely on how WMATA's SmartBenefits plan worked).

SP, LC and RW:

The proper job title for SEPTA RRD ticket sales is "Ticket Clerk" or "Ticket Agent"...

They are employees of the Edens Corporation under contract to SEPTA and are not directly employed by SEPTA. RRD ticket sales has been under an outside contractor since late 1982
when Blue Ribbon Services got the contract from an exiting Conrail.

On the railroad (LIRR a good example) Ticket Agents have additional duties:
They are in charge of their station and in cases have authority such as a block operator.
Agents have clerks assigned under them to their stations.

Clerk better describes the job that SEPTA RRD station employees of Edens do - which is to
take care of ticket sales.

MACTRAXX

l

Correct me if I'm wrong, but Suburban and Market East both still have "Station Masters" assigned there. Not sure about 30th Street.

BNT: There are Station Masters at Jefferson, Suburban and 30th Street Stations...
They are SEPTA RRD employees in station operations but have nothing to do with
ticket or pass sales which is the aformentioned responsibility of the Edens contract...

MACTRAXX

STrRedWolf wrote:

Limited-Clear wrote:And don't forget Septa contracts the tellers out, they are not Septa employees, your complaint should be directed at the right company, although Septa should also have input into how many tellers at a location are available as well as the oldest complaint being opening hours of the offices.

Agreed. MARC's tellers are split between Amtrak (at Amtrak stations) and Commuter Direct (for Odenton). The latter learned real quick to double up on staff at Odenton the first few days of the month (namely on how WMATA's SmartBenefits plan worked).

Marc could easily buy into amtraks eticketing that already allows for online monthly passes if they thought their customers wanted such modern conveniences

It would be a separate contract between Amtrak, MARC, and Bombardier. Those QuickTrak's are out on the Camden and Brunswick lines, using Amtrak stock. Granted, it would speed up boarding at times... but if we're going to digress into that, we should head into the right forum before the moderator "asks".

Limited-Clear wrote:And don't forget Septa contracts the tellers out, they are not Septa employees, your complaint should be directed at the right company, although Septa should also have input into how many tellers at a location are available as well as the oldest complaint being opening hours of the offices.

If Septa wants to pay me 100k a year to do that . i will . Until then , its Septa management who should make sure staffing especially at 30th st is up to par. Really there should be a kiosk in the amtrak area, to buy tickets, near the big board. But simple logic confuses septa i think.

Can't you buy undated single ride tickets so you could keep a spare (along with that last unused $20. American Express travelers check) at the back of your wallet? If the ticket line is long, use that spare ticket. Buy another ticket at your earliest convenience, possibly after getting off the train you did not miss had your stood in a ticket line.

They're only valid for 6 months, but the purchase date is very hard to see when a conductor is just walking through the train. Only problem is if the ticket looks old and ratty, then they might check.