CharlieCard / Ticket discussion

Please ask any question about the new AFC system here. Or comments and issues you have with the system. And any station updates are most welcome!

sery2831 wrote:Please ask any question about the new AFC system here. Or comments and issues you have with the system.

What is the latest plan for use of the CharlieCARD on commuter rail? Hand-held readers? A while back someone from the MBTA told me that they were considering proximity readers in the vestibules of the coaches. That, in my opinion, sounds like another solution that will lead to more problems.

I was asking last week and I guess it turns out there is no plan to bring the card to the CR I guess turn styles or readers on cars have been discussed, but that's never going to happen. So for the time being the monthly pass(ticket) is going to stay. There is a plan to try to try to change the color of the arrow every month.

So what happens when I use my CharlieCard to travel to commuter rail zones 1A and 1B?

My guess the card is only going to be pay per ride. And there will still be monthly passes. Which I thought they were trying to get away from!

The fare increase notice said that CharlieCards will also carry monthly passes.

sery2831 wrote:I was asking last week and I guess it turns out there is no plan to bring the card to the CR I guess turn styles or readers on cars have been discussed, but that's never going to happen. So for the time being the monthly pass(ticket) is going to stay. There is a plan to try to try to change the color of the arrow every month.

I think passengers will juist have to pay the old fashioned way on CR trains even with the new CharlieCards (which I don't mind), but I think some new Charlie Ticket /addfare machines now sell CR tickets so that I can swipe my tap into the machine and ask for CR tickets.

With regard to using Subway/Combo passes on commuter rail for Zones 1A/B, the explanation I heard at a fare increase hearing was that in order to do that you will need to continue to buy your pass on a CharlieTicket, and not a CharlieCard. They indicated that there wouldn't be any distinction in pricing or privledges with a monthly on a Card or Ticket.

Why can't the conductors carry portable ticket/card readers similar to those used at sporting venues? There doesn't appear to be a technological hurdle to doing so.

savebowdoin wrote:So now the question becomes, how many regular monthly pass holders can utilize a CharlieCard without sacrificing pass benefits they are entitled to? I would suppose only those who only use the system with specific routes, never using any other services. Many people use them sporadically on services like Commuter Rail 1A/1B, or the Harbor Ferry, but like to know they have that option. So, in many ways, you will be punished for using a CharlieCard. I can understand the need for a transitional period to implement AFC on Commuter Rail and Boat, but if their ultimate plan is to force all those pass holders to still use the tickets, then the CharlieCard will be used by only a portion of the ridership and I don't see how they can honestly implement the surcharges they would like to impose on single or stored value ticket purchases.

Mike

I would venture to guess that most passholders only use their passes on the same services each day. Given the volume of peak versus off-peak ridership, I would gather that its at least 2/3 of riders doing the same thing every day.

Those of us on here are not your typical commuters...

Here's another problem with CharlieCard monthly passes: Currently, you can receive a discount on your car insurance by mailing 11 monthly passes to your insurance agent. With the CharlieCard, that won't be possible anymore.

When the CharlieCard was originally announced, it was touted as being a great thing for those who get their passes through employer programs (as I do), in that with payroll deduction, your CharlieCard will be automatically revalidated each month -- so no need to pick up a new pass. For subway and bus pass-holders, this sounds feasible. But on the commuter rail, unless a hand-held device or equivalent is introduced, it's not going to work.

I think this whole thing wasn't well through through by the MBTA.

jck wrote:Why can't the conductors carry portable ticket/card readers similar to those used at sporting venues? There doesn't appear to be a technological hurdle to doing so.

The T's probably worried they'll join the handheld radios on the bottom of the Charles River.

Here's another problem with CharlieCard monthly passes: Currently, you can receive a discount on your car insurance by mailing 11 monthly passes to your insurance agent. With the CharlieCard, that won't be possible anymore.

You can send in the reciept 'card' you get from the machine instead. It's dated and has the monthly pass designation on it.

helium wrote:

Here's another problem with CharlieCard monthly passes: Currently, you can receive a discount on your car insurance by mailing 11 monthly passes to your insurance agent. With the CharlieCard, that won't be possible anymore.

You can send in the reciept 'card' you get from the machine instead. It's dated and has the monthly pass designation on it.

I get my pass directly from my employer (it's subsidized with payroll deduction) -- there's no receipt. So they'd have to come up with something new.

Why not make a copy of your paystub, and send in the original paystub as proof? Seems good enough to me.

Diverging Route wrote:
I get my pass directly from my employer (it's subsidized with payroll deduction) -- there's no receipt. So they'd have to come up with something new.