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  • Stations with no ticket machines

  • Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.
Discussion related to New Jersey Transit rail and light rail operations.

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 #1421905  by R36 Combine Coach
 
Had Finderne remained, wondered if it would receive a TVM, given it had no platform or sign and the passengers were reverse commuters initially boarding elsewhere.
 #1421929  by Hawaiitiki
 
The irony is that only a handful of years after NJT finally accomplished full system coverage with the TVMs, in today's world I'd say ~75% of regular riders are using the mobile app, vastly diminishing the utility of the TVMs. This is definitely progress in the long run.

disclaimer: that 75% is just an observation I've made of the folks using monthlys on NJT trains, don't flame me if it doesn't match a statistics released by NJT.
 #1421996  by jamesinclair
 
Hawaiitiki wrote:The irony is that only a handful of years after NJT finally accomplished full system coverage with the TVMs, in today's world I'd say ~75% of regular riders are using the mobile app, vastly diminishing the utility of the TVMs. This is definitely progress in the long run.

disclaimer: that 75% is just an observation I've made of the folks using monthlys on NJT trains, don't flame me if it doesn't match a statistics released by NJT.
I would guess theres a big difference between peak trains and off peak.

Personally, I prefer to buy a paper ticket because the app is a battery hog, and the last thing I want before heading to NYC for a 12 hour day is to have my battery drained on the train
 #1422029  by Ken W2KB
 
jamesinclair wrote:
Hawaiitiki wrote:The irony is that only a handful of years after NJT finally accomplished full system coverage with the TVMs, in today's world I'd say ~75% of regular riders are using the mobile app, vastly diminishing the utility of the TVMs. This is definitely progress in the long run.

disclaimer: that 75% is just an observation I've made of the folks using monthlys on NJT trains, don't flame me if it doesn't match a statistics released by NJT.
I would guess theres a big difference between peak trains and off peak.

Personally, I prefer to buy a paper ticket because the app is a battery hog, and the last thing I want before heading to NYC for a 12 hour day is to have my battery drained on the train
I use the app and have it open for at most 10 minutes per train, i.e., just before boarding until the activated ticket is checked by a crew member.
 #1422046  by time
 
The app is terrible. Folks take forever to bring up the ticket, and if your battery dies you need to plead with the conductor to let you stay on. The battery never dies on a paper ticket.

That said, I'd love to see NJT implement a mobile smartcard reader device that can also integrate with a smartphone NFC. The device could look like a wand, and the conductor would place the wand on the smart card or near the phone, and it would automatically show a green light if the pass is valid, or a red light if the pass is expired, not allowed for that trip, etc.
 #1422145  by Hawaiitiki
 
time wrote: That said, I'd love to see NJT implement a mobile smartcard reader device that can also integrate with a smartphone NFC. The device could look like a wand, and the conductor would place the wand on the smart card or near the phone, and it would automatically show a green light if the pass is valid, or a red light if the pass is expired, not allowed for that trip, etc.
I think that was the idea originally, and is with most mobile app systems using a qr code, but I don't think it was ever implemented. The technology is pretty widely used at airports and sporting events, either with the use of a mobile app or a paper copy of the ticket with a QR code. Perhaps was too deemed to time consuming for a conductor to be scanning and approving/disapproving every passenger.
 #1422152  by jamesinclair
 
Hawaiitiki wrote:
time wrote: That said, I'd love to see NJT implement a mobile smartcard reader device that can also integrate with a smartphone NFC. The device could look like a wand, and the conductor would place the wand on the smart card or near the phone, and it would automatically show a green light if the pass is valid, or a red light if the pass is expired, not allowed for that trip, etc.
I think that was the idea originally, and is with most mobile app systems using a qr code, but I don't think it was ever implemented. The technology is pretty widely used at airports and sporting events, either with the use of a mobile app or a paper copy of the ticket with a QR code. Perhaps was too deemed to time consuming for a conductor to be scanning and approving/disapproving every passenger.
time is referring to a system which does not require the screen to be on at all
 #1422195  by time
 
Yes, it would work in much the same way that ApplePay or Android Pay works. You could enter your credit card into the phone's passbook (for iPhone - don't know what the Android equiv is) and when you place your phone up to a terminal, your credit card automatically comes up, and your fingerprint approves the transaction. It takes seconds.

In the case of making this work on a train, I'd envision that conductors would have a digital wand type device, small enough to be clipped to their belt, that they use to check tickets. When the phone recognizes the digital ID from the wand device, then it automatically opens the ticket from the phones passbook and immediately communicates ( in a second or less) with the wand to accept or reject the pass, visually displaying a green led or a red led (but no sound!). No fingerprint required, since the fiscal transaction has been previously completed.

This would require a standardization of digital acceptance devices - NFC technology for phones that can open an app and automatically send a "yes" or "no" signal based on the criteria of the ticket. So, if you use a store card (no transaction - just a rewards card) with Apple Pay at a payment terminal, just like that.

It would also require a certain level of security for passbook apps, so that phones couldn't be reconfigured to always display a "good" ticket. Perhaps the ticket in the phones passbook would contain a date range of validity, and the wand would simply verify that range. For single ride tickets, the wand could store valid bar code numbers, and would simply "store and upload" the invalidated barcode scans at the end of the day, rather than communicate in real time.

The NJT app could serve as the way to add a valid monthly pass or single ride ticket to the phone's passbook app, which would allow the NFC communication to work going forward without ever needing to open the NJT app again, until you need a new ticket.
 #1422261  by jamesinclair
 
R36 Combine Coach wrote:I recall MBTA has been having teething troubles with e-tickets for commuter rail.
Their plan was to use their Charliecard system (RFID cards) on commuter rail.

It never happened.

Now theyre using the same system NJ Transit does