New signs have apperared on the Green Line's D Branch that now are making it clear that passengers have to pay going outbound. I've noticed CSA's (Customer Service Agents) instructing passengers on how to use the validators located at each D line stop and for the past 2 days fare inspectors have been checking passes and tickets with the new portable card readers. Passengers seem to be adjusting to the new system and the D line seems to be well set up for the new system.
For riders on the B, C and E however things are not going as smoothly. Those lines do not have validators at each stop and it doesn't appear there are any plans to do so. I have seen fare inspectors at hot spots on the B line such as Harvard and Commonwealth but for the most part passengers boarding in the middle and rear have to come to the driver to present payment.
The true test on the B and C lines will be next week when students at Boston University and Boston College return and find out that the free outbound rides no longer exist. One thing the T seems to have changed is that the #57 Watertown bus is now picking up local passengers on Commonwealth between Kenmore and Packard's Corner which is a change on that route. The T maybe trying to have BU students take the bus instead of the trolley.
Please let us know your POP experiences.
3 comments:
I don't see how POP can really work on the Green Line. If I buy a single-ride ticket at a subway station, and throw it into one of the handy recycling binsor trash cans right after entering the gate, I won't have it with me when I transfer to the Green Line. There are no signs in any Red Line station telling people to hold onto their zero-value CharlieTickets.
Also, I could easily use a stored-value CharlieCard or CharlieTicket to pay for both myself and a friend. We both go in together, but she transfers to the Green Line and heads for Brookline while I keep the ticket or card and go somewhere else.
Last week there was a T Inspector acting as a fare inspector at Harvard and Comonwealth on the B Line. I asked him about subway passengers and his answer floored me.
He thought that the turnstyles in the subway are printing receipts for each passenger.
Keep in mind this was a MBTA Inspector not a regular "fare inspector"
The Wednesday HERALD has this "Letter to the Editor"
MBTA misses again
By Matthew Greene/ Letters
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
The MBTA has missed an opportunity with its new fare collection scheme on the Green line (“Charlie horse for MBTA riders,” Jan. 3). Charging passengers in both directions improves the system by removing a confusing quirk and improving consistency. However, limiting the times and stops where all doors are opened makes the system as confusing as ever.
Taxpayers and riders paid for all of the doors on the train, so we should benefit from the increased efficiency that is gained by using all of them. Other systems have full-time proof-of-payment fare collection schemes that work, so why can’t we? As an alternative, why not limit the front door to use by boarding riders only, and rear doors for those passengers who are exiting? Currently, passengers who have upcoming stops create an impediment to the boarding process because they must crowd toward the front where the only operating door is.
Matthew Greene, Boston
http://news.bostonherald.com/editorial/view.bg?articleid=176274
As I was walking by the Northeastern stop on the E line today (1/11) I saw what appeared to be a fare validator. I was under the impression that these were not being used on the E line.
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