August 15, 2007
We're Never Going To Get Translink
Sigh. For those of us for whom a MUNI FastPass is not enough (i.e., with commutes outside the SF city limits), we really have been eagerly awaiting The One Card To Rule Them All Translink system, which promised to let you buy one magnetic card that would give you access to all Bay Area public transportation systems. No more fumbling around for BART tickets, or waiting in line by the cable car to buy MUNI passbooks, or frantically flipping around your credit card so the stripe faces the right way in the ticket-buying machine right as the Baby Bullet starts ominously clang-clang-clanging an imminent departure to the South Bay!
But no! A BART official working on the Translink project has said, while they've got the system running for AC Transit, Golden Gate ferries and buses, and MUNI trains, he doesn't think MUNI buses, BART, and Caltrain can come online until next year at the earliest. MUNI says they'll be ready by December -- but come on, if you get two different delay estimates from BART and from MUNI, who are you more likely to believe?
The delay is being attributed to software bugs, money-distribution issues between the various local agencies, and the hassle of trying to coordinate between all of the various agencies involved. If they can't even get Caltrain and BART to coordinate Millbrae train schedules, we can imagine it must be even worse trying to divvy up the Translink funds.
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Hey, there's always the BART Plus ticket, sold conveniently at the Lake Merritt station.
I guarantee you we'll get it sometime this century.
I've been using my Translink card on AC Transit for many months now and it works great. I also use it on the Muni streetcars, which already have readers installed. If it is working on AC Transit and parts of Muni, it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to get it working on more of Muni by end of the year.
As far as BART goes though, I'm sure they will continue to have their reasons for not making it work...
I've been a user since 2002 (the pilot project), and it's been fine for me. But while I hold a card, I don't use it that much anymore.
Muni: Worked OK on the metro system. As for wide installation, I've noticed that many of the trolley buses and some other diesel buses are getting fitted with the system (driver panel and the brackets that hold the card reader).
BART: They keep whining like little children. Worked great when the old fare gates were installed.
It's a fact that the longer they stall the project, the cost of the entire thing goes up. I've always said, give a 5-10 million dollar bonus to a contractor to install it in a matter of a few months on all buses and stations, and save an additional millions by not delaying completion until 2010 or something like that.
You think those translink cards would be any better at avoiding demagnetism than the current BART tickets?
http://sf.metblogs.com/archives/2006/03/bart_cards_demagnetizing_zoink.phtml
and hopefully no more dealing with broken ticket machines.. or waiting (impatiently) behind the lines of tourists at Powell Street station
Akit: how does TransLink handle transfers on MUNI? Currently, it seems like most MUNI operators give out transfers that are good for between 1.5 and 3 hours. Even the ticket machines at the metro stations print up transfers that are good for a minimum of 2 hours. I'd sure hate to have to pay more than once for MUNI in 90 minutes.
Guest #5: TransLink cards aren't magnetic, they're either "SmartCard" or RFID based. Okay, I googled "demagnetize smartcard" and the first link that was turned up was:
http://www.goldengate.org/translink/FAQs.php#Basic17
Looks like TransLink is safe.
I would assume that on MUNI when tap the translink card on the reader, and it beeps, the driver can give you a transfer such that you don't have to do it again.
But I can't for the life of me figure out how this will work for Caltrain...
No transfer tickets will be needed with TransLink on Muni. All transfers will be calculated automatically.
For Caltrain, riders will "tag on" at the station where they board and then "tag off" at their destination station. The correct fare will be calculated and deducted automatically. If the rider fails to tag off, they will be charged the maximum fare from where they boarded. Caltrain conductors will have handheld devices to verify that riders tagged before they boarded.
#9: Hmm, I thought Caltrain was not tag-on tag-off systems. I remember using it when you press a button for the zone, tag the card, and your appropriate fare is automatically deducted.
Yeah, Caltrain decided they didn't like the self-select style card-readers. They'll be moving to a dual-tag system for their full rollout.
FUCK translink. I like my fast pass just fine thank you. The board of Supes are going to have to pry my fast pass from my cold dead hands!
Seriously though, aren't you all super excited about the up coming city hall meetings in which homeless and poor advocacy groups go into full freak out mode over a transit card that REQUIRES a credit card? I can't wait for that fun to start!
Actually, it doesn't require a credit card. You only need a credit card if you want to utilize the autoload feature.
Who to believe... who to believe...
http://sanjose.bizjournals.com/sanjose/stories/2003/08/18/smallb3.html
Yep. BART seems totally interested in seeing TransLink work, not. The next question I've got is: do the MUNI fare inspectors have TransLink readers or not?
Ummm... what exactly is the problem here?
Well over a hundred million dollars -- rapidly heading towards two -- has disappeared without any public-beneficial trace into the pockets of private contractors.
Steve "$5 billion Bay Bridge cost overrun" Heminger is still executive director at MTC and neither he nor any of his staff have been indicted, so we can expect the fun and good times -- FasTrak! Central Subway! BART to San Jose! 511.org! Caldecott Tunnel! -- to continue indefinitely.
As far as I can see it all went exactly as forseen. No surprises, absolutely no deviation from the usual script.
What's your issue then? If you don't like how we do "transportation" in the Bay Area, either move or ... adjust you expectations way way way way WAY down.