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SF Appeal reports that Muni will be replacing all existing fare gates at its underground Metro stations with TransLink-only fare gates (PDF) by fall of 2010, and it's possible Fast Passes will only be available electronically as well.
The 98 new underground fare gates, 40 fare vending machines and 16 new agent control terminals at Embarcadero through West Portal will largely be funded by money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act and federal grants. Outdoor vending machines might also be implemented at street level, for which MTA has set aside $3 million.
The new fare gates are projected to fix some existing passenger-flow problems, but we wonder how many new ones they will create. For instance, on TransLink's FAQ, they inform users that if a card reader can't read your card, it's always a good idea to carry a little extra cash on you. That's real reassuring for Fast Pass users!!
And how will this work for out-of-town visitors and other people who don't use Muni? There's also the whole Big Brother aspect of our every move being documented on some database. We guess this could come in handy if someone were to ever need proof of an alibi though...
TransLink has worked OK for SFist for the most part, but there have been some inconveniences. It takes up to 72 hours for your funds to go through to your account when paid online, and for some reason the Add Value machines at the Muni stations don't currently work for us. Since we've only tried the Add Value machines in a hurry, we haven't called TransLink to straighten it out and just simply paid our fare with cash.
We also got an error at one of the stations after using our TransLink card 90 minutes previously. The agent let us through, but what if we had been nabbed by fare inspectors at some point after that? The situation would have also proven annoying if we were at an unattended fare gate and had to run to the other end of the station. (This has happened a few times at Powell Station when none of the fare gates were accepting coins for some reason, and there was no agent on duty.)
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Can we then fire lazy union ticket booth BART workers?
Does this mean that hopping the turnstiles at unattended MUNI booths is now really, really, you know, like really bad?
If Muni just gave a discount to fast pass Translink users, then I could careless about what they do to their turnstiles.
The only thing I wish is that Translink itself would publish a guide on all the possible things that could show up on that darn small screen. Only wishing because the bus drivers sure as hell don't know what's going on if your tag goes wrong.
This is a good move on the part of Muni. Maybe we can eventually get rid of the archaic fare inspector system altogether.
What would you propose to replace it?
I propose tagging everyone with an RFID chip under their skin and installing a device on the train/bus doors that shocks anyone passing through whose chip says they haven't paid.
Luddites. SIGH.
They're Luddites for preferring a system that works over one that's been a complete failure for the past 10 years?
Look, once they fire the Translink vendor and demand their money back, and hire someone who knows what they're doing *cough* Motorola *cough* I'll be with you on this one. But as it stands now, that ain't gonna happen.
Can someone please explain to me why I can't simply pay for Bart and Muni with the cash chip in my AmEx card? Unlike Translink, it actually *works*, and by works I mean 100% of the time.
Passenger-flow issues in the underground portion of the MUNI metro system? Hmm .... The only passenger-flow system issue I observe are folks who don't understand the difference between BART and MUNI .... so many times I've had to tell someone wanting to reach the East Bay or SFO airport via MUNI that they went through the wrong gates/the wrong platform.... and those are just people that ask me (imagine the other 80% that don't ask and just waste their time riding MUNI for awhile before figuring out they're not going to see the airport ever).
Speaking of which, WHY is there a difference between Bart and Muni? Who's brilliant idea was it for each county to have their own transit system?
Which single county does BART represent?
Does it fix the passenger flow issues caused by not being able to get on muni without exact change, or trying to find an agent in one of the unattended booths?
I'd say those are rider education issues ... and no real impediment to passengers who already figured out the system for the MUNI metro system ... their signage needs some work, fo 'sho
It would be nice if it was actually advantageous to use Translink. You get a 90 minute transfer. But when paying cash on Muni, I've been given anywhere from 90 minutes to all day transfer passes, with the average being something like 2.5 hours. I'm going to use it on Bart, but I'm not going to pay more money to Muni than necessary.
Not to mention you can always buy transfers from "some dude" outside Civic Center station for like a buck...
Muni gets stimulus money from the feds, gotta spend it, ya know.
Anyway, those fare gates are soooooo old, they need to get replaced. I don't even think the company who made the machine even makes the replacement parts.
How come when the Translink machines break you are supposed to pay cash, but when the fareboxes on buses break no one has to pay?
ahh ... good point!
Often fare gates do not accept coins on purpose (passes only) said Muni when I asked. They said when a position is not staffed homeless people put a few coins in and then complain it didn't work or want a refund. And, Muni doesn't want to staff all gates. So, some gates are set not to accept coins. Anyone who needs to pay cash must walk to another gate area where an agent is present.
I note that when I was in London SEVERAL YEARS AGO I was able to pay for one card that worked on all of their subways AND on their bus system.
It's ridiculous that we can't get it done here.
Lots of other places have had these working for years. NYC introduced MetroCard in '94 and discontinued everything else in '03, Paris moved to the Navigo in '01, Oyster in London in '03, Hong Kong's Octopus in '97... even Atlanta and DC have introduced systems about halfway through the past decade.
For the center of technology for, well, basically the entire world, we lag behind horribly. While we lead in technology we also have astounding skills at bureaucratic infighting that seem to rarely get mentioned much outside the region.
Personally the biggest problem is that TransLink doesn't accept Commuter Checks. My girlfriend reverse commutes into Oakland every day using a mix of Muni and BART and this would be perfect for her, if only TransLink actually let her use her Commuter Checks. So instead she's still stuck buying paper FastPasses in person and somehow applying their value towards her BART EZ Rider card. I don't know how she does it, but since it's clearly possible to put their value towards a stored-value card you'd think TransLink wouldn't make it such a problem.
EZ Rider seems to actually, y'know, work. Just like almost everything else about BART it actually works smoothly and arrives on time with accurate predictions. I keep saying we need to have a proper subway here rather than a terrible mish-mash of buses, laughably limited subway, and a light rail (a bus on rails so it can easily get stuck behind double-parked cars... GREAT!), but Muni would still probably find a way to horribly screw that up. Hell, what I am saying, the Central Subway project (massively expensive, goes nowhere, aimed at tourists, doesn't connect to existing transit) is everything I'd ever expect.
You are so right. Hell, I could personally solve this City´s transit problems. Just give me a shitload of money and the authority to build as many underground tunnels as I want.
Yes it would be horribly expensive and problematic, but if we keep spending big gobs of money trying to continually rejigger our miserably half-assed system we're wasting more in the long run.
Most other major cities have functional, wide-ranging subway systems. It is the perfect solution to our transit problems and for our density and layout. Why in the hell don't we have one?
Actually, Translink does accept commuter checks in a few ways:
--Automatic loading if you tell Commuter Check to execute the order and give your card number.
--Commuter Check preloaded MasterCard lets you add Translink funds at an automated machine.
--If you get the checks (vouchers), go to a ticket office like the AC Transit Transbay Terminal ticket office and in just a minute, you have your new funds loaded.
Yeah, I actually looked a bit more into it and apparently they do accept the actual paper checks. I suspect she'd find it more of a hassle than using them to get a FastPass from the market on the corner though.
Most of the blame is really with her employer for sticking with the paper vouchers... or her for not looking into how to get it done automatically.
I'll never understand people who would rather put up with frequent inconvenience because they find the initial hassle of getting things working correctly to be too much to bear.