Too bad I missed this
Bus transfer printers are scheduled to be up and running June 17, 2013. The ability to print out durable, legible transfers on buses will help standardize proof of payment between bus and rail. The printers are being manufactured by INIT, which is also the vendor for the new CAD/AVL system. As soon as February 2013, printers should be arriving for field testing.
Why, why, WHY????
ReplyDeleteDoes TriMet REALLY need to make another mistake of the 1980s? The transfer is ancient. TriMet needs to follow the leading transit agencies into stored value cards and replace transfers, flash passes - and most importantly would even the playing field between the largely cash paying bus riders, and TriMet's desire for more credit-worthy MAX and WES riders.
TriMet can still allow a cash fare, but like NYCMTA - a cash fare is good for exactly one ride. No transfer. If you want a transfer, get a card.
As a side benefit, the card will also include RELIABLE ridership data unlike TriMet's horrendous and unreliable infrared counter system that doesn't even exist on every vehicle, so TriMet has to pay people and do counts and reconcile the two together. The card will know exactly where someone boarded (either the card was swiped against a station reader, or on a bus tied to a GPS coordinate).
It kills eight birds at once, but instead TriMet is blowing more scarce resources on the 1920s era transfer technology.
Init is our automated stop system (OBS as we call it).
ReplyDeleteAnd we are phasing out the last of our flash passes tomorrow (June 4), all King County Employee badges have been switched over, they have an ORCA card embedded in them with our pass loaded on it (it also will get you in buildings like a keycard as necessary). Univ of Washingtons ID cards have an ORCA pass embedded in them as well, they were switched over last year.
What evidence do you have TriMet's infrared counter system is horrendous and unreliable? Isn't it true that the people who do the "counts" actually hand out surveys that can gather much more data than ons and offs?
ReplyDeleteAlso what are those "eight birds"? And isn't it true that the printers didn't exist in the 1920s?
My open question- does the purchase of transfer printers mean that a late 20th century stored-value system is many, many years down the pike for Trimet? That they expect to get the longterm kind of use out of these transfer printers that they do out of the fareboxes? Is is an either/or situation?
ReplyDeleteOr, do these printers somehow become part of some up to date fare system at some point in our lifetime?
[It's a shame that the Feds don't view reasonable fare collection as part of a successful transit system and provide partial Federal underwriting for that.]