Wouldn't it be cool if the Metrocard did this?

[metsfan]

It would be neat to have this an collect like a thousand metrocards (clean them first of course) and create a map with all of the trip segments from each one.

 

- A

[SubwayGuy]

In theroy could do it. It would have to be done like they way smartcards are done. Have the option to register(Register yourself and the card) or not.

 

When Metrocard gets turned into a smartcard it would be more than likely be an option.

 

I generally don't like those "options" because as time goes on they tend to become "mandatory". I get what you're saying, I just don't trust suits to "keep" the options open and not make them mandatory.

 

Call it the Facebook theory of management distrust.

[m7zanr160s]

I would love something like that to check card balances; sometimes I forget.

[B35 via Church]

While it would be cool to see the history of how many times the metrocard was used, the card becomes useless once it expires.

I remember reading somewhere, a couple yrs ago, that you can mail in your metrocard & request a printout of your metrocard activity/history.... At one time, I actually thought about doing it... but then again, I didn't know how much truth there was to the whole thing....

 

as far as seeing your metrocard history online, I agree w/ anyone who holds the stance of invasion of privacy... once something has been posted online, it is there for good... it becomes public information (or at least, not as private as one might want it to be).... tbh, I wouldn't want to see it online, anyway....

 

 

so u say ''random string of numbers'' right, NO DISRESPECT but that person has to be a loser to do that....who has the time to do that....it would be fun to look at the travel history but would be pointless

 

i dont think its a threat to someones personal security

 

You're goin on the notion that, since such information would be useless to you, that it would be useless to anyone else... the ole subjectivist fallacy....

 

Apparently you never heard of black hat hackers, carders, phishers, etc.... These people go on the notion that "another man's trash, is another man's treasure"... figuratively, and literally (as in, there have been stories of ppl. sifting through trash for w/e info they can find on someone)....

 

That so called "loser" can have access to a person's bank account, just by typing in a "random string of #'s" to luck out & check someone's travel history online.... especially if someone's travel patterns are uniform.... sounds impossible, but these type of ppl. I mention in the above paragraph are persistent as f**k.... Don't take that to mean, I'm saying it's easy to do, though...

 

just b/c 1+1=2, does not mean that 2+2 can't end up leading to 4...

...and 4*4 can't end up leading to 16

...and 16*16 can't end up leading to 256

(unstoppable metaphor #105)

 

In plain english, don't be so naive, bro....

[B35 via Church]

It would be neat to have this an collect like a thousand metrocards (clean them first of course) and create a map with all of the trip segments from each one.

 

- A

 

With one metrocard, you would have overlap....

 

a thousand of them, you wouldn't be able to see the map...

 

 

I would love something like that to check card balances; sometimes I forget.

yeh, I'd like some tangible application/device I could use to check metrocard balances...

 

lol.... if the homeless (or "penny-pinchers") were to get their hands on somethin like that, we'd probably see less metrocards on the street....

[error46146]

metrocards shouldn't even be serialized and tracked..it should just be a plastic card that holds a monetary balance and nothing more

[Via Garibaldi 8]

metrocards shouldn't even be serialized and tracked..it should just be a plastic card that holds a monetary balance and nothing more

 

However, I would think Metrocards would help the MTA see riding patterns of passengers and thus help them to improve service.

[checkmatechamp13]

They do see the riding patterns of riders-but all they see are numbers. That's all you need to make service adjustments-you don't need to know who, specifically is riding the system.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

They do see the riding patterns of riders-but all they see are numbers. That's all you need to make service adjustments-you don't need to know who, specifically is riding the system.

 

That whole notion is why the S60 was axed... Really a shame.

[St Louis Car 09]

Well former Gov George Pataki seems to like the metrocard just the way they are.

 

[R32 3348]

if there was a webpage attached to the mta.info page that u can enter your metrocard serial number and see how many times it was used, where it was used on what time and day, what trains u took and transfered to another train or a bus etc.....

 

a TB cop told me there is a system to catch excessive usage metrocards...so i kno they have something up their sleeves

 

 

mta needs to work on this....what do u guys say?

 

 

ps....the station agents have something similar to this system im talking about...but i want a ''civilian accessible'' one.

You don't have to track the amount of times a MetroCard was used to prevent excessive usage. That was why they proposed capping MetroCards, to prevent abuse.

How? Why? Barely anyone I know knows that the has a website. Only us railfans do. They complain that the doesn't warn about service changes, but they would already post it on the website a day before.

Well then you would have to tell every New Yorker about the (MTA)'s website since most of them don't even know it exist.

These are generalizations. Plenty of people use the website for information on weekend service changes.

But still, I think the MTA can do much better with making it easier to find important information. I actually went looking for very basic info. today on the website and couldn't find it because where I was looking, the information wasn't updated there.

Forgive me for asking, but what were you looking for? There may be an easier way.

[Via Garibaldi 8]

You don't have to track the amount of times a MetroCard was used to prevent excessive usage. That was why they proposed capping MetroCards, to prevent abuse.

 

 

These are generalizations. Plenty of people use the website for information on weekend service changes.

 

Forgive me for asking, but what were you looking for? There may be an easier way.

 

I wanted to see what the service would be like for Christmas Eve and went to look at the schedules of the express buses I use, but it isn't updated, but it is shown on the "Holiday Schedule".

 

What I don't get is why do they show all service as "Good Service" even when that actual service isn't running?

 

Like today, there is no service on the BM1 - BM5 routes, yet they have "Good Service". It can quite confusing because there is no service today due to the holiday, but usually there is service on Saturdays on these lines.

[checkmatechamp13]

That whole notion is why the S60 was axed... Really a shame.

 

I'm not following you. They saw that x # of riders transferred from the S53, y # of riders transferred from the S61, z # of riders transferred from the S62, etc. What does knowing who, specifically is riding the route do as far as adjusting service?

[Via Garibaldi 8]

I'm not following you. They saw that x # of riders transferred from the S53, y # of riders transferred from the S61, z # of riders transferred from the S62, etc. What does knowing who, specifically is riding the route do as far as adjusting service?

 

I don't think that everything should be determined my numbers. Sometimes numbers don't always tell the story. Now why couldn't they run the S66 on weekends as well to cover that portion of the S60? Sure it was underutilized, but you and I know that line was used by students and seniors the most.

 

Before the cuts were implemented, I wrote my representatives, as well as Bloomberg arguing that we've been touting the importance of mass transit and getting people out of their cars and using public transportation and how these types of cuts are doing the exact opposite.

[checkmatechamp13]

Buy you still didn't answer my question: What does knowing the specific person who got on the bus actually do for the MTA?

 

Every time a person gets on the bus, it is known how they paid. When I get on a bus, it notes that the fare was paid with a Student MetroCard. When my grandmother gets on the bus, it notes that the fare was paid with a Senior MetroCard. When you get on the bus, it notes that the fare was paid with an Express Bus Plus MetroCard. What more does the MTA need to know?

 

And about the S60, it is sad that the bulk of its riders were students and seniors-two groups that, in general don't have access to cars. That means that the route wasn't attractive enough to the general population. In my opinion, combining it with the S66 was one of the best decisions that it made.

 

On a side note, if the S66 ran weekends, it would serve two neighborhoods that formerly lost service-Westerleigh and Grymes Hill. IMO, either the S66 or S54 (north of SeaView Hospital) should run weekends, but not both. There just isn't enough ridership to support both, but there should be enough to support one route (considering that they both would serve St. George).

[Via Garibaldi 8]

Buy you still didn't answer my question: What does knowing the specific person who got on the bus actually do for the MTA?

 

Every time a person gets on the bus, it is known how they paid. When I get on a bus, it notes that the fare was paid with a Student MetroCard. When my grandmother gets on the bus, it notes that the fare was paid with a Senior MetroCard. When you get on the bus, it notes that the fare was paid with an Express Bus Plus MetroCard. What more does the MTA need to know?

 

And about the S60, it is sad that the bulk of its riders were students and seniors-two groups that, in general don't have access to cars. That means that the route wasn't attractive enough to the general population. In my opinion, combining it with the S66 was one of the best decisions that it made.

 

On a side note, if the S66 ran weekends, it would serve two neighborhoods that formerly lost service-Westerleigh and Grymes Hill. IMO, either the S66 or S54 (north of SeaView Hospital) should run weekends, but not both. There just isn't enough ridership to support both, but there should be enough to support one route (considering that they both would serve St. George).

 

 

That you can't just make cuts based on numbers. As you stated, "And about the S60, it is sad that the bulk of its riders were students and seniors-two groups that, in general don't have access to cars."

 

That's my point. Of course just looking at the numbers it would be easy to make that cut to the S60, but knowing the population that uses that line and their lack of alternatives, every effort should've been made to not only have the S66 run up Grymes Hill, but also have it on the weekends.

 

What's the story with the S66 anyway? Why was weekend service so poor that it had to be cut?

[checkmatechamp13]

Their reasoning was that the S60 was way too expensive to save on weekends. At a cost of $13.52 per person, there was no way they could justify running on the weekends (at least as a standalone route), even if a lot of seniors used that route.

 

As far as the S66 goes, I have a 1993 bus map that shows it running 24/7 (15 minutes peak, 30 minutes off-peak, and 60 minutes at night). I guess they eliminated weekend/overnight service for the same reason as the S54 and S60-low ridership and high cost per passenger.

 

On a side note, the S60 ran from 6AM-Midnight in 1993 (before it was cut, it ran 6AM-9PM weekdays and 10AM-6PM weekends)

 

At that time, cutting the S66 on weekends could be justified because the S54 was a reasonable alternative. A bit far, (about 1/2 mile away) but reasonable. Now, there is no service in the whole area.

[brokecrazy]

If you get an EZ pay metrocard, you can see your usage on the computer.