MetroCard glitch leaves subway riders unable to pay with credit, debit cards

[Turbo19]

Inconstancy is nothing new to the MTA.

 

But damn, forget it, I'd rather just head to a vendor when given the chance.

[rosskin92]

Inconstancy is nothing new to the MTA.

 

But damn, forget it, I'd rather just head to a vendor when given the chance.

 

Speaking of vendors....

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-11-12/news/chi-rta-mails-ventra-card-to-a-woman-who-died-five-years-ago-20131111_1_ventra-customer-service-center-ventra-card-ventra-rollout

[AndrewJC]

I generally avoid these outages by refilling my card a few days before I really need to. I very much prefer to use a credit card (for the rewards, if nothing else), and I certainly never have enough cash on me to pay for a 30-day unlimited.

[LTA1992]

The MTA cannot do anything about the state of the technology itself; they're not the ones developing the tech in the first place. The MTA has only been conducting studies about whether such a system is financially feasible.

But if the company that will be handling it has experience in cities where the technology has been around longer and were more successful, then there should be less mistakes. When the rolled out MetroCard for the first time, it was basic, as the system was still young. At the same time, it was good enough for the company who created MetroCard to replicate it for the CTA. The current MetroCard Gold is the updated, more efficient version. Introducing transfers and the like.

 

Today, SmartCards are in more of an abundance than MetroCard-like systems were in 1993, so there HAS to be  company out there that can do this without, or at least minimize, the problems of Ventra. 

 

And of course it's financially feasible. I actually got an interest in the Smart Card last week and in my research, the has stated earlier this year that it CANNOT maintain the MetroCard past 2019. It will just cost too much. Way too much.

[bobtehpanda]

But if the company that will be handling it has experience in cities where the technology has been around longer and were more successful, then there should be less mistakes. When the rolled out MetroCard for the first time, it was basic, as the system was still young. At the same time, it was good enough for the company who created MetroCard to replicate it for the CTA. The current MetroCard Gold is the updated, more efficient version. Introducing transfers and the like.

 

Today, SmartCards are in more of an abundance than MetroCard-like systems were in 1993, so there HAS to be  company out there that can do this without, or at least minimize, the problems of Ventra. 

 

And of course it's financially feasible. I actually got an interest in the Smart Card last week and in my research, the has stated earlier this year that it CANNOT maintain the MetroCard past 2019. It will just cost too much. Way too much.

 

Of course RFID smartcards are available; look at PATH SmartLink. What the MTA is trying to do is use a next-gen system that will be able to directly handle credit, debit, and phone NFC payments. These are not the smartcards you see everywhere nowadays; sure, you can use the 1997-era Octopus with your phone and your watch, but those are specially made phone chips and watches for that proprietary technology.

 

The MTA has to make sure that when the system is put in place, not only that the system is working, but that the system will be able to handle real-time payments without being blocked off from the wider payments network (as branches and stores sometimes do). Imagine this - it's 2023, and during the height of the PM rush Times Square loses its connection to the payments network. This would mean that anyone using a credit, debit, or phone to pay would be locked out of the system, unlike the current situation, where the only people affected are those trying to load their Metrocards.

 

Whether or not MTA should be trying to reinvent the wheel is a completely different question, but the point is that at the current state of technology, it is not reliable enough to adopt in the New York system.

[CenSin]

For a process this vital and an organization this large, I would have expected better from whoever was managing the network. It's good practice to use redundant networking equipment for things that must be working all the time. There are prosumer routers that have 2 to 3 WAN ports and can route network traffic through any of the others should one of them fail. With 2 cheap internet plans—ideally from unrelated providers—your network uptime is practically 100%. (Don't forget the backup power generators.)

[bobtehpanda]

For a process this vital and an organization this large, I would have expected better from whoever was managing the network. It's good practice to use redun

dant networking equipment for things that must be working all the time. There are prosumer routers that have 2 to 3 WAN ports and can route network traffic through any of the others should one of them fail. With 2 cheap internet plans—ideally from unrelated providers—your network uptime is practically 100%. (Don't forget the backup power generators.)

 

Wouldn't the onus fall on Verizon in this case, and not the MTA?

 

This is not an MTA-specific issue, in any case; many major retailers and bank branches will have outages in their networks from time to time.

[CenSin]

Yes. This is Verizon's fault, but the MTA should have had some sort of fallback plan, though customers should always have some cash on hand anyway as well. Imagine medical equipment and vital staff depending on a hospital networks' single points of failure.

[Turbo19]

A side note, just in my experience Verizon hasn't been the best as far as service goes Dropped all contracts with them a few years back so perhaps it's changed, but still.

[CenSin]

I have Verizon FiOS, and even fiber doesn't help Verizon stay up 99.99% of the time. There are intermittent outages from time to time where network packets don't go anywhere. Verizon does offer business class which some have claimed to give much better customer service and better responses when there's a problem, but I'd rather pay for a second ISP like Optimum Online for the redundancy than extra for the service (which I should be getting anyway) from Verizon.

[bobtehpanda]

Yes. This is Verizon's fault, but the MTA should have had some sort of fallback plan, though customers should always have some cash on hand anyway as well. Imagine medical equipment and vital staff depending on a hospital networks' single points of failure.

 

Bank branches, which are probably more important when it comes to maintaining connections to banking networks and the like, go down all the time. My local Chase branch would have some sort of network malfunction every other week. There's no such thing as 100% fail-safe, and the MTA should realize that before allowing direct payment at turnstiles rather than via an intermediate fare media such as a smartcard or magnetic strip card.

[rosskin92]

A side note, just in my experience Verizon hasn't been the best as far as service goes Dropped all contracts with them a few years back so perhaps it's changed, but still.

depends on the area. Verizon is the only carrier in chicago that gets service in the CTA tunnels, and down in Union Station for me. Its expensive, but they have been helpful and awesome to me.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5c using Tapatalk

[Turbo19]

depends on the area. Verizon is the only carrier in chicago that gets service in the CTA tunnels, and down in Union Station for me. Its expensive, but they have been helpful and awesome to me.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone 5c using Tapatalk

Perhaps it's regional, and maybe it's improved where I'm at over time. As it stands though I'm nearly forced into other contracts from the time being.

[Kamen Rider]

It was a provider end failure. all Verizon's fault. nothing the MTA could do about it. What, you want them to wire in Time Warner as well? carry a $10 or a $20 and live with it.

[LTA1992]

Looking at Transport for London and it's Oyster card (Being replaced with a new card that has the features the wants), I think the should just work on getting the SmartCard system going with the basic features first. Subway, bus, railroad and possible ferry connectivity. Then move towards all the extras later on like what they did with first MetroCard and then introduced the MetroCard Gold.