Transit Advocates Call for Expansion of MTA's Board Anywhere Feature on Local Buses

[bobtehpanda]

Skipped a whole page of this nonsense.

 

You want this "easy boarding", then MTA should have done like what Oyster in London (and others have done): touch-in and touch-out.

 

MTA is the one that let the side down.  Technology has been there, THEY have opted not to do it.

 

I'm sure the ACLU, et al would have the problem with you having something tied to you, personally,  as some sort of responsibliity for payment.  THAT is the real problem at the nub of all of this.

 

Devil is in the details. British banks in general have had tap-and-go bank cards for years, whereas in the US we're still stuck in magstripe land. Given that one of the primary motivations of the MTA's move to contactless payment is getting out of the business of handling a payments technology, they put off the project until tap-and-go banking cards became more common here so that their payment solution wouldn't be as big of a headache.

 

The flip side of moving too fast is the Ventra system, which has had a lot of criticisms regarding how the Ventra card works.

[MassTransitHonchkrow]

Completely disagree. To deter farebeating citywide, they should be on ALL bus lines. End of story. I completely support this, including the costs. It's time for the deadbeats to either pay or walk, and it's time for the to stop acting as if they can't do anything to improve bus service and start taking steps to do more. Pushing everyone to overcrowded subways is not working in the slightest. They also need to start discussing what they are doing about replacing the Metrocard. Let the public have some say on what works best, particularly in areas where there aren't subways. I am sick of having to refill my Metrocard in Manhattan. If I don't I'm stuck with a long walk down to 242nd street where just about all of the damn machines are busted. Ridiculous all around.

Largely, it's due to sabotage. Service workers have been making rounds recently with armed MTA police personnel standing watch as the piggies are cracked open and sent to market.

 

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???? Mass Transit Honchkrow ????

[East New York]

I've said this a long time ago..... Some local lines definitely need some type of off-board payment. Even with the new touch-less SmartCards coming, it's not going to speed things up that much faster than they are now.

As for the fare beaters, I still feel that the B46 is the heaviest line used in the city. Hands down. Not only that but all day and all night people ask for rides on all the Flatbush lines.... Just saw 2 people get on the B41 and they didn't pay. This was about 15 minutes ago. All day long people board the back door. May of these people actually have the fare but don't pay it because they don't want to wait in line for a bus and rush for a seat in the rear. I counted over 40 people enter the back door of an RTS on just one crosstown trip on the B6 one day. 90% of them got on between Midwood High School and Utica Av. The B46 is the same way at Eastern Parkway daily. It's gotten so bad that police officers Stand at the corner looking for people entering the back doors. I also counted 32 people passing off tickets on the B46 yesterday alone. I was asked for mine EVERY time I've been on the 46SBS since it has started.... I've also seen it on ALL the other SBS lines....

When these automatic counters are installed in buses, what I have been saying for years will be finally be proven... Ridership is NOT going down as much as reports might state. It's just that less people are paying, and operators don't deny passengers nearly as much as they used to. Especially not after the incident with Edwin on the B46 a few years ago.

[MassTransitHonchkrow]

I've said this a long time ago..... Some local lines definitely need some type of off-board payment. Even with the new touch-less SmartCards coming, it's not going to speed things up that much faster than they are now.

 

As for the fare beaters, I still feel that the B46 is the heaviest line used in the city. Hands down. Not only that but all day and all night people ask for rides on all the Flatbush lines.... Just saw 2 people get on the B41 and they didn't pay. This was about 15 minutes ago. All day long people board the back door. May of these people actually have the fare but don't pay it because the font want to wait in line for a bus and rush for a seat in the rear. I counted over 40 people enter the back door of an RTS on just one crosstown trip on the B6 one day. 90% of them got on between Midwood High School and Utica Av. The B46 is the same way at Eastern Parkway daily. It's gotten so bad that police officers Stand at the corner looking for people entering the back doors. I also counted 32 people passing off tickets on the B46 yesterday alone. I was asked for mine EVERY time I've been on the 46SBS since it has started.... I've also seen it on ALL the other SBS lines....

 

When these automatic counters are installed in buses, what I have been saying for years will be finally be proven... Ridership is NOT doing down as much as reports may state. It's just that less people are paying, and operators don't deny passengers nearly as much as they used to. Especially not after the incident with Edwin on the B46 a few years ago.

As for local routes, I'd nominate the Bx36, B35, Q60, and the M66. These routes are notoriously slow, crowded or both. And all of these buses go through neighborhoods with high population or construction density.

 

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[East New York]

Skipped a whole page of this nonsense.

 

You want this "easy boarding", then MTA should have done like what Oyster in London (and others have done): touch-in and touch-out.

 

MTA is the one that let the side down.  Technology has been there, THEY have opted not to do it.

 

I'm sure the ACLU, et al would have the problem with you having something tied to you, personally,  as some sort of responsibliity for payment.  THAT is the real problem at the nub of all of this.

 

Thats not necessarily true. MTA couldn't "just get new system." For one, they had to wait until the contracts were up on the old fareboxes, and they also have to not only integrate MTA Bus Company, but they have to replace the fair boxes on 6,000 buses, and 468 train stations. dreds of Metrocard Machines. All the SBS machines will have to be replaced as well as the hunDoesn't matter if the technology has been around or not. They didn't opt not to use anything. A new fare payment system has been in the works for more than 5 years now. MTA didn't want a new system unless it was going to all buses. Same with the radio systems. MTA would have moved to replace them a few years ago, however the Motorola contract for the Bus Company prevented the TA from moving forward with the system. The contract now expires within 2 years, and the new systems will be put in place. Not only that, but the fareboxes are tied into the radios. Now that MTA knows exactly who will provide the next radio system, they have moved forward with new fare payment system.