... the Carman's Union has done a good job of annoyance this morning, by dropping flyers on every bus seat warning us that Teh Booogeyyyman Late Night Criminal Terrrurists will kill everybody on the Red Line if they can't get their featherbedding scheme in place!
'Cause all passengers need "guards" to "spot suspicious packages on empty trains" and protect us from late night criminal elements! 9/11 Thug Thizzzle Changed Everything!
lines have both successfully eliminated guards without any negative consequence to rider experience. I'm surprised the union is even putting up a fight at this point.
Another ridiculous advertising scheme from the T. Remember the moving/flickering ads on the tunnel wall between Harvard and Central? That died a quick death. All it did was make people nauseous. An ad can still be seen there for some movie that came and went in something like January 2008. I don't know why they don't take it down.
I never had a problem with those, and always thought they were pretty effective in getting people's attention (especially tourists)-- this is the first I've ever heard anyone complain about nausea related to them. I always wondered why I didn't see more of those.
yeah, i for one thought they were really cool, and actually actively looked for them when i took the red line in that area. i was quite disappointed when they stopped.
They do them between Broadway and South Station. At least I think they still do - I confess I haven't looked up lately, lol.
"If the audio advertising idea can generate money for the MBTA without irritating riders, officials said they will give it a try."
If they think there's a way to do that, they're even dumber than I thought. ;-)
Why is it that the T seems to think that more noise is the answer to everything? As mentioned, the T radio thing died a quick death. So did the planned TV station on platforms. And they still play way too many useless announcements on the PA system (wouldn't it be wonderful if they could just limit use of that system to train arrivals, delays, and other crucial/emergency announcements??).
The T has massive amounts of space on buses now to advertise to bus riders. How many poster ads do you see that are actually paid for? This is because nobody wants to advertise to bus passengers. This idea will die faster than "Citizen's Bank/State".
There's also a lot of empty ad panels on trains (many of the big square ones next to the doors), but they could have been ripped down.
Are you sure the bus ad panels are empty because nobody wants to advertise there? I'd assume it was mismanagement on the part of the T or their ad agency.
If revenue is such a big problem why not start collecting fares from children (who often take up multiple seats with strollers). I remember paying half the adult fare as a child, Im not sure why the T did away with this ( also not sure why they dont enforce the 2 children per paying adult rule either).
Actually entice some more businesses to set up in the rat, trash and urine infested subway stations and charge them ridiculous rents? Surely Starbucks and SubWay would make $$gazillions$$ selling pre-fab lattes and sandos to tired, hungry, pissed off commuters.
With the old turnstiles, you paid the child fare (or senior/student/person with disabilities) by dropping a few coins in the turnstile next to the booth.
When the Charlie machines first came out, there was an option to by a cheaper child's ticket. But too many adults were using those tickets illegally.
So they "solved" the problem by letting kids ride for free. At first they said you were supposed to get a T employee to log into the machine and print a free kid's ticket for you, but the typical procedure quickly devolved into walking through the turnstile together.
Comments
“Having said that, I can
“Having said that, I can certainly imagine that people will hate it,’’ he said.
Meanwhile ...
... the Carman's Union has done a good job of annoyance this morning, by dropping flyers on every bus seat warning us that Teh Booogeyyyman Late Night Criminal Terrrurists will kill everybody on the Red Line if they can't get their featherbedding scheme in place!
'Cause all passengers need "guards" to "spot suspicious packages on empty trains" and protect us from late night criminal elements! 9/11 Thug Thizzzle Changed Everything!
Orange and Blue
lines have both successfully eliminated guards without any negative consequence to rider experience. I'm surprised the union is even putting up a fight at this point.
Ridiculous!
Another ridiculous advertising scheme from the T. Remember the moving/flickering ads on the tunnel wall between Harvard and Central? That died a quick death. All it did was make people nauseous. An ad can still be seen there for some movie that came and went in something like January 2008. I don't know why they don't take it down.
Counterpoint
I never had a problem with those, and always thought they were pretty effective in getting people's attention (especially tourists)-- this is the first I've ever heard anyone complain about nausea related to them. I always wondered why I didn't see more of those.
yeah, i for one thought they
yeah, i for one thought they were really cool, and actually actively looked for them when i took the red line in that area. i was quite disappointed when they stopped.
They still have them
They do them between Broadway and South Station. At least I think they still do - I confess I haven't looked up lately, lol.
"If the audio advertising idea can generate money for the MBTA without irritating riders, officials said they will give it a try."
If they think there's a way to do that, they're even dumber than I thought. ;-)
Why is it that the T seems to think that more noise is the answer to everything? As mentioned, the T radio thing died a quick death. So did the planned TV station on platforms. And they still play way too many useless announcements on the PA system (wouldn't it be wonderful if they could just limit use of that system to train arrivals, delays, and other crucial/emergency announcements??).
Sell the ad space they have, first
The T has massive amounts of space on buses now to advertise to bus riders. How many poster ads do you see that are actually paid for? This is because nobody wants to advertise to bus passengers. This idea will die faster than "Citizen's Bank/State".
There's also a lot of empty
There's also a lot of empty ad panels on trains (many of the big square ones next to the doors), but they could have been ripped down.
Are you sure the bus ad panels are empty because nobody wants to advertise there? I'd assume it was mismanagement on the part of the T or their ad agency.
If revenue is such a big
If revenue is such a big problem why not start collecting fares from children (who often take up multiple seats with strollers). I remember paying half the adult fare as a child, Im not sure why the T did away with this ( also not sure why they dont enforce the 2 children per paying adult rule either).
Why Not
Actually entice some more businesses to set up in the rat, trash and urine infested subway stations and charge them ridiculous rents? Surely Starbucks and SubWay would make $$gazillions$$ selling pre-fab lattes and sandos to tired, hungry, pissed off commuters.
It's called running the T
It's called running the T like a business.
Mass transit is more expensive than driving with every additional passenger in the group.
If family of four has to pay 4 fares, none of them will ride.
If family of four only pays 2 fares, then they will all ride, and the T gets 2 fares they wouldnt have gotten had they charged all 4.
why kids ride the T for free
With the old turnstiles, you paid the child fare (or senior/student/person with disabilities) by dropping a few coins in the turnstile next to the booth.
When the Charlie machines first came out, there was an option to by a cheaper child's ticket. But too many adults were using those tickets illegally.
So they "solved" the problem by letting kids ride for free. At first they said you were supposed to get a T employee to log into the machine and print a free kid's ticket for you, but the typical procedure quickly devolved into walking through the turnstile together.