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Soon, you'll be able to see just how late your train is, but you won't be able to get a refund for riding it
By adamg on Wed, 02/23/2011 - 8:37am
The Globe reports the T plans to introduce countdown clocks to Red, Orange and Blue Line stations, but will pay for it in part by eliminating the refunds it now offers to people whose trains are way late. Also look for lots more advertising - right down to the CharlieCard - as the T tries to cut a $130 million or so deficit.
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Comments
cost
I just want to know why adding this feature is going to cost so much. I really hope this plan DOESN'T include plans to replace all the signage thats there already. They just replaced these signs a few years ago.
I'm sure its more or less a 'software upgrade' but I can't see why this is going to cost this much? But then again, this is the T, so why ask why.
How much money is it?
I don't know what the 'T spends in refunded fares, but I'd guess not all that much measured against the grand scheme. Most 'T riders have monthly passes, so who is getting these refunds?
At any rate, if it's one or the other, I'll take the countdown clocks.
Per the Herald: In 2008, the
Per the Herald:
So, not much, but still more than a software upgrade should cost
Hopefully, this means they are going to re-direct some of the savings to other needs, too.
Monthly passholders can get refunds
Not sure what you meant here, but did you know that monthly passholders can get a refund for a late train? My wife does this - a lot. ;-)
How does that work?
What do you do with a complimentary fare when you already have a pass for unlimited rides?
You can redeem them for cash
at Downtown Crossing. I usually give them to visiting friends and family.
not worth the hassle
I'll never get any cash back from on time refunds, since getting to Downtown Crossing during the weekday and waiting on the line is such a huge hassle.
The refunds would actually be useful if they issued them as a credit on your CharlieCard, which automatically appeared like an online value addition.
it doesn't seem like that high a price
$600k doesn't seem like that high a price to me. Software upgrades aren't free, and I'm assuming we'll see some new hardware in stations as well.
If they want to make "substantial improvements"...
How about trains and trolleys that don't break down every single day?
Hopefully these countdown signs will work better than the message boards on the commuter rail, which on Tuesday morning were still displaying Monday's message advising that a Saturday schedule was in effect. I'm not holding my breath, though.
And increasing ridership while simultaneously keeping staffing levels down to a 10-year low sounds like a recipe for sheer misery, if not disaster.
What good is advertising on a Charlie Card
...when it never has to leave one's wallet? The last time I saw my Charlie Card was this past weekend when I got a new wallet. The time before that, may have been last year.
Remember the old passes?
I seem to remember that the old plastic monthly passes, pre-Charlie card days, did often have ads on them. But in those days, of course, you HAD to take the pass out to swipe it in the turnstile slot.
The T tried selling advertising space on the
old plastic passes. It worked for about three or four months. Then people figured out that there was virtually no return for the expense.
Maybe they meant Charlie Tickets?
Ads on Charlie Tickets actually sounds like a good idea.
Yes, because that's exactly what our society needs
Even more exposure to silly corporate messages that only shill stuff we probably don't need to begin with, and waste time and resources that could be better used addressing real issues and problems.
Frankly, Davey and crew should be expending their efforts finding real and lasting solutions to the T's funding issues, instead of trying to sell the riders on superficial "fixes" like saturating the system with even more advertising and "necessary" systems like countdown clocks.
T management demanding they be allowed greater flexibility in how they can use the money they are given, as opposed to this idiotic "oh, that's considered an operating expense - sorry, but you can't spend our money on that", would be an excellent start.
Good idea
Especially if it helps offset expenses.
I don't understand why anyone would be opposed to this. No one is forced to purchase the good/services being touted.
Perhaps. However, we will be forced to see
the advertising messages, even if we choose not to buy the products. For a public transportation system that is run by the government, IMO, that type of intrusion by private companies is totally unacceptable.
More importantly, selling advertising space on the back of CharlieTickets will fail once the advertisers realize that they are not selling enough additional product to justify the cost. As I noted earlier in another reply, MBTA management tried this years ago with the old plastic monthly passes. The program lasted about four or five months, then suddenly there were no more takers for exactly this reason.
I'd find ads on cards and
I'd find ads on cards and tickets *much, much less* annoying than the incessant propaganda announcements from the RMV and other government agencies, which are repeatedly played in subway stations.
This is a one-time fix, that
This is a one-time fix, that in 2010 cost less than a percent of the deficit the MBTA is trying to make up. Even with the outrageous assumption that it cost as much to process refunds as the actual refund amount, that equals ~$900,000. This year's budget shortfall is projected at $130,000,000.00.
In other words, it's like giving a hemophiliac with recently severed arms and a gaping bullet wound to the head ... some water, to stay hydrated.
I think we all need to face
I think we all need to face the facts that the people who run the MBTA and other government agencies just aren't that smart.
Instead of adding "lots more
Instead of adding "lots more advertising", they might try to turn over some of what they currently have. I've been on trains where every poster was for an event that happened weeks or months before!
I often think that for the
I often think that for the ads on the Red Line for Coraline, a movie which came out like two or three years ago. But it costs the MBTA money to take down those ads. Presumably they haven't replaced them because they haven't gotten any new takers for that ad space. So without someone new to pay for replacing them they'd just be spending money to take down the ads but with no added benefit.
Which raises the question: if
Which raises the question: if they can't sell the existing add space, why are they expanding add space?
Advertising on the T is handled by an
outside contractor that pays a fixed flat fee to the T every month.
So, as long as the T gets their monthly payment, they really don't care that a large number of the ads have gone stale or are now blank spaces.
BTW, the Red Line "in-tunnel" ads failed because it was a stupid gimmick that gave the advertiser very limited exposure, and thus, no real return for the cost.
Limited exposure? People
Limited exposure? People still talk about it 3 years later. Thats a pretty good ROI.
So, why hasn't the ad been changed
in those three years? Perhaps because the "exposure" this has gotten is in acknowlegement that the "gimmick" has been little more than an expensive failure.
But does anybody know what it
But does anybody know what it advertises?
The Coraline ad says February 2009
The Coraline ad says February 2009 so it's officially two years old. Every time I see it I'm reminded that I actually want to see that movie. I think it's streaming on Netflix now. I have to say the ad is pretty cool even though it's lingered too long.
There are still refunds
They're just called something else: tax cuts for the rich. Public services will just get worse and worse but that money that used to go to transportation is still out there in some billionaire's bank account.
T budget in perspective
Most of the proposed deficit reduction would come from selling the rights to future parking income, and leasing out the garage under the Garden.
I hope they keep in mind that parking revenue isn't all free money. As the garages age, they'll require a lot of expensive maintenance. For example, during last week's warm weather, a leaky drain pipe at Alewife was spraying a 10-foot-long horizontal stream of water out of a support column.
The elimination of the on-time guarantee refunds would be a drop in the bucket. Also, the vast majority of the refund money goes to commuter rail passengers, since it's easier to be 30 minutes late on a 75 minute trip, and the fares are much higher than transit fares.