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Mark April 24 on your calendar: It's Free Fare Day on the T

WBUR reports the MassDOT board of directors voted today to make the system free on April 24 to make up for the recent snow-related unpleasantries.

But don't worry, you monthly pass buyers about to rant about how that does nothing for you: The board also voted to give monthly pass buyers a 15% discount on May passes.

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It will probably fail under stress.

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Free fare day and a free DD coffee at the fare gates. Win/win.

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No one pays at Logan Airport station and at most stations teens will wave coats or hats over the gates and the gates magically open.

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Can I like this 100x? I lived near Airport Station for 4 years and I can say that some scumbag followed me in at least once a week. And if you try to call them out on it, all of a sudden they don't know English. Ugh. or some wise ass opens the exit gate for all of his friends to waltz in. So glad I moved...

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...maybe they have their pass in the coat? I'm not sure how it would open other wise

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There are sensors on the paid side of the gate that detect when someone is in the gate to either keep the gate open or to open the gate to let someone out who is leaving the station.

I've seen people do this also. They walk up, wave a coat or a newspaper on the other side of the gate and the door opens.

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Pay for their passes via payroll deductions?

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Are you asking if you will get the 15% discount in May? Sure sounds like you would.

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I did not write the original post you responded to, but I think you're confusing paying for a pass via payroll deduction with people who are given a pass for no cost as a benefit.

I pay full price via payroll deduction. This is processed through our payroll company, ADP. On the one hand, I don't care that much about the 15%. On the other, though, I don't want ADP to pocket if should we get the discount. In my prior job, we had the same arrangement with Sodexho brokering our pass purchases.

As most of these companies make advance arrangements with the T, it's a fair question, though probably better answered by asking the payroll company or the MBTA directly.

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a quick "Board appreciates MBTA riders patience" tweet from MassDOT, so far I've seen nothing official about this on the MBTA's web page. Another classic MBTA information fail.

And I've got a question that I'm sure many others out there also have: How can I get the 15% May pass discount if I pay for my pass through payroll deduction? The way our payroll deduction system is set up requires us to request a deduction change at least two months before the change would take effect, and would also require a second deduction change to reflect the "normal" cost for the June and subsequent passes. Also, our payroll deduction system (which is run through a private vendor, and not our payroll department) does NOT issue refunds if you've overpaid into the system (a fact I found out after coming back from extended medical leave in 2012).

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Sheesh roadman it hasn't even been 24 hours since it was announced. OMG If they don't list something right away /s Give them a bit of slack to come up with an official press release. This isn't service effecting so no sense of urgency considering its over a month away now. And I'm even willing to bet that there's going to be a whole section on their website describing how this is all going to work. This takes time to write, create and get approval for (because I am sure all website changes have to be approved by someone). I'm sure something will be up in the next day or so.

And I've got a question that I'm sure many others out there also have: How can I get the 15% May pass discount if I pay for my pass through payroll deduction? T

Honestly not to be a jerk, but this sounds like a vendor problem, not a MBTA problem. They are offering the discount but its up to the vendor to make sure its applied. I don't see how this is an MBTA problem. Take your beef up with the vendor, not the MBTA. And its slimey that they won't refund your money.. but again, a vendor problem, and not a MBTA problem.

Honestly roadman, this is why I don't use my company's program because you only save a few bucks anyways. Not worth the hassle for something my company doesn't kick in a dime for.

Also many places now just use WageWorks or a similar style system. My old company did, and so does the roommate's (for all those T rides he never uses). Its a transit only debit card and its up to you to get your pass each month once your balance is re-loaded onto the card. Then once you swipe the card, you'd get your discount.

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I emailed the T about Roadman's legit question.

Wageworks is also more that a month ahead. I already had my confirmation for my April pass on 2/25.

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With wage works you purchase the pass yourself, rather than it just being reloaded. That is the difference. You just will get the discount when you swipe your WageWorks card to get the pass. The difference just stays on the card. Use it for something else (you can use your WageWorks card for non-MBTA purchases such as inter-city bus or amtrak tickets)

No, I'm not a jerk. I'm sorry I just fail to see how this is a MBTA problem, and not a problem for slimey vendors who refuse to refund the difference. Again the T is offering the discount, its up to the vendor.. Not the T... to make sure the discount is applied.

Take it up with the vendor or your benefits administrator in your company (typically HR) who manages the account. They have control over this, they can pressure the vendor to honor the discount.

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The missus just gets her monthly pass straight-up.

That said I really don't see it being that hard. WageWorks just charges less in May. Boom, done.

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I understand that it varies.. but the last three companies that used WageWorks, for me it was a debit card. So for my experience, it's a debit card. However, mileage may vary.

Again this all falls back to your Benefits Administrator (HR) and what's in the contract for your company. Some companies have debit cards, some don't.

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at past entries in the MassDOT blog and on the MBTA web site, and see how quickly they report other news items after they've been approved by the Board. Or look at how quickly the Governor's office issues a formal press release after approving something. In nearly all cases, it's under half an hour after the approval.

Anybody who's ever worked even a halfway serious job in public relations will tell you that, as it was known that the Board was considering various options and was going to make a decision (even if the exact details weren't certain) the body of the press release announcing the Board's decision should have already been drafted even before the Board sat down to vote.

FYI, a big part of my co-op job in 1984-1985, and my first full time job from 1987 to 1989, was involved with public relations work such as writing press releases and media liaison. If our department had handled most issues the way that MassDOT/MBTA has dealt with announcing the "Free Day" and pass discounts, we would have received poor employee evaluations.

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The free fare day is 6 weeks away. The first day to buy a May pass (April 15) is more than 4 weeks away. There's no need to rush the press release out an hour after the decision.

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to officially acknowledge this through a press release and web page/blog postings.

People hearing about this in the media's 3 minute blurbs will likely go to either the MassDOT or the MBTA web pages to find out more about it. At the very minimum, those sites should have at least basic information (i.e. a press release) for people to confirm what the press is currently reporting (and, sorry, but a "tweet" doesn't count). Esepcially given that one of the top complaints about the MBTA's handling of this winter's fiasco has been the general lack of communication with customers.

Funny how the MBTA has no problems sending out an alert for a Riverside line weekend diversion that won't occur for about six weeks, but can't seem to be bothered to even acknowledge their decision for a "Free Fare Day" and May pass discount on their web page.

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in a way, I wish it were opt-in. I was SUPREMELY annoyed by the MBTApocalypse, and inconvenienced, and all that - but I don't think the solution is to deprive them of more revenue. then again, I am a lucky white person with a secure and steady salaried job - so I sort of had the option of being merely inconvenienced, and not absolutely fucked over.

hmmmmmmm.

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I'm in the same camp as you.

I honestly could care less that I got a discount or a free ride, I'd rather them just keep the money to fix the service instead.

The only thing I'm glad about is this will pretty much stop any chance of a class action lawsuit against the T. They made a reasonable effort to offer a discount, so any court case wouldn't have much of a leg to stand on. And a class action lawsuit would be far worse to deal with than this discount because a lawsuit would cost a hellva lot more (to pay the lawyers).

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They picked a 31 day month at least.

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Free day could've been 1 April.

"Taking the T? Who's the April Fool now?!?!"

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Sorry, you have to pay your fare today.

But I was told it's "Free Fare Day."

"April Fools!"

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I witnessed a bus driver @ Quinct Ctr telling me to get on the nus tonight and "don't worry about paying" Really!?As a monthly pass holder, this makes me angry. All the free rides people get

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Perhaps you should instead try to be happy that your bus wasn't delayed another 5-10 minutes while people tried to make the half-broken farebox machine accept their cards and/or cash.

Actually, how about this: anyone who complains about "free rides" should have the "luck" to be waiting on a bus while each of a series of passengers tries to pay their fare with only nickels and dimes. We'll see how long you last.

Unless your time is worth nothing at all, you will find this exercise to be a very severe annoyance. And every moment that the bus is dwelling at the stop and not moving is a moment that costs the T extra.

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but the argument is that the T needs the money so why are they allowing free rides. I'm sure its not a lot in the grand scheme of things, but still frustrating as a rider who pays for a monthly pass. I see this almost daily on many of the over crowded buses routes I ride. But I will second your point is that it does make loading a lot faster, especially on very busy routes.

It's just a double edged sword..

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Option A - Collect fares and run 40 to 60 minutes behind schedule.

Option B - Let people on for free and run on or close to schedule.

Given that management has ruled out Option C - run enough vehicles to handle the passenger load, I (reluctantly) believe Option B is the better choice here.

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Properly maintain fare boxes such that they are operational most of the time.

In my experience, that is the main reason for free rides.

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I haven't regularly ridden T buses since 1990, so Option D didn't occur to me. However, given my experiences with the subway faregates, it doesn't surprise me that the bus fareboxes would be equally lousy or worse.

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Implement modern, widely-used fare collection techniques that are designed to not cause delays to transit vehicles, while also using scientific and statistical methods to maximize yield with minimal overhead.

Or Option E: we could just go back to yelling at each other about spending.

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force the T to finally deliver the actual fare collection system they promised everyone back in 2004. Get the majority of people using your system to migrate to RFID cards, place ticket and RFID card "refill" machines at all commuter rail stations, major surface stations and stops, and in stores adjacent to lesser surface and bus stops, and end the practice of accepting cash payments or ticket/RFID card refills on the vehicles themselves,

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If you pay for your monthly pass with a credit card, you could try to dispute the charge with your credit card company. You could claim that the services that were promised (i.e., T service) were not rendered. You might also be able to do this if you use one of those special credit cards via payroll deduction.

Has anyone tried this yet? I'd be interested to hear the result.

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Good luck with that.

Define "services not rendered." If your usual 30-minute commute took three hours, the T still got you from point A to point B.

By the same logic, any excessive weather-related flight delay should entitle you to a refund, right?

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The only way you could possibly justify "services not rendered" was if the T had completely shut down for twenty days, which is the pricing basis for the various passes.

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I second "good luck with that"

Filing charge backs isn't as easy as you think. Your card company often will ask you to 'settle' with the merchant and try to get your money back before they'll even send you the form to fill out to do a chargeback.

And then of course it's up to the card company to approve your chargeback if you did not succeed in getting your money back directly from the Merchant. 9 times out of 10, they won't, because it needs to be a clear cut case. The only one who may without much of a hassle are cards who's program advertise "worry free shopping" or a card like American Express (where the merchant already pays more per swipe)

And trust me its in the card company's interest NOT to give your money back, as they may lose money regardless as they may not be able to get the money back from the merchant. And card companies don't want to lose any more money than they have too.

(Spoken as someone who processed credit cards for a living for merchants for many years)

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I find the opposite. Any customer disuputing a charge I advise them to call their bank asap. The bank will credit their account and then deal with us (the merchant) to settle the claim. This way, the customer is refunded first, which is most important.

Then I deal with the paperwork regarding the transaction and whether or not the dispute is legit and after that, I settle with the card company.

If the customer is found to be wrong*, which is very common, then the bank can go to the customer and get their money back.

*It is common to forget a transaction but people quickly remember when I can produce their signature on receipts. In a case of forgery which is very common, the merchant is "off the hook" provided they have a signed receipt, it's the card companys loss.

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I see the opposite from what I did.

If a customer called us and asked for a refund, we gave it with little question (We did however, close the account and remove paid access). We didn't want chargebacks filed against us because were already considered a 'high risk' merchant, so our threshold for losing our card services account was far lower than usual. So it was in our best interests to keep the chargeback percentage less than 2%, so we just issued refunds.

I also speak from someone who has tried this numerous times. Sometimes it works, but at least for the cards (and banks I have), most refer me back to the Merchant to dispute the claim. If I didn't get it, then I was told to call back and have the paperwork sent. I've tried to do this a few times, sometimes it works. Sometimes it doesnt.

I do agree its very dependent. Some cards are better than others. Same with card processors. Mileage may vary.

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Since I was growing up, the T would offer free rides on Earth Day, are they not really moving the days around?

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I think the T hasn't been free on Earth Day since 2003.

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...when they used to have a free fare day to celebrate Earth Day (4/22), except it's a Friday instead of Saturday (although if memory serves correctly when they started they might have done it on 4/22 no matter what day of the week that was).

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How about RIDE patrons?

They had a month of crappier-than-normal service, too. Will they get 15% off their purchases in May?

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Ooh gee golly, 15 whole percent! So the system can stay underfunded and terrible and not working!

I'd rather not save that ~$43 and have the goddamn 7:26 train out of Mansfield back. I've been taking the one that hits Mansfield at 5:55 all month because anything later than that will either be super crowded and I'll be standing all the way in OR won't get me to work on time.

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Tickets are rarely being collected on the Providence line. Almost every day is a free fare day for the single ticket/10-ride passengers. As a monthly passholder I find it very annoying and unfair. If the system is so short of money, at least collect what you're entitled to. Yes, I realize there are some trains that are so crowded that the conductors can't physically get through the cars to collect tickets, but I have seen this (including this morning) on trains that are not so crowded. I get my pass though work so cancelling it requires 2 months advance notice. I just hope that I get the 15% discount for May.

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