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Free transfers on the T may not be free all the time
By adamg on Wed, 01/30/2008 - 10:33pm
Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, posts a complaint from an employee who takes the Green Line and a bus between Brookline and Beth Israel's Needham campus: Those "free" transfers the MBTA promised when they raised rates have a time limit built in.
... Apparently, your CharlieCard is time-stamped when you first get on the trolley line, and if the time you enter the bus is more than a certain number of minutes afterward, the discount doesn't work. Ditto on the return trip. A bus driver told this passenger that the second ride has to begin within 20 minutes of the first ride. ...
As he notes, that makes the transfer policy useless if, oh, your connecting bus is late or runs infrequently. And he's left scratching his head wondering why the MBTA would do this.
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Comments
Hate to be the guy who
Hate to be the guy who defends the T, but I think it gives you considerably longer than 20 minutes. I think it may be measured in hours. Anyone have a definitive answer?
edit: http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/charlie/?id=1...
2 hours for a bus transfer.
and in other news...
...charlie card monthly passes won't work if you try to use them too soon on the subway a second time.
Film at 11.
(actually, that one is annoying if you accidentally end up on the wrong side, but on the 2-3 occasions I've had this happen, an employee waived me through.)
Pass locked out for 20 minutes; transfers good for 2 hours
Right, that's where the "20 minutes" comes in. This isn't even a new rule with Charlie, it's just that the old fare equipment didn't reliably enforce it. It applies only to entering the same station with the same pass.
Also, the old paper MBTA bus transfers had a 2-hour limit. Again, it was often not enforced because the first bus driver often didn't bother to punch the time of day before handing you the transfer, and the second bus driver probably didn't look closely at the transfer even if the first driver did bother to punch it.
NYC's Metrocard also enforces a 2-hour limit for free transfers.
That's only if...
you try to go through again at the same station. I used to get on at Roxbury Crossing, get off at Back Bay to drop off my dry cleaning and then board again at Back Bay, usually about ten minutes after I got on at Roxbury Crossing, with no problem.
Entering multiple stations within 20 minutes
Yep, I've tested it by walking into State Street station, then Downtown Crossing, then Park Street, al within 10 minutes. My Zone 1A CharlieTicket pass opened all three gates with no problem. I assume the same would be true for a CharlieCard LinkPass, but I don't have one to try.
Something I haven't tested: suppose I enter at State, then enter Downtown Crossing, then walk back to State and try to enter again within the 20 minutes. Will it let me?
Same "station", different direction?
Here is my question. Let's say I'm at Symphony and I need to go into Copley. Only I flake out and think I'm going home and enter the outbound station and don't realize what I've done until I'm through the fare gates. Can I walk over to the inbound sound and have my pass work, or will it fail because it was the same "station" even if they don't share a fare gate?
Anyone know? Only time this happened, I just walked to Copley because I assumed I'd need to wait 20 minutes anyway, but maybe I wouldn't have had to.
It will fail -- I've seen
It will fail -- I've seen this happen at Central Square, where the station agents have had to tap people in. (You could have walked down to Northeastern and gotten on there, though.)
Thanks for the link
That's a very informative page, although it doesn't mention being able to take the commuter boat or commuter rail (through zone 1A) with an Inner or Outer Express Bus Pass. Does anyone know if that's still possible? I haven't been joyriding on the ferries lately, and I haven't been carded on the commuter rail, either.
Express bus passes in zone 1A and harbor ferries
Yes, you can. See http://www.mbta.com/fares_and_passes/bus/ . In fact, that is why the express bus passes are not yet available on a Charlie Card.
(But only for the Charlestown-Long Wharf ferry -- not the longer-distance ferries to Quincy, Hull, and Hingham)
I do it all the time
I went for the zone 1A pass program for two reasons: commuter rail and water ferry. I go downtown for lunch on my zone 1A all the time.
I was also told that if you
I was also told that if you have a charliecard, and you go through a regular gate, you get charged the regular price, regardless that it's a Charlie card and not a ticket.
You need to go through the "Reduced Fare" (always the handicap) gate. there's ussually only one at a station. This is very annoying, and there's no reason why the other gates shouldn't be able to distinguish between the card / ticket.
Can anyone confirm? What about the green line above ground.
where did you read that?
Reduced Fare gates are for senior, student, blind, and handicap passes. Everyone can use these gates, but these people have to use them.
I can understand the reasons
I can understand the reasons for having the physically disabled use a wider gate (that usually has a louder opening signal) but I don't see why those with student, senior and other special passes can't use the regular gates if they want to.
I don't really get it either
but supposedly it has something to do with the gate being closer to where the station agent sits or stands, so s/he can monitor whether people are abusing the special passes. (All of which have the passholder's photo on them, I believe.)
That was my theory as well,
That was my theory as well, but in many stations the reduced fare gates are often located on the far side of the station agent agent's booth. (Arlington and Green St. for example)
Nonsense
That is nonsense.