MBTA successfully retrains conductors to collect fares

By adamg - 3/24/09 - 11:41 pm

Apparently the retraining was necessary because too many conductors forgot about it in the press of all their other duties such as, um, er, I dunno, opening doors at stops?

Comments

I don't use the Commuter

By neilv - 3/25/09 - 12:16 am

I don't use the Commuter Rail very often, usually to Providence, but the conductors have seemed on-the-ball and very aware of who exactly was new in my car after each stop.

during rush hour it is rare to see silver line busses collecting fares at Dudley--they are packed to the gills and running every 5 minutes or so. I can't imagine how much money they are losing with each bus that runs.

I rarely pay on the commuter

By Adam (not verified) - 3/25/09 - 1:34 am

I rarely pay on the commuter rail. They just don't bother to ask.

Green Line fare evasion

By neilv - 3/25/09 - 1:45 am

At one stop alone of the Green Line this evening, perhaps six people entered through the rearmost door. Four of them were a fashionably-dressed pair of college-age couples. One of those women started sarcastically saying the standard announcement about coming to the front of the train to pay the fare, and one of those women (perhaps the same one) told the other three people to "just stay out of sight." So they all pressed up against the wall, and there was no announcement.

I guess that not having to pay for transportation frees up money for buying nice clothes. :)

I wonder how much money the T loses on Green Line freeloaders each day. I couldn't guess, since I have no idea what percentage of people who don't go to the front have passes.

Sheesh!

By independentminded (not verified) - 3/25/09 - 3:31 am

Whoever they may be, these women fare-evaders sound like a bunch of spoiled brats. They deserve to get caught...and to get into trouble. No sympathy for them if they do, imho. As inefficient as the T often is, people still have to pay, or don't they understand that?

It has improved on Purple Line

By HenryAlan - 3/25/09 - 7:01 am

There was a time when the conductors were not collecting fairs on many of the rush hour trains, but it was associated with a pseudo work stoppage. I knew a lot of people who bought 12 ride tickets that were never punched, even though they rode everyday. I never did that because I believe in honesty and also generally support the idea of public transit. But sometimes months would go by without ever having to show my pass. That is no longer true, at least on the trains I ride.

fare collection

By issacg - 3/25/09 - 7:59 am

It was indeed a pleasant surprise yesterday morning to see T personnel with handheld charlie card validators back out on the platform at Reservoir (I might be one three people who uses the platform validator to get in the back doors). A couple of days of T police carrying the handhelds around (on and off trains) AND ACTUALLY WRITIING SOMEONE A CITATION for fare evasion would go a long, long way toward sorting out the habitual fare evaders. Particularly when the person who gets snipped is a well-heeled professional riding in from Newton or Brookline.

On a separate and less comforting note, I participated in an impromptu race between the outbound C train I was on yesterday evening (approx 6:30) and an outbound female jogger on the sidewalk. She was not a particularly fast runner, but in our race between St. Mary's and Winchester St./Summit Ave. We tied. Let me say that again. We tied.

The old Beacon Car is approaching B-line efficiency, and this is not a good thing. The MBTA/Commonwealth/Town of Brookline must follow through on coordinating the lights to give the trolleys traffic priority. Otherwise, the millions spent on the reconstruction of Beacon St. (bike lane notwithstanding) will have gone, in large part, to waste. That should be a relatively low-cost affair.

I get a free ride to Rozzie sometimes

By Steve M (not verified) - 3/25/09 - 10:32 am

I take the train to Rozzie about once a month and would say i get a free ride about 10% of the time. A friend told me that if a conductor recognizes you as a regular commuter with a multi-trip pass rather than a monthly they often won't punch your pass.