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Counterfeit pass epidemic?
By roadman on Wed, 08/19/2009 - 9:21am
Apparently, MBCR and the T think so. This morning, the conductors on my inbound Reading line train were checking everybody's monthly passes with a purple UV flashlight to verify they had the embossed "MBTA VALID PASS" printing on them.
It's all part of the new MBCR/MBTA campaign being featured on large posters at North Station that's called (and I kid you not) the "Revenue Protection Program".
Seems to me that if management can direct the conductors to scan passes with an UV flashlight, let's just give the crews portable CharlieCard readers and solve any commuter rail fare evasion problems once and for all.
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Comments
They were doing that on the
They were doing that on the Fitchburg line as well.
Same thing happened on the
Same thing happened on the Fitchburg line this morning. I almost grabbed my monthly pass out of the conductor's hands because I thought he was going to mistakenly punch it.
Are people really counterfeiting these things?
VAILD PASS ?
Do they really say that? So if they say VALID instead, they are invalid?
My bad - they do say "VALID"
Thanks for catching that.
then why haven't you fixed it?
Edit...
Fixed
Fixed it
It's also raised print
So be on the lookout out for thinly-VAILD counterfeits.
That's passist
We don't refer to them as invalids.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Are you fraking kidding
Are you fraking kidding me?
Nice to know those millions were well spent on a system so easily hackable that now they realize they have a major problem with it.
Thanks Dan!
Just to be clear, whatever
Just to be clear, whatever money was spent, was spent on the charlie cards. Commuter Rail is still using the old style magnetic strip plastic cards. So this isn't hacking of a new system, but exploiting the lack of a new system.
Revenue protection program
I have an idea for a "revenue protection program": Stop overpaying people.
UV flashlight, not IR?
While I don't know about the MBTA's fraud detection method on their passes, I am guessing that it is a UV flashlight that is being used, not an IR one. The purple-ish color also seems more consistent visual light spillover from the UV rather than from the IR.
Yes, I meant to say UV flashlight.
One more thing I've corrected in my original post - this is what happens when you try to write fast before you've had your morning caffeine.
Charlie Cards on Commuter Rail?
Anyone know anything about an ETA for Charlie Cards on the Commuter Rail? I thought it would shortly follow the subway, but apparently not.
By the end of 2011.
By the end of 2011.
Very funny posts - not funny problem
This happened on Metro North in NY several years ago. Apparently a fairlly large group of people just made color copies of one pass and a conductor discovered it by accident. Dozens of very highly paid professionals were charged with felony theft of services and I think a few high paid lawyers may have even been disbarred - probably as much for stupidity as the crime! Hard to justify counterfeiting your $200 train pass when you are making 300 large a year. This could be interesting if they really push it - with today's technology I'm sure it's not hard to do.
I wonder if the people busted on Metro-North were the
same ones caught using Connecticut Turnpike tokens on the New York subway years ago?
Seriously, I didn't mean to make light of the issue of counterfeiting in my original post. However, as I noted, the proper way to solve this issue (if it is indeed a serious problem for the T) is by completing CharlieCard rollout on the commuter rail, instead of conducting another "in your face" PR campaign that's highighted by a silly name ("Revenue Preservation Program") and the action of having crew members shine special flashlights at customer's passes.
Wait, wait, wait, wait...
There were conductors on the train??
And they were collecting tickets???
*snort*
Srsly. When I worked in Concord and took the train between Concord and Porter (both of which were pay-on-the-train stops -- Porter had no way to buy tickets and Concord had them available during limited hours that weren't when I worked), I didn't buy a monthly pass, because it would have cost me more than the 1 or 2 times per week that a conductor came around and asked me to pay.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
Reminds me of an old joke...
Say, would you sleep with me for five million dollars?
five million dollars?
.
.
.
"What, you think I'm a whore?"
"That's already been established. We're just quibbling over price."
Movie concept: Whores on a Train starring Samuel L Jackson
They did this again on tonight's outbound Reading
train from North Station. In tonight's case, ticket collection was preceded by a PA announcement from the conductor, in which she advised passengers to "please remove your passes from their sleeves and pouches to make them available for the random validity check".
this seems ridiculous
what are they even going to do? fine you? this is ridiculous.
want to save money? take the contract back from MBCR - it's a French company and the dollar has plummeted since they took over operations.
want to MAKE money? take back the contract for parking - how many millions slip through their fingers because they outsourced the parking, and that too has doubled in the past 8 years.
Confiscate the pass, for
Confiscate the pass, for starters, I'd imagine. Make the person pay the fare, second.
I mean, really--how do you explain that you have a fake pass?
The smart person would claim they lost it and just pay on the train, if they were cheating, I'd guess--but simply asking for it will freak out the few marginal criminals...
counterfeit passes
What the MBTA doesn't mention is that the commuter passes that are purchased in the vending machines don't put what they are looking for with the flashlight. I was accused of faking my pass and it wasn't straightened out until a senior conductor came by & said the pass was fine. NO apology for the embarrassment though. So I don't know whether to continue to buy my pass in the vending machine. I've tried for a week, with emails & phone calls to get an answer if I was the lone one falsely accused but no one replies.
Thanks for the info. On
Thanks for the info. On months when I anticipate commuting by train, I usually buy the pass from a machine. I guess I won't be doing that this time.