Thursday, January 3, 2008

MASTER TICKET TECH SPEAKS!

3 comments:

Adron said...

I get a month pass now. I used to however (I've blogged about it several times) have monthly "adventures" to go buy a monthly pass. On average, to buy with a credit card, I would need to travel to 5 machines, several times needing to hit up 8 machines. Once I got on, without valid fare, because I was frustrated and went to the airport because a few days before (when I had my previous month pass) a friend flew in and he bought a ticket there at the airport.

...on the note of the validators and the tickets that go in em', another issue I've seen is the paper stock is too wide to fit in the validators. My girlfriend and I have figured out that you have to fold about 2 millimeters of one side to get it to fit into the validators.

Last point/question/thought/suggestion.

Why can't TriMet get machines that work? These machines are NOT as complicated as video game machines, and video game machines rarely, if ever break. Video game machines also cost a vastly lower sum of money. Somewhere around 1/50th the cost of a ticket vending machine.

I'm of the notion, that TriMet (and thus taxpayers) are getting ripped off in a massive way for these ticket machines (which often don't work).

Which btw - is not particularly a valid reason for anyone to not have fare unless they are a "tourist". Anyone that has used the system more than a few times should have figured out to get hold of valid fare ahead of trip time.

Al M said...

I have to agree with your points on this.

Obviously it was not a priority.

Anonymous said...

To be honest, I have never really experienced too many problems with the TVM's. Normally if one is down at a station, there's usually another one that works. However there's been a few times where I have a combination of dollars and coins, and one machine isn't taking dollars, ok no problem I say. But then I walk over to another TVM that one doesn't take coins.

I've been told by fare inspecters (I've asked) if that ever happends I need to walk to the nearest bus stop and wait for a bus and grab a transfer from a bus driver.

I'm not going to walk a mile to the nearest bus, wait 40 minutes for it come just so I can ride the MAX.

Usually what I end up doing instead, (I live off the Beaverton Creek stop) is ride MAX to BTC and get off there, and chances are 1 out of the 4 or 5 machines they have is working and buy a ticket and go on.