39 replies to this topic

[willfh]

You will have a new monthly Charlie Pass that will work for the month just like the old T pass. Unlimited for the purchased service.

nowyano, on Dec 24 2005, 01:31 PM, said:

^^^
I was wondering this too and asked at south station the other day, if you are on the Commuter Rail Zones 2-8 it will be the same monthly fair card but for Bus, Subway, Combo, Combo Plus, and Zones 1 and 1.5 you will get Charlie Cards for the same price as a monthly pass. However I am still confused as to if when I buy my Charlie Pass on the thirty-first if it will still be unlimited rides on bus, subway and zones 1 and 1.5 or if I am only going to be limited to as many rides as the MBTA sees fit...

[blink55184]

willfh, on Dec 25 2005, 10:30 AM, said:

You will have a new monthly Charlie Pass that will work for the month just like the old T pass. Unlimited for the purchased service.

Right, but theyre saying the Charlie system wont be on the green line until late 2k6 early 2k7...

So I wont be able to swipe my pass on the green line turnstiles, say at Kenmore.
Will I have to show my pass to the guy in the booth and go thru the swinging gate?

what a pain

[nowyano]

blink55184, on Dec 26 2005, 01:23 PM, said:

Right, but theyre saying the Charlie system wont be on the green line until late 2k6 early 2k7...

So I wont be able to swipe my pass on the green line turnstiles, say at Kenmore.
Will I have to show my pass to the guy in the booth and go thru the swinging gate?

what a pain

you will be able to use that at any of the turnstiles its just on the above ground stops after Kenmore on the B, C and D lines and past Copley on the E line you will just hae to show the card to the conductor and move on but in all of the underground stations in the city should work just fine with the Charlie Cards...

[Cotuit]

STARTS & STOPS: T eyes revamp of confusing fare system [Boston.com]

[MDEM]

Couple of months in, I like the CharlieCard just fine. Haven't noticed any difference, whatsoever, with the obvious exception of different turnstiles. The new ones on the Blue Line took a little getting used to, but I can't find fault with them at this point.

[jamesinclair]

Anybody know how to use the "free sunday guest" service? Basically, if you have a monthly pass, you can take somebody for free on Sundays.

How do I use this on the new and old readers? I know the readers have timers so you cant swipe in immediatly again (so you cant get 10 people in with one card). How does the system know if its an allowed guest?

[Recchia]

jamesinclair, on Feb 20 2006, 04:21 PM, said:

Anybody know how to use the "free sunday guest" service? Basically, if you have a monthly pass, you can take somebody for free on Sundays.

How do I use this on the new and old readers? I know the readers have timers so you cant swipe in immediatly again (so you cant get 10 people in with one card). How does the system know if its an allowed guest?

I was wondering this too. I might find out this weekend when I visit my cousin.

[JoeGallows]

It's not particularly hard to take a guest on with the new and old systems. I have a monthly subway pass and I often take guests on Sundays.

To do it with the old turnstyles still on most lines: just go to the turnstyle nearest the employee in the booth, hold the pass up showing the month its good for (unlike just flashing the color of the old passes) and yell out you have a guest (I usually point at my guest too) and walk through the gate or turnstyle, whichever it easier.

With the new entry gates, it's actually easier. When I did it, the attendant just told me to slide in my pass so the doors opened and have my guest follow me through.

And on certain green line stops or other pay-as-you-get-on stations, it's similar to the old system. Just show 'em the month the pass is for and tell 'em you have a guest and walk into the vehicle.

[jamesinclair]

JoeGallows, on Feb 21 2006, 01:33 PM, said:

It's not particularly hard to take a guest on with the new and old systems. I have a monthly subway pass and I often take guests on Sundays.

To do it with the old turnstyles still on most lines: just go to the turnstyle nearest the employee in the booth, hold the pass up showing the month its good for (unlike just flashing the color of the old passes) and yell out you have a guest (I usually point at my guest too) and walk through the gate or turnstyle, whichever it easier.

With the new entry gates, it's actually easier. When I did it, the attendant just told me to slide in my pass so the doors opened and have my guest follow me through.

And on certain green line stops or other pay-as-you-get-on stations, it's similar to the old system. Just show 'em the month the pass is for and tell 'em you have a guest and walk into the vehicle.

So the new fair gates wont try to close on you?

I wonder how much leniency they have in letting two people through. As in, do the gates stay open longer on sunday than on weekdays? Or whats to stop people doing this every day?

Ill have to try it out one day.

[Cotuit]

MBTA says fare hike likely for 2007. Price on subway may rise to $1.55. [Boston.com]

[Recchia]

Can't they just make it 1.50? What does everyone have to carry nickels around now?

[jamesinclair]

Recchia, on Feb 24 2006, 11:46 AM, said:

Can't they just make it 1.50? What does everyone have to carry nickels around now?

I think thats the number they got to when finding the 25% increase. The actual number would be $1.50 Id think.

[sabourinj]

jamesinclair, on Feb 22 2006, 12:13 AM, said:

So the new fair gates wont try to close on you?

I wonder how much leniency they have in letting two people through. As in, do the gates stay open longer on sunday than on weekdays? Or whats to stop people doing this every day?

Ill have to try it out one day.

Actually the correct way to do it is to take the pass out and hand it to your friend who will insert it again. You do not have to wait for the gate to close before inserting it again, the machine figures that out on it's own. On Sundays the system will allow it to be used twice before locking it out for 15 minutes. This prevents the alarm from beeping and you being hassled by any employees that may be watching.

[Cotuit]

sabourinj, on Feb 28 2006, 10:55 PM, said:

Actually the correct way to do it is to take the pass out and hand it to your friend who will insert it again. You do not have to wait for the gate to close before inserting it again, the machine figures that out on it's own. On Sundays the system will allow it to be used twice before locking it out for 15 minutes. This prevents the alarm from beeping and you being hassled by any employees that may be watching.

That's how it works in New York, the pass-back. They don't have free Sundays, but the cash value MetroCard allows up to (I think) 3 paid guests. That way a group of 4 can buy one MetroCard for a weekend visit, and the responsible one can be the MetroCard keeper.

[Cotuit]

New fare system slows riders on T. South Station to get more ticket machines. [Boston.com]

[nowyano]

Cotuit, on Feb 24 2006, 11:50 AM, said:

MBTA says fare hike likely for 2007. Price on subway may rise to $1.55. [Boston.com]

now they are saying 1.70 for subway (which would also allow free bus transfers) and 1.25 for buses...

[ChunkyMonkey]

nowyano, on May 25 2006, 07:45 PM, said:

now they are saying 1.70 for subway (which would also allow free bus transfers) and 1.25 for buses...

I doubt it will be 1.70. The MBTA admitted that they aimed high and are willing to compromise depending on opposition.

[Cotuit]

It's $1.50 for the bus in Providence, so $1.70 for the subway would still be low. They should be going for $2.00 or $2.25, then introducing programs with the CharlieCard that will bring that price down for frequent riders. That's how it works in New York. There was a fare increase with the introduction of the MetroCard, but average fare per ride actually went down due to the incentives that were offered through the MetroCard.

[atlrvr]

Ok.....so when I was in Boston last weekend, I bought the 3-day Charlie Card. It didn't scan in any of the ticket readers where there were turnstiles......am I to assume that you have to show the ticket to the employees at every station that doesn't have the new sliding doors?

[Cotuit]

atlrvr, on Jun 8 2006, 07:41 PM, said:

am I to assume that you have to show the ticket to the employees at every station that doesn't have the new sliding doors?

Yes, it's a bit wonky the way they are rolling it out. I don't know if they had the same issues in New York when they introduced MetroCard.