tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post5544839851473210568..comments2024-03-11T12:46:28.806-04:00Comments on You. Me. Ride This Crazy Train - Adventures and Observations on The GO: GO Transit messily divorces PRESTO - shuts down on-board PRESTO loads on busesC.J. Smithhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03325979176373626807noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-59148821072163289762014-08-19T10:59:43.927-04:002014-08-19T10:59:43.927-04:00I hate to necro-post, but it's worth noting th...I hate to necro-post, but it's worth noting that e-purse loads are <b>still being accepted</b> on GO buses per <a href="https://twitter.com/GOtransit/status/501736916161925120" rel="nofollow">this tweet</a>.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17792305829426206758noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-59704734623790386842014-04-21T13:38:40.703-04:002014-04-21T13:38:40.703-04:00@Anonymous (April 21, 2014 @ 11:36)
The Presto POS...@Anonymous (April 21, 2014 @ 11:36)<br />The Presto POS terminals are staying, but drivers will not use them to load $ to your card. You can still tap ON with your Presto card or purchase tickets with cash.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-25671825723393881812014-04-21T11:36:30.852-04:002014-04-21T11:36:30.852-04:00SO they basically spent a boatload of cash install...SO they basically spent a boatload of cash installing these machines on buses only to call them defunct in June 2014. Smart. I'll have to remember to carry cash on me for the odd time I take the bus home instead of the train. IMO, that's bullshit.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-44049371723240684512014-04-18T21:40:39.913-04:002014-04-18T21:40:39.913-04:00@Anonymous (April 18, 2014 at 1:53 PM)
Thank you f...@Anonymous (April 18, 2014 at 1:53 PM)<br />Thank you for your insights. I wish more operators would share their views with us here, anonymously, of course. It’s an education for us. Unfortunately, passengers don’t realize they have a responsibility to ensure the success of a trip. That’s why I wrote this a while back: http://bit.ly/QlxOai<br /><br />You are correct that there are other ways to load funds to cards, but they are not always available or are rejected by passengers. Where in Stoney Creek, Grimsby, and St. Catharines can you find a terminal? Drivers and passengers in St. Catharines have been crying for a kiosk of some sort since 2009. My son has configured autoload at least twice, and it won’t work for him; repeated calls to CSRs ended in futility. My wife’s autoload had other problems. Look at the Twitter posts about online loads not being applied to an ePurse even though the credit card transaction cleared days ago. The net result -- a distrust of PRESTO’s online load functions. So, who do passengers turn to? A familiar face they can trust, namely, you and your colleagues.<br /><br />Passengers don’t realize that the time delays you described are cumulative, and they jeopardize the transfer credits in the Travel Window for all riders. BTW, do you know how to extend the Travel Window so it is applied to passengers' cards?<br /><br />As painful as the time delay is for drivers, the pain of PRESTO stealing money from passengers is far worse. This IT blunder seems to have been the last straw for management.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-48527784198630555422014-04-18T21:26:19.125-04:002014-04-18T21:26:19.125-04:00I can definitely understand driver and passenger f...I can definitely understand driver and passenger frustration with Presto loads delaying trips. Of course, a few grumpy Go drivers have griped about selling tickets on board for years, and since long before Presto. <br /><br />I remember about 5 or 6 years ago, someone got on a 92 bus (or whatever the route is) on Hwy 2 in Pickering and bought the ticket with a $20 bill. The driver glanced at the bill in her hand and made an audible growl, and proceeded to print the ticket (shoving the keyboard in irritation with far more force than required) before the passenger had finished speaking. She had said she was going to Yorkdale, and he popped out a one-ride before she could finish and say she wanted a day pass (which would have used up much more of the $20, obviously).<br /><br />The driver then started muttering even more audibly, and she said, "No, it's okay. Never mind. I'll just take the one ride. You already printed it. It's okay." He then proceeded to give her her change using the smallest coins he had (many quarters, dimes and nickles) in a passive aggressive gesture aimed at showing his displeasure.<br /><br />The young woman sat down, looked at the handful of change, and asked, "Are you out of toonies and loonies?" He replied, "No, I'm not." She said, "You gave me all quarters and dimes and nickels." He said, "Is that a problem?" She said, "Well, this handful of change is ridiculous." He then snapped loudly, "YOU GIVING ME A 20 DOLLAR BILL IS RIDICULOUS! YOU KNEW HOW MUCH THE TRIP WOULD BE, DIDN'T YOU?" <br /><br />Taken aback, the young woman said, "That's why I was asking for the day pass." Driver yelled back, "FAT LOT OF GOOD THAT DOES WHEN I ALREADY PRINTED THE TICKET, EH?" <br /><br />She said, "Can you lower your voice? You're not being very courteous." He said, "That's unfortunate, Miss" with all the sarcasm he could manage. And then he said, "Next time buy a 10-ride. We shouldn't even be selling these things on board. I'm not a cashier at Walmart." <br /><br />I chalked it up to a bad day, and 95% of the Go drivers I've encountered have been reasonably nice. But I got the sense that this particular driver was venting his irritation at fares on an unsuspecting passenger (who, by the way, offered NO provocation or attitude, other than having a 20 to pay her fare). <br /><br />I suspect the Presto situation has aggravated an already sore point for some drivers. Jack C.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-66878668682595897182014-04-18T19:36:18.998-04:002014-04-18T19:36:18.998-04:00Wonder why GO is the only agency that allows Prest...Wonder why GO is the only agency that allows Presto reloads on the bus whereas local GTA agencies don't allow this.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-51683733224404108362014-04-18T16:27:43.489-04:002014-04-18T16:27:43.489-04:00It's not just the students that do this on a r...It's not just the students that do this on a regular basis. Yes, they are guilty of holding up the service one after another doing this. But you now have regular passengers on express services doing this 2 to 3 times a week. Holding up service because again, instead of walking inside to load their cards they can sit in their vehicles and wait till the bus pulls up to join the line and it begins. As for the gentleman who said that ticket selling will hold up service, there are even machines at most go stations were they can purchase tickets prior to boarding and they don't. The reason they put the 5 dollars on the card is they may have 1 or 2 dollars left on the card which would be just enough to get them where they are going. We have always sold tickets on our buses. The thing is, you have now added more disruption to the service regarding the loading of Presto cards on the buses. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-25407370463978290722014-04-18T15:24:22.517-04:002014-04-18T15:24:22.517-04:00Very happy someone with a first-hand point of view...Very happy someone with a first-hand point of view wrote in which I appreciate! I'm not on a route (90) where loading cards is a daily occurrence or a habit but I can imagine how the abuse has become a problem. I can't see these (mostly students) changing their ways unless they want to pay cash and full fare all the time. Laziness wouldn't necessarily "pay off" would it?C.J. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03325979176373626807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-61678254907732271132014-04-18T13:53:43.256-04:002014-04-18T13:53:43.256-04:00I am an Operator for Go Transit. I for one and mo...I am an Operator for Go Transit. I for one and most of my co-workers are glad to finally see this happening. <br />When presto was first introduced, we were told that we wouldn't be loading presto cards on the buses. That was soon changed to only when someone was stuck out somewhere, we could load their card. It was then changed again to when ever and where ever, we had to load them. What it has done is enable people. The courtesy is being abused. You now have Operators loading not just the one off card to loading 15 to 20 cards at Terminals and Go Stations because people can't walk that 20 feet to go inside and do this. It is time consuming, it has made trips run late on a daily basis. Your having buses miss connections, your having to call to get other buses to wait for connecting passengers, now making those buses late. Your having buses miss train meets because of this as well. Operators starting their next trip late because of this. <br />The safety of our Operators. You may as well put a bigger target on our backs because of having to load these cards. <br />There are so many options for passengers to load their cards. At a terminal, agency, go station or on line. There is no need for Operators to do this. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-91160931195536180972014-04-18T08:32:38.416-04:002014-04-18T08:32:38.416-04:00My commute includes the 51 bus from Pickering to C...My commute includes the 51 bus from Pickering to Centennial College. There are a lot of people loading $10 or $20 on their cards on these trips. I have even seen $5 loaded, and wonder why? It isn't even enough for one trip.<br />But I'm guessing that getting rid of loading the card on the bus won't speed things up, because these passengers will now buy tickets, and we'll have to wait while change is made. <br />This will turn out to be another "fix" that will create a bigger problem than it solves. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11445366992750323435noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-14518045974011029072014-04-17T17:46:30.524-04:002014-04-17T17:46:30.524-04:00Gee, GO transit and Presto have screwed this up on...Gee, GO transit and Presto have screwed this up once againAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-84276240472589596622014-04-17T15:27:54.921-04:002014-04-17T15:27:54.921-04:00If nothing else, this scenario showed the power of...If nothing else, this scenario showed the power of social media. Individuals from across the province came together to right a Metrolinx issue that was so wrong on so many levels. Next issue: $6 PRESTO cards that break prematurely.<br /><br />Saddle up amigos. We ride. Hasta luego!GOvoygrnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-59440616916409360792014-04-17T13:49:51.339-04:002014-04-17T13:49:51.339-04:00IMO, this article nailed it. In my 3½ years on Rou...IMO, this article nailed it. In my 3½ years on Route 12 in the Niagara region, the biggest delay boarding buses is ticket sales in St. Catharines. Early morning commuters usually use PRESTO, but very few ask the driver to load their ePurse. Last summer I sent an e-mail to the former president of GO Transit suggesting a PRESTO+Autoload sales campaign to the parents of Brock University freshmen just so passenger boarding might be expedited, especially on Friday afternoons when many students head home. That suggestion fell on deaf ears. The drivers and I keep informal counts of Friday afternoon PRESTO users - it's roughly 10-15%. I view that as a 85-90% failure rate for PRESTO.Peternoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-40429080254284164392014-04-17T13:49:18.629-04:002014-04-17T13:49:18.629-04:00Hi Taylor
Definitely noted. Hi Taylor<br />Definitely noted. C.J. Smithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03325979176373626807noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-72703328882179597882014-04-17T13:35:13.848-04:002014-04-17T13:35:13.848-04:00People loading their cards on the bus results in t...People loading their cards on the bus results in the driver having a large amount of cash on them - I think this is a safety issue.Taylornoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-24916792191919876532014-04-17T11:45:41.673-04:002014-04-17T11:45:41.673-04:00I've heard from some passengers (my kids) that...I've heard from some passengers (my kids) that when coming from York or McMaster, students loading up their cards cause delays each and every day.<br /><br />Of course I can't tell how bad it is anywhere else because I ride trains :) and not buses.<br /><br />I'd love to see some stats on this. I don't think GO would do this lightly.Georgenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6441168213084499367.post-25831818563877427282014-04-17T10:17:12.721-04:002014-04-17T10:17:12.721-04:00I brought Ellen Roseman in,as it seemed eliphae wa...I brought Ellen Roseman in,as it seemed eliphae was getting the runaround from Go Transit and Presto.<br /><br />Waiting a week to get the whole thing even looked at seemed outrageous as well. The fact GO Transit was backlogged on Presto issues, as eliphae noted in her e-mail, also smells. If Presto is so awesome, why is there such a backlog? <br /><br />Ellen Roseman should be congratulated in this as well as she quickly got the issue to GO Transit's media relations department. I'm sure Ellen would have eaten GO Transit for lunch if things didn't get quickly resolved. Michael Suddardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17922794404701194134noreply@blogger.com