Tuesday, November 15, 2016
This Crazy Train's Presto Chronicles, Chapter 34: What has improved with the new website?
Special
to This Crazy Train
By
Frank E. Futor
I
visit the site only to audit my transaction history and to export it to a PDF
every month — something I never had to do with the old monthly passes and
10/2-ride tickets. I’m not sure what the
software development team at PRESTO were thinking when they “improved” the
transaction reporting capabilities, but I think a whole bunch more work needs
to be done — just to get back to what we had with the old website. Let me demonstrate.
Once
signed in, scroll down to the My PRESTO
Card Activity section of the dashboard.
I
don’t have transactions for November, nor October, but I did travel in
September, so let’s select that month and click on Search.
Wait
a minute! I travelled more than
that. What does that View Full History
link give us?
WTH?! We’re back to where I started — sort of. Let me select September, again.
WTF?! Only 10 transactions are displayed, and then
I have to scroll page by page. You must
be kidding! Let’s just click on the Print button, produce the PDF and be
done with this nonsense.
OMG
…
It
gets worse …
I
have to go back to the web page select page 2 and produce another PDF. Shoot me now!
I
demonstrated this “improved” website behaviour to a couple of senior developers
I work with. Both were left in stitches
at PRESTO’s IT prowess.
Apparently,
other users
questioned this “enhancement”, too. As of this writing, it appears the report can
be generated for an entire month, but we are still forced to wade through the
weak user interface to get there. Who
wrote that use case?
Monday, November 14, 2016
Toronto wants a seat at the Metrolinx table
Toronto councillors including Janet Davis want a seat at the Metrolinx table https://t.co/zv2Zas2odS #TOpoli #transit pic.twitter.com/3TVeTVZQse
— TorontoStar (@TorontoStar) November 14, 2016
Not sure if Shakes was one of the three arrested (have to assume since it's his "tag" in the photo)
Shakes lives in Oshawa. In a townhouse on Oxford Street. He deleted his Instagram when he realized I was onto him. #Coward https://t.co/mdZs3EUoyM
— CJ Smith (@ThisCrazyTrain) November 11, 2016
Metrolinx "absolutely annoyed" with continuing problem of costly graffiti https://t.co/fx7UdmfCS5 pic.twitter.com/0P3WnZddYY
— NEWSTALK1010 (@NEWSTALK1010) November 11, 2016
An update on GO Transit real-time bus information
Special to This Crazy Train
By GO Voyageur
In
a prior article,
TCT relayed Metrolinx’s assurances that their real-time bus information app
would be available “soon”. In terms of
geological time, that delivery date is accurate. As of November 8 it is more than three years after GO
Transit Customer Relations “promised” real-time bus information, and all
Metrolinx is capable of delivering is telling others “to
put up or shut up”.
Well,
a tip of the hat to Kyle
Hubley for sharing with me that GO Transit
real-time bus information became available via transit app
recently. FINALLY! This is what we’ve needed for so long. Thank you to the bright group of folks in la belle
province (they’re
so young) for accomplishing what Metrolinx never
could. I invite you to read their blog,
in which they share the challenges they faced and how they triumphed.
I’ve
played with the app for a few days, and it works for me. I’ve found only one deficiency, and that is
the app doesn’t report real-time bus arrivals at a bus route’s termini, e.g.
Niagara Falls bus terminal and Burlington Carpool Lot. Instead, you can view the scheduled arrival times (and set a reminder
to board a drop-off only bus — WHAT?). I
was able to kludge a temporary solution for Niagara Falls by reporting on buses
on Bridge St. near Stanley Ave. — it’s close enough. Unfortunately, I couldn’t effect the same
success at the other terminus of Route 12.
Passenger pickup is a significant part of travelling on the GO. I believe these limitations can be overcome
if the system engineers tweak their original problem definition of “When will
my ride get here?” to “When will the vehicle get here?”
If
you haven’t already, give the app a try at https://transitapp.com/
Friday, November 11, 2016
I always left my car unlocked back in the day so I wouldn't come back to a smashed window (never left anything it)
#BPS checked just under 500 vehicles parked at the @GOtransit lot.Only 7 were found to be unlocked & valuables left inside! #lockitorloseit pic.twitter.com/baNg99XxoQ
— Barrie Police (@BarriePolice) November 8, 2016
Are they all at Remembrance Day ceremonies? *intentionally throwing shade
Wow, #GOtrain is practically empty this morning. Looks like 80% of GO Sheep are either bankers or government workers. #remembranceday2016 pic.twitter.com/ckv9MfExlO
— Dave D (@AndroidDav3) November 11, 2016
Thursday, November 10, 2016
Part 8 of an installment, exclusive to This Crazy Train, "Meet the Deckers"
Editor's note: If you
have had issues while aboard a Double Decker bus, or have a story about a
Double Decker experience, drop me a line at cj@thiscrazytrain.com.
Special
to This Crazy Train
by GO Voyageur
by GO Voyageur
Don’t Judge a Book by
Its Cover
In
this installment, I continue my quest to find the answer to Anonymous’ question, “And also has
anyone written to GO directly to complain or is putting it on the internet the
norm now?”
After
nigh unto three weeks with no response from GO Transit Customer Relations
(Passenger Charter violation +1), I escalated the matter to Greg Percy, Chief
Operating Officer.
Date: Sun,
17 Jul 2016 20:40:49 -0400
From: Me
To: Greg
Percy
CC: GO
Transit Customer Relations, Cj Smith
Subject: Re: GO
Transit, a Division of Metrolinx EM0119002913
Dear
Mr. Percy,
I
am puzzled why no one in Customer Relations has responded to my e-mail of June
27.
Is
Metrolinx denying the extent of the black soot inside its double-decker
buses? Allow me to share more evidence
with you. Bus Operations may have spent
a goodly amount to reclad bus 8198 for the Pride Toronto parade, but the inside
remains stained.
Bus
8190 is no different.
In
the name of transparency, may we see an independent laboratory's toxicology
report regarding this soot, please? What
is this black particulate we are breathing on your double-decker buses?
Sincerely,
Me
Over
the course of the next week and a half, I received a number of “thank you for
your patience” e-mails, and finally Customer Relations — not Greg Percy — responded
as follows:
Date: Thu,
28 Jul 2016 17:30:13 -0400
From: Metrolinx
Customer Relations
To: Me
Subject: Metrolinx,
an Agency of the Government of Ontario EM0018003463
Dear
Me,
Thank
you for following up with me regarding the black residue you’ve noticed in some
of our double decker buses.
As
per my previous email, we have identified the cause of this reside to be a
technical issue with the cabin filter in a small number of buses (less than 20%
of the fleet). Since March, we have been changing these cabin filters and
cleaning the ceilings. As you’ve noticed, this work is not yet complete and
some buses have yet to have the filter changed, but this is expected to be
finished by the end of August.
Our
HVAC experts have advised that this residue is dust and the black colour is
simply due to accumulation. However, we are sending out the used cabin filters
for testing to see if we can discover the composition of this particulate
matter. Unfortunately, I don’t have a specific timeline as to when we may
receive these test results, but I will follow up with you again once I have
them.
Thank
you again for taking the time to write about this important matter.
Sincerely,
(Name
withheld for confidentiality reasons)
Supervisor,
Customer Relations, Metrolinx
I
wasn’t sure how to take that reply. Were
we now dealing with a case of “lies, damn lies, and statistics”? Tune in next time when I volley back some of
my own figures (and a colourful graph).
Wednesday, November 9, 2016
Sad news from the UK
London tram derailment kills 5; mayor says death toll ‘may well increase’ https://t.co/LqmOm798zq via @torontostar
— CJ Smith (@ThisCrazyTrain) November 9, 2016
Happens at Oshawa every morning
@GOtransit huge bike on gotrain during rush hour are no-no #etiquette #stouffville #union 9 am pic.twitter.com/LS3z5sAVTz
— Jem (@j3m52) November 9, 2016
Monday, November 7, 2016
Friday, November 4, 2016
He's back!
For #BurlON @GOtransit riders, a poppy isn't a poppy unless it's from singing vet Bill Reid. @dweeks_CHCHnews finds out why. @morninglive pic.twitter.com/dxbwTgZkpj
— Linda Lee (@JustOutAndAbout) November 4, 2016
Wednesday, November 2, 2016
“Bottom line, as opposed to finding ways to say no to building transit, will we use our expertise and know-how to find ways to (say) yes.” - Toronto mayor's spokesperson
SmartTrack, GO stations face construction issues ahead of funding vote https://t.co/Qs8jdBfEh1 via @torontostar
— CJ Smith (@ThisCrazyTrain) November 2, 2016
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)