CharlieCard / Ticket discussion

l008com wrote:I've never taken a bus in boston but I think I know what you mean. But do you do this even when the green line is underground? How woudl you get your 'free' transfer from other lines? With the new system it could just 'track' you and know, but what about before when it was all tolkens?

The fareboxes on the trolleys are used for payment at above-ground stops and regular gates are used when underground. If you get on above ground and get off underground, you can transfer as normal. If you get off above ground, just tap your card once you get on another trolley (though above-ground GL transfers are rare) and the system will recognize the transfer and not charge you anything.

l008com wrote:Ibut what about before when it was all tolkens?

There were no bus-subway transfers back then.

I don't believe there are free transfers between Green Line trolleys above ground (e.g. from the E to the D line in the Brookline Vlllage area, or from the C to the D at Cleveland Circle). You'd have to pay both fares. If I'm wrong, let me know.

Before Charlie, there were a small number of special-case bus-to-subway and subway-to-bus paper transfers: between the #49 (Washington St. Silver Line) and various downtown subway stops, between the #39 and Copley or Back Bay station, between the #1 and the Orange Line at Mass. Ave., and a few others involving the CT1, CT2, or CT3 buses.

Also before Charlie, there were no turnstiles or fare gates at Prudential, Symphony, Science Park, or (except at certain hours) Lechmere stations. You had to use the farebox in the Green Line car.

T worker arraigned in alleged subway fare theft

A 22-year MBTA employee who is facing charges that he stole subway fare money admitted he had done it before, according to police.

Gilberto Carrasquillo, a senior revenue collection agent, was responsible for bringing fare boxes from the subway stations to a locked vault.

He was charged after officials acted on a tip from the T's money room director of security that cash was being stolen from fare collection boxes, the type often used at Fenway and Kenmore Stations during Red Sox games and other stations during high-volume events.

Ron Newman wrote:B #49 (Washington St. Silver Line)

Although the routes are almost identical, those are not the same. The Silver Line goes one stop further into downtown, and internally is known as either the #748 or #749 (I can't remember which).

The #49 was replaced by the Silver Line bus, with the same or similar transfer policy. That's all I meant.

BTW when i was said transfers, I was thinking more like orange to green transfers. How did they work before charlie?

l008com wrote:BTW when i was said transfers, I was thinking more like orange to green transfers. How did they work before charlie?

The transfer points were and still are all underground. People transferred by walking to the other platforms. The get into the station, the turnstiles would be at the foot of the stairs. To transfer, people do not need to walk out through the turnstyles to transfer. It is still the same case today. There are no subway to subway transfers above ground.

Back in the day, you had to ask the driver for a transfer for all bus to bus transfers. Except for a few bus routes, there were no subway to bus or bus to subway transfers. The Subway Pass would work for all lines on the subway except the far end on the Riverside line where they charged more. The bus pass worked on all local buses and the above-ground stops on the green line. The green line also didn't have an outbound fare above ground. Once the outbound train left the tunnel, it was a free ride.

So before the card, if I was at north station, got off the orange line, and walked over to the green line, how would I get a free transfer, if you have to pay inside the vehicle?

you wouldn't pay inside the vehicle. North station is considered a subway station with gates and everything.

Scenario 1: Gates to get into the station. Do not pay in any train.
Scenario 2: No gates. Pay as you board.

This should all be very obvious if you walk around the stations. Charlie didn't change the locations of any entry gates, although it does allow entry at some gates that used to be exit-only.

diburning wrote:

l008com wrote:BTW when i was said transfers, I was thinking more like orange to green transfers. How did they work before charlie?

The transfer points were and still are all underground. People transferred by walking to the other platforms. The get into the station, the turnstiles would be at the foot of the stairs. To transfer, people do not need to walk out through the turnstyles to transfer. It is still the same case today. There are no subway to subway transfers above ground.

Back in the day, you had to ask the driver for a transfer for all bus to bus transfers. Except for a few bus routes, there were no subway to bus or bus to subway transfers. The Subway Pass would work for all lines on the subway except the far end on the Riverside line where they charged more. The bus pass worked on all local buses and the above-ground stops on the green line. The green line also didn't have an outbound fare above ground. Once the outbound train left the tunnel, it was a free ride.

Going back a ways, before 1961 there were transfers between bus and bus/subway and the fare was 20 cents, 5 cents for kids. In 1961 (I think) it was changed to a 10 cent fare and transfers were eliminated except for school students who had to get a badge from their school to obtain a transfer. You got one bus and one subway transfer which were date punched and color coded for AM or PM so you couldn't use it to get a free ride (not that some didn't try anyway ahem).

Just a little history as I remember it. Not sure what happened after 1967 when I graduated from High School and left the area.

Jon

MBTA bus-to-bus transfers reappeared in December 2000, as partial compensation for a fare increase.

ags wrote:you wouldn't pay inside the vehicle. North station is considered a subway station with gates and everything.

Scenario 1: Gates to get into the station. Do not pay in any train.
Scenario 2: No gates. Pay as you board.

This is true, however specifically with respect to North Station - I believe that before the North Station underground "superstation" was constructed, there were no free transfers at North Station between the Green Line stub end terminal (which was at street level), the Green Line elevated platform (served by trains to/from Lechmere), and the (underground) Orange Line... but I'm not exactly sure. Although I do remember using North Station back then, I don't remember it well. A lack of such free transfers would not have been very important anyways, since there were (and are) free transfers between Green and Orange at Haymarket.

tober wrote:This is true, however specifically with respect to North Station - I believe that before the North Station underground "superstation" was constructed, there were no free transfers at North Station between the Green Line stub end terminal (which was at street level), the Green Line elevated platform (served by trains to/from Lechmere), and the (underground) Orange Line... but I'm not exactly sure. Although I do remember using North Station back then, I don't remember it well. A lack of such free transfers would not have been very important anyways, since there were (and are) free transfers between Green and Orange at Haymarket.

You are incorrect. Before any of the superstation construction began there were free transfers between all three. There were staircases connecting each platform to the other. After a certain point in the construction project the connection between the elevated green line platform and the underground orange line platform was cut out.