CharlieCard / Ticket discussion

danib62 wrote:I just noticed this today but the scrolling LED signs on top of some FVMs are advertising that you can now put a 7-day pass on your charliecard if you go to an RST. It just seems dumb that you can only do this at an RST but this is the T we're dealing with...

It used to be that 7 day passes were good on CR Zones 1 and 2. Is that not true any more? If they are good on CRZ1/CRZ2, I would think that the T would only want people loading them onto CharlieCards if you are (a) in the subway core and not in a CR terminal and (b) in a place where they can tell you that once it's on a CharlieCard it's not good on the commuter rail any more. CharlieCards are for long-term users, not really for visitors. The 7 day pass is a T visitor's pass.

ags wrote:

danib62 wrote:I just noticed this today but the scrolling LED signs on top of some FVMs are advertising that you can now put a 7-day pass on your charliecard if you go to an RST. It just seems dumb that you can only do this at an RST but this is the T we're dealing with...

It used to be that 7 day passes were good on CR Zones 1 and 2. Is that not true any more? If they are good on CRZ1/CRZ2, I would think that the T would only want people loading them onto CharlieCards if you are (a) in the subway core and not in a CR terminal and (b) in a place where they can tell you that once it's on a CharlieCard it's not good on the commuter rail any more. CharlieCards are for long-term users, not really for visitors. The 7 day pass is a T visitor's pass.

From MBTA.com:
Day/Week LinkPass $9.00 for 1 day
$15.00 for 7 days
Unlimited travel on Subway, Local Bus, Inner Harbor Ferry, and Commuter Rail Zone 1A.
7-Day Pass valid for 7 days from the date and time of purchase.

I've never heard of 7-day passes being good in commuter rail zones 1 or 2. Only in zone 1A (which they really should rename to Zone 0).

Ron Newman wrote:I've never heard of 7-day passes being good in commuter rail zones 1 or 2. Only in zone 1A (which they really should rename to Zone 0).

I'm probably getting it confused with another type of pass. But even still, a charliecard is no good if you want to use the CR train to get to Yawkey or Porter or one of those other in-Boston stops.

CR 1 and 2 would be impossible since CR conductors have no way to read a Charlie Card. That's another "enhancement" that has been talked about since the Charlie Cards were introduced; each year, they say it's "coming later this year." Still, there's no methodology that has been accepted nor scheduled for deployment.

ags wrote:It used to be that 7 day passes were good on CR Zones 1 and 2. Is that not true any more? If they are good on CRZ1/CRZ2, I would think that the T would only want people loading them onto CharlieCards if you are (a) in the subway core and not in a CR terminal and (b) in a place where they can tell you that once it's on a CharlieCard it's not good on the commuter rail any more. CharlieCards are for long-term users, not really for visitors. The 7 day pass is a T visitor's pass.

No 7 day pass has been good beyond Zones 1A(or 1B under the pre-Charlie arrangement). If it ever was it has been at least 8 years since that was true.

Hows about a CharlieKeychain???
SInce you never actually have to slide the card into any slots, there is no reason it has to be a card at all. And I HATE having to take out my wallet and open it up every time I enter the subway, with people all around. The whole idea sucks. However a little speedpass-style keychain would be great. Just whip out your keychain, waive and board. Seems like a far better system, and they wouldn't have to change anything at all. Just get someone to make some RF keychains.

Why do you have to open up your wallet? I never do. I just tap the side of the wallet where the CharlieCard is.

I always get denied and was told, probably somewhere deep in this very thread, that you're supposed to touch the card all directly to the pad to get full signal. Even the way you do it though, you're still taking out your walled while walking with people everywhere, which i don't like doing.

I've always wondered about this: Why is the CR fare for Zone 1A $1.70, the "discounted" CharlieCard fare? It seems to me it should be at least $2.00, the non-discounted CharlieTicket fare. Since CCs can't be used on-board, the Conductor has to take the time to cut a ticket and make change for inbound passengers at stations such as West Medford.

Make sure the CharlieCard is the outermost thing in your wallet, and that you don't have some other RFID card near it.

Diverging Route wrote:I've always wondered about this: Why is the CR fare for Zone 1A $1.70, the "discounted" CharlieCard fare? It seems to me it should be at least $2.00, the non-discounted CharlieTicket fare. Since CCs can't be used on-board, the Conductor has to take the time to cut a ticket and make change for inbound passengers at stations such as West Medford.

The "discount" isn't really discounted. Rather, the fare is $1.70 and if you don't use a CharlieCard, the SURCHARGE is $0.30. The same strategy can't be used on a Commuter Rail. However, they can (or should) say that unless you buy a Zone 1A ticket in the station for $1.70 you will be surcharged a dollar on the train. For all those business people in the financial district who take a commuter train to Yawkey for their Red Sox games.

l008com wrote:I always get denied and was told, probably somewhere deep in this very thread, that you're supposed to touch the card all directly to the pad to get full signal. Even the way you do it though, you're still taking out your walled while walking with people everywhere, which i don't like doing.

Keeping it inside my wallet used to work on all fareboxes/faregates, but recently has only worked on the fareboxes on the bus/Green Line (and I assume it would work on the Mattapan line as well). I'm not sure if an update was given to the faregates in stations, but I now have to remove it from my wallet for it to work. I have no other RFID cards in my wallet and it's pretty much as close to an edge as it can get.

Back when the CharlieCard was new I would sometimes keep my wallet in back pocket and give the faregate a bump in order to open it. Impressed my friends at the time.

Not sure if anyone has dissected a Charlie Card but some kinds of electronic cards have an antenna embedded in much of the surface of the card. Such a system would not fit in, say, a Mobil Speedpass pencil stub sized gadget.