MyTix Mobile Ticketing

I bought my first amtrak e-tickets and tickets are visible in Amtrak app on my iphone. I haven't used them yet. There is a QR code but one code for both directions of trip (It is a round trip.) I called and agent told me that it knows what train you are on and can use the same code for both directions.
I don't know how NJT's will work. Is it like NY Waterway, where you activate the ticket and it expires in some amount of time? If so, I don't see how they could automate exceptions--you would have to go to a conductor or other employee. If they did it with qr code, it couldn't get rolled out until all relevant employees got the appropriate hardware. And then, would you have the tickets ordinarily expire after a time, or would you have to have each one scanned, like current paper tickets are punched? That seems too labor intensive for a commuter railroad. For that matter, on Amtrak, if I don't get my qr code scanned on the first leg of trip, does that mean my return would get canceled? I have to ask them.....

On Amtrak, your entire ticket appears under one QR code. Each leg must be completed before you can commence with the next. If you make a mid-trip change, you need to re-print your ticket (if PDF), but your iPhone (or Android) QR code will always be valid. If you do not complete your first leg there are several options:

1) If you missed your train, you can re-book on a later train using the iPhone (or Android) app or via reservation

2) If you are not completing your first trip, you must call reservations and they can work with you on the proper vouchers etc. for the fist trip and re-write your return trip.

Generally Amtrak is good about scanning... If you do not get scanned you are a "No Show". The reservation still exsits and it is best to call Amtrak at that point.

I find it easier to maintain separate outbound and return reservations. There has never been an incentive (i.e. Financial) to having a common ticket. This is a holdover from the paper days where you could cancel anything even after departure without any issues so long as you did not print out your ticket. If paper, you had your return ticket in hand when you picked up your outbound ticket. If you wanted to take an earlier or later train, you had to go to an agent which took time. If separate, you could change everything on line at anytime even after the outbound departure since it was a separate ticket. I still find it easier in the e-ticket world to maintain separate reservations. But hey, that's just my personal opinion.

Back to NJT...

The way it is described, you purchase your ticket for city pairs. All purchased tickets are inactive. You posses them, but they are not yet valid. For instance, you could buy a ticket and hold it for a month or two months. Prior to boarding, your activate the ticket in your portfolio for applicable to your trip. The ticket expires two hours later.

I do not see how scanning a QR code would cause more work on NJT. Not trying to trivalize the TC or Conductors role here. It would be change in the way a ticket is cancelled (i.e. scanner vs. punch) but not the physical mechanics of what needs to be done already on board the train. I fully appreciate that scanners can have their own frustrations such as conectivity, and there also needs to be the requisite IT infrasturcure to log all of the transactions. At present, tickets (except monthlys and weeklys) have to be punched to cancel them. The Monthly / Weekly tickets could be handled differently too electronically so they do not need to be scanned each ride.

I have often been on crowded njt trains where, on a short trip, the ticket collectors did not get to me. If the ticket just expires, NJT does not lose the revenue. In that sense, qr e-tickets would be like current paper tickets. But, the automatically expiring tickets would provide extra revenue and save the tc's work. Also, it would probably take NJT a long time to adopt qr scanners for it whole passenger-facing staff. I don't think it is cost effective. The occasional screwup, on either NJT's part or the passenger's, can easily be handled manually. Elegant? No. Cheap? Yes.

With the MBTA m-Tickets (which work pretty much the same way as these are said to), the ticket will automatically expire after 1.5 hours. However, if the barcode is scanned by the conductor, the ticket will be immediately deactivated. This is not used in normal practice because a) only 24 conductors currently have the pilot "Conductor Companion" iPhones, and b) the iPhones currently used in the pilot program all have the cameras deactivated, and thus are unable to scan tickets anyway.

As for the problem of "what if you don't ride," that's why I always wait until I'm on the train to activate my ticket.

ns3010 wrote:...

As for the problem of "what if you don't ride," that's why I always wait until I'm on the train to activate my ticket.

seems to fix that problem pretty simply....

baldwr wrote:...
Consider the following situation... The first weekend in early March, the ALP-45s were holding down the M&E and several of us were riding those trains that weekend. What would prevent the auto-expiring ticket from allowing someone to ride in then out again on the same ticket. For instance, the ride to/from Maplewood can easily be done in just about two hours. As long as the ticket has not expired prior to being presented it is still valid. An e-vailidated ticket would be cancelled force the customer to buy a second ticket. (NOTE: I know the M&E is not in the trial, but this is just an example if the system were full deployed). ....

there's always going to be outliers to any choices they make. So I don't know that you have to add in specific steps for very rare occasions. Besides railfans how many instances will someone ride to a terminal and then turn right back around? So they probably try to figure out, how much money would be lost by giving a 2 hr window as compared to the people you could inconvenience if you made it 30 minutes longer. Is it worth it to upset/inconvenience X number of people to get more money out of Y?

From what I see on NJT, especially on jam-packed NEC trains, the possible revenue loss from a few foamers gaming the system would be more than offset by the regular passengers who now get to re-use their tickets. I suspect they figured out that the expiring tickets would be a revenue producer compared to the QR scanned tickets.

ThirdRail, ifan NJT passenger screws up so bad that they wind up in Croton Harmon.. The railroad should not be liable for the fact that they clearly need professional help.

My guess is that in practice (whatever the official rules are), conductors will accommodate, the lost, the brain dead, the bewildered very nicely. If the guy trying to get from Newark to Middletown, NJ, ends up on a train to Middletown, NY, decides it doesn't look right and ends up in Port Jervis, I would suspect he would be allowed to get to Middletown, NJ at no extra charge.

beanbag wrote:ThirdRail, ifan NJT passenger screws up so bad that they wind up in Croton Harmon.. The railroad should not be liable for the fact that they clearly need professional help.

Not as bad as the NJT passenger that wants to go to Paterson, NJ and ends up on Metro North to Patterson, NY (yes, I've seen it happen). The unsuspecting passengers realized something wasn't quite right when they many trees and few buildings.

Back to the e tickets. Per a notice we got at Metro North, the e tickets are availible between NY Penn and Metro Norths Pascack Valley stations. There is a count down timer on the ticket that renders it void if not "collected" within a certain time.

NJT released an updated app today. Looks like e-ticketing has expanded to include Main/Bergen, Port Jervis and Medowlands service in addition to the PVL pilot.

I've been using the MyTix app on my iPhone for my njt tickets and it works very nicely, including the barcode scanning at Secaucus. I'm impressed that NJT rolled this out so smoothly. The only glitch I've noticed is that sometimes in NYP you need to activate the ticket before you go down to the platforms. Otherwise, the activation may not happen until you are out of the tunnel in NJ. The one time this happened the conductor was understanding.

But I can't help wondering if, between the TVMs and the smartphones, NJT will try to get rid of station agents.

What prevents people from activating only when they see the conductor coming?

"But I can't help wondering if, between the TVMs and the smartphones, NJT will try to get rid of station agents." That's what I'm wondering too.
Ticket agent, Midddletown

There is nothing to prevent you from activating as you see the conductor coming, except a) activation isn't instantaneous and would be very noticeable (if you are susceptible to embarrassment), and you would have trouble doing it at NYP or in the Bergen tunnels. I activate before i get on the train. Anyway, even if someone gets a free ride by not activating, the same thing happens with paper tickets that aren't collected.

On the other hand, once activated, you have used the ticket. Sometimes the crew misses getting some tickets. That wouldn't happen with activated tickets.