Mobile Ticketing

Well that will introduce a whole new set of problems for the conductors. So what will be the Railroad's official procedure? Come back later or insist that they must see the e-ticket now?

Well based on reports that employees have told us on these boards I can just see the conductor who insists on seeing the e-ticket now, being called on the carpet for being discourteous to passengers after complaints are made about those nasty conductors who wouldn't let people finish their phone calls.

Is there any actual proof that this sort of scenario has already occurred? Or is it just conjecture at this time? Given the LIRR is a decade or so behind modern technology when it comes to mobile payments, most people are pretty accustomed to the standard use cases and norms for how to use a mobile payment app. I don't see people standing in line at Starbucks, or other stores where mobile payments are accepted, telling the cashier to wait a minute before they pay with their smartphone because they are finishing a call.

That's different because you are not forced by time, you can always bypass the person and/or not serve them until the payment is made. On the train, the conductor either will tell you when to pay or call the cops on you if it is quite obvious there is no intention to pay.

Is there any actual proof that this sort of scenario has already occurred? Or is it just conjecture at this time?

It has happened, it does happen, it happens dozens of times every day... Yes, there is proof. Actual proof. Ask any Trainman. The passengers' noncooperation is the major, if not sole, problem with this system.

The LIRR's trial of Mobile Ticketing was quite extensive, to avoid the pitfalls that plagued Amtrak and others' rollout of problem-plagued half baked systems. Which would you more enjoy criticizing? A latter launched system or an early, flawed one?

I don't see people standing in line at Starbucks, or other stores where mobile payments are accepted, telling the cashier to wait a minute

Ahh, you work at Starbucks? When you're promoted to barrister you'll see what those people put up with...

You've really got to get out more.

I have been using the mobile ticket for over 1 month

Pro -- I no longer have to stop at a machine and purchase my ticket, and one less thing to carry.
Con -- My ticket has never been scanned. All the conductors give it a cursory look at best, leaving the door wide open for fraud

Most folks are still using the paper tickets and probably will continue to do so until the LIRR implements a surcharge for using physical tickets

Lol, that is because they aren't supposed to be scanned yet. The just a visual inspection for now. Also, it would be very hard to counterfeit, as there are certain things that conductors have to look at to validate its authenticity, which would be impossible to replicate in a screenshot or even a screen recording.

KT3, re: your reference to Starbucks. I have been delayed in line while the person in front of me tried to pay with their Smartphone and something was wrong; it wouldn't work, etc. and there was a delay while they tried to work it out. I'm paying for my $2.00 cup-of-coffee with old fashioned United States Currency (aka cash) and I was delayed because the other customer's electronic technology isn't perfect. Give me a break!

It's been a while since I've ridden the Long Island (I moved) but I took the train this past weekend and used the eticketing both ways. First of all, not having to go to a TVM is a big convenience. Some stations the TVM is all the way at one end and if you're running late you don't have time to buy a ticket. There will always been suckers who buy onboard fare, but I'm very glad they have finally stepped into the 21st century.

The only downside to the etickets is if your phone dies. Worst case, the conductor can give you one of those envelope invoices and you could fight the fare by showing your digital receipt. I'd be curious to know how that would work with monthly commuters (I got burned a couple of times paying the on-board fare because I forgot my monthly ticket at home) and repeat offenses.

As for the security of the system, I overheard a conductor talking to another passenger about the etickets. He explained that he checks to see that the time is moving. I noticed the color boxes change (is it unique per day? unique to the ticket?) but it didn't seem like the conductor considered the colors of the boxes when validating the ticket. I could probably write a website in a couple of hours to mimic the behavior of the eticket so those security measures really don't work. I'm glad they didn't delay the roll out, but they're risking losing money until they equip all of their ticket collectors with devices capable of scanning the barcodes.

As far as the color boxes go, it's determined by the time when the ticket was activated. So tickets activated all within the same time period will all have the same color boxes. So the conductor should be seeing all the same color patterns on all the E tickets on the same train.
The new scanners are already being rolled out so you might start seeing them soon.