As I've mentioned before, we have a smart card system in place for public transport called Smartrider. You sign up and either have automatic payments deducted from your bank account with a 25% discount or reload your card on the bus/train/ferry with a 15% discount.
This system must have been introduced about two years ago but there are still people that travel everyday and pay full fare. Not only do they hold up the bus that I'm travelling on but they must scrounge for change everyday. And it costs them more to do so. Not the greatest usage of travel money. I haven't come up with a name for them yet.
Then there are the Not-so-Smartriders. Those people that have Smartriders but don't know how to tag on properly or aren't sure if they've tagged on or off or try to tag off too early, etc.
The final group I have decided to call the Dumbriders. These are the people that fumble for change, have no idea how much the fare is and try to pay with $50 notes. I overheard a driver yesterday say that they can refuse to accept large notes as people just try it on knowing that not much change is kept and expect to get a free ride.
Showing posts with label SmartRider. Show all posts
Showing posts with label SmartRider. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 01, 2008
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Incident On The Bus This Morning
It was looking like another uneventful trip on the bus this morning. That is, until Jason boarded the bus. From my seat I could see that he was a mid-twenties, bare-footed slob who probably didn't have a job. Not that I'm quick to judge people. No, not me. I'm just a bigot. And an opinionated one at that.
Jason told the bus driver, who was expecting payment, that his Smartrider card had been taken by a machine in Armadale and that he wouldn't be paying. The bus driver insisted on receiving payment. Jason told him that he had recharged his card but that the machine had eaten it and that he should call the Armadale station because they knew about it.
The bus driver radioed base but, of course, the new Smartrider cards don't get eaten by recharging machines and he couldn't talk directly to the station anyway. Jason had to pay. He refused to pay and he refused to get off. The driver went to the next stop but on the way a lady stood up and showed some ID to the driver. She was some sort of transit guard and was on duty but not, apparently, in uniform. She instructed Jason that she was legally requesting that he get off the bus. He was a bit too large for her to push him off but you could see that that was her intention. She instructed the driver to stop, close the doors, call the transit police and await their arrival so that Jason could be arrested.
So, the bus stopped at the next stop. Two buses on the same route went past. People started to get a bit upset as they were going to be late for work. I could have changed buses but I wanted to see this guy get arrested and that would be worth missing 10-15 minutes of work for. I even felt like helping her push him out of the bus but could have been charged with assault should things have gotten out of hand. Besides, the duty officer seemed to have things under control, backup had been called and Jason wasn't being aggressive.
We waited for nearly 10 minutes before the officer convinced him to leave the bus with her and wait at the bus stop until the transit police arrived. She informed him that he would get a criminal record over this offence as he had not left the bus when instructed to which was a legal request.
We didn't get to see an arrest made. The driver refused to stop at any more stops on the way to the city, and you should have seen some of the looks that he received from people wanting to catch the bus, so that he could make up time. I was about five minutes later than usual but still not late for work. Pretty much all of the passengers were supportive of the action taken but a little put-out by the fact that they would be late for work.
The simple thing to do would be to buy a single journey ticket but if what Jason explained was true then he has some right to feel aggrieved. He also pointed out that some people are on a budget and, apart from the milk drink in his hand, he didn't appear to have two bob to rub together.
Perhaps there are still a few bugs to iron out in the Smartrider system. But it was nice to see the transit police system in operation and this young man be taught a lesson. Perhaps it is a bit harsh if it leads to a criminal conviction as he does appear to have a grievance.
It was looking like another uneventful trip on the bus this morning. That is, until Jason boarded the bus. From my seat I could see that he was a mid-twenties, bare-footed slob who probably didn't have a job. Not that I'm quick to judge people. No, not me. I'm just a bigot. And an opinionated one at that.
Jason told the bus driver, who was expecting payment, that his Smartrider card had been taken by a machine in Armadale and that he wouldn't be paying. The bus driver insisted on receiving payment. Jason told him that he had recharged his card but that the machine had eaten it and that he should call the Armadale station because they knew about it.
The bus driver radioed base but, of course, the new Smartrider cards don't get eaten by recharging machines and he couldn't talk directly to the station anyway. Jason had to pay. He refused to pay and he refused to get off. The driver went to the next stop but on the way a lady stood up and showed some ID to the driver. She was some sort of transit guard and was on duty but not, apparently, in uniform. She instructed Jason that she was legally requesting that he get off the bus. He was a bit too large for her to push him off but you could see that that was her intention. She instructed the driver to stop, close the doors, call the transit police and await their arrival so that Jason could be arrested.
So, the bus stopped at the next stop. Two buses on the same route went past. People started to get a bit upset as they were going to be late for work. I could have changed buses but I wanted to see this guy get arrested and that would be worth missing 10-15 minutes of work for. I even felt like helping her push him out of the bus but could have been charged with assault should things have gotten out of hand. Besides, the duty officer seemed to have things under control, backup had been called and Jason wasn't being aggressive.
We waited for nearly 10 minutes before the officer convinced him to leave the bus with her and wait at the bus stop until the transit police arrived. She informed him that he would get a criminal record over this offence as he had not left the bus when instructed to which was a legal request.
We didn't get to see an arrest made. The driver refused to stop at any more stops on the way to the city, and you should have seen some of the looks that he received from people wanting to catch the bus, so that he could make up time. I was about five minutes later than usual but still not late for work. Pretty much all of the passengers were supportive of the action taken but a little put-out by the fact that they would be late for work.
The simple thing to do would be to buy a single journey ticket but if what Jason explained was true then he has some right to feel aggrieved. He also pointed out that some people are on a budget and, apart from the milk drink in his hand, he didn't appear to have two bob to rub together.
Perhaps there are still a few bugs to iron out in the Smartrider system. But it was nice to see the transit police system in operation and this young man be taught a lesson. Perhaps it is a bit harsh if it leads to a criminal conviction as he does appear to have a grievance.
Wednesday, March 07, 2007
The New Transperth SmartRider
We used to have a MultiRider for public transport in Perth. You could have between 10 and 40 trips on the ticket and then you would throw it away. The cards were problematic when they became a bit old and the reading technology whereby you insert the card into a reader makes for problems every now and again. I received the odd free bus ride when the reader was out of operation.
The MultiRider has suffered a quick death. New SmartRiders have been brought in. They are contactless and don't require replacing. To get the maximum discount you set up your SmartRider card to automatically debit your bank account for a value between $20 and $250.
I'm not completely sold on the idea. If you tag on but forget to tag off you could be faced with paying something like $9 for a four zone ride - I only ride two zones for $2.40. So, I am ever worried about forgetting to tag off which is something I didn't have concerns with when using the MultiRider. Probably what I don't enjoy the most is seeing my credit level drop. The system tells you how much credit you have at the start of the journey and how much the trip has cost and remaining credit. You just see you money start to dwindle.
Having said that, you don't have to buy another ticket ever again if you set up direct debit. In a few years time everyone will have forgotten about the old MultiRider.
We used to have a MultiRider for public transport in Perth. You could have between 10 and 40 trips on the ticket and then you would throw it away. The cards were problematic when they became a bit old and the reading technology whereby you insert the card into a reader makes for problems every now and again. I received the odd free bus ride when the reader was out of operation.
The MultiRider has suffered a quick death. New SmartRiders have been brought in. They are contactless and don't require replacing. To get the maximum discount you set up your SmartRider card to automatically debit your bank account for a value between $20 and $250.
I'm not completely sold on the idea. If you tag on but forget to tag off you could be faced with paying something like $9 for a four zone ride - I only ride two zones for $2.40. So, I am ever worried about forgetting to tag off which is something I didn't have concerns with when using the MultiRider. Probably what I don't enjoy the most is seeing my credit level drop. The system tells you how much credit you have at the start of the journey and how much the trip has cost and remaining credit. You just see you money start to dwindle.
Having said that, you don't have to buy another ticket ever again if you set up direct debit. In a few years time everyone will have forgotten about the old MultiRider.
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