Comments on: one card to rule them all*

By: Bruce De Benedictis

Bruce De Benedictis — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:50:39 +0000

I should have said “If you talk to customer service, be sure to have your card number handy.”

By: Bruce De Benedictis

Bruce De Benedictis — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:49:45 +0000

Actually, they can credit your card, but I find that everything more or less balances out in the long run. You may get buses where you pay local fare for transbay rides. If you talk to customer, be sure you have your card number handy.

The biggest problem is still renewing passes without using autoload. That does not work properly. I have not tested autoload to see if that handles passes properly yet.

By: Tim M

Tim M — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 01:20:46 +0000

Ya, I expected the driver to make me pay cash when it occurred, fortunately she did not cause I didn’t really have the change.

As for the transbay fare – it is probably up to you, same as if you accidentally put too much money in – they aren’t gonna give it back to you. There is possibly more recourse here cause there is a TransLink customer care center that (may) help. I’ll let you know about that – I (somewhat) intentionally tested the system yesterday by doing a transbay fare locally and then doing a transbay fare across the bridge. It looks like the system billed me twice (2 * $3.50), but the transaction history only shows one. So I’m asking TransLink customer service now, I’ll let you know what they say.

By: Doug Faunt

Doug Faunt — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 00:28:04 +0000

When that happened to me, I paid the extra with cash, reported it, and asked what the proper procedure was when such a mistake was made. I was basically told that such mistakes shouldn’t be made. Useful, right?

And what happens when someone accidently pays the Transbay fare for a local ride?

By: Tim M

Tim M — Thu, 01 Mar 2007 19:54:22 +0000

Got a translink card independently (just signed up on their website), been using it on AC Transit for a week or so. Don’t have to worry about having lots of singles or getting passes anymore – just like Fastrak for public transit.

So far, pretty good – a couple minor hiccups. One, the reader was off (driver allowed me to ride free). Second, the driver had it set to local mode (was going transbay), and I didn’t notice until after I tagged it, so the fare deducted was wrong.

I’m going to carry cash in case of emergency, but the plan is to always use it and send AC Transit a report every time it doesn’t work out. They’ll get things figured – personal opinion is that the current issue is driver education, not technical, at this point.

By: snitch

snitch — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 19:43:48 +0000

EZ Rider pilot program reaches participant goal

By: Lou Lew

Lou Lew — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 02:04:52 +0000

Has anyone’s TransLink card worked?
I placed $2 value on the TransLink card in Oakland, and it didn’t work.

The machine that takes your money works, and I even got a receipt.

By: Bruce De Benedictis

Bruce De Benedictis — Thu, 08 Feb 2007 05:49:58 +0000

I thought the Translink cards worked on Caltrain from the first pilot program. I have had no notice that they no longer do.

By: Brian T

Brian T — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 09:16:26 +0000

Finally got my TransLink card. I also have BART’s EZ Rider and BikeLink. So this is hi-
tech? It’s like I’m juggling credit cards when I head out, instead of change. Can’t wait
for that all-in-one card.

By: Robert Raburn

Robert Raburn — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 03:14:38 +0000

Why do Bay Area transit agencies have such a difficult time working together to collect fares from passengers?

I support transit fare integration using smart cards, but after 15 years of TransLink delays I’m not holding my breath. As a bicyclist I use many of the transit systems in the Bay Area, but rarely have the correct fare and I have many worthless demagnetized cards destroyed by moisture or crumpling. Also (now I’m really shooting for the moon!), the hundreds of BikeLink electronic bike lockers soon to be deployed at BART and other locations need to work with BART’s EZ Rider electronic fare system, and in turn, TransLink.

Come-on, the technology exists to retrofit fare gates with card readers and we have the political motivation of melting icecaps to make taking transit easier than buying gas.