Quote:
Originally Posted by ByeByeBaby
I hope they cancel it at this point because of the lack of tap-in tap-out functionality. While that may have been state-of-practice back in 2002 when they first started trying Connect, putting a smart card in place without that functionality in 2015 (or 2016 or 2018 or 2022...) is just a complete waste of effort and money. Tap-in tap-out gets you:
- The ability to introduce zone fare systems
- All door boarding on all vehicles, speeding up all bus routes immediately.
- Phenomenally better data on transit use
I've just been to Australia, and the tap-in tap-out systems there have so many features that Connect won't. It's phenomenal how many ways they can encourage higher usage of transit with fare strategies:
- Zone fares, so short trips are cheaper
- Discounts during off-peak periods to encourage time shifting
- Automatic caps on travel costs to encourage higher usage (instead of passes)
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Maybe I'm not thinking this through, but you don't need "tap out" for the above, except for "zone fare systems" and "phenomenal data".
Heck, you don't even need "smart cards" for all-door boarding. You just need to mandate proof-of-payment on all vehicles, all the time. Have a pass or transfer? You can board on back doors. Need to pay cash or use a ticket? Board at the front, and get a transfer. Attach a ticket validator next to rear doors on high-volume buses to make it even better. (Not sure this makes overall sense given extra costs of enforcement, just saying it's all technically possible. You can of course half-do it by implementing only on 3xx routes, for example.) Of
course smart cards would be nicer, but we don't
need to wait.
Edit: yes, off-peak discounts could be made "more precise" with tap-out. Not sure it's really worth the effort though. I'd be shocked if you could get significant time-shifting out of any discount. The people who put up with being crush-loaded on the train at 7:35 am surely won't shift to 9:00 am if they can't be bothered to go slightly earlier or slightly later to avoid the worst of the congestion.
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