SkyTrain won’t take bus transfers with Compass Card system. When You Have idiots running The Show…………………
……………………..don’t be surprised at the results.
The new Compass fare card/fare gate regime, imposed on TransLink by the BC Liberal government, now means that bus transfers will no longer be accepted on SkyTrain!
Where did I learn about this utterly incompetent decision? From the throw away commuter newspaper 24 Hours!
Where is the mainstream media on this piece of nonsense, hiding from the truth, as usual.
The regional transit system is so designed to force all suburban transit (bus) customers on to the SkyTrain and Canada Line light-metro system, to complete their journey into town. If this absolutely idiotic decision doesn’t force the wholesale removal of the TransLink Board and senior management, then one must understand that this decision must have come from the premier’s office in Victoria, which of course is the real management behind TransLink!
Stupid is as stupid does and this inept decision should provide great impetuous for the South of the Fraser cities and municipalities to leave TransLink’s sphere of incompetence and form a new South Fraser Transit Authority.
Ai??One thinks that the Three Stooges could operate Translink better!
TRANSIT
SkyTrain won’t take bus transfers with new Compass Card system
By Michael Mui, 24 Hours Vancouver
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Lower Mainland bus drivers are ai???shaking their headsai??? at why TransLink decided bus transfer tickets for cash fares would no longer be accepted for other transit services when the Compass Card rolls out this fall.
TransLink spokesman Derek Zabel said that at $25 million, it was too expensive to upgrade all bus fare boxes so they would dish out Compass-compatible tickets.
If a passenger carries a bus-transfer pass to the SkyTrain, they will be told to get a Compass single-trip pass from a machine. There will be no trade-ins, nor will there be a discount for cash-only bus fares, Zabel said.
ai???If the customer comes on the bus with cash, and they get that ticket, that would no longer work on the rail side,ai??? Zabel said Tuesday, adding bus tickets in the new system will only be viable for bus-to-bus transfers.
He said there will be a transitional period in which both options will be accepted while TransLink teaches the public about its new system. During this time, retailers such as 7-11 will carry all available types of fare, including monthly and pre-loadable Compass Cards.
ai???Itai??i??s estimated only 6,000 customers (pay cash and transfer) a day, which represents a small percentage of our daily rides,ai??? Zabel said.
But Gavin Davies, vice-president of the union representing TransLink bus drivers, is worried his members will take the brunt of customer complaints when frustrated passengers find out theyai??i??d need to pay twice if they wish to use bus with cash then transfer to SkyTrain.
ai???Theyai??i??re going to take their frustration out on the (bus) operator,ai??? Davies said.
ai???You either go all the way or no way, theyai??i??re not two separate things. We have one system in place and it should be compatible.ai???
Zabel said TransLink expects most customers to use the Compass Card instead, as monthly and pre-loadable options offer a discount of up to 14% as a further incentive to buy. He said the transport authority would make sure its staff fully understand the system and can answer any questions.
ai???I donai??i??t know if weai??i??ve figured out a date when weai??i??ll stop selling regular fare media we currently have,ai??? Zabel said.
ai???Weai??i??re not going to close the date until weai??i??re confident people understand how to use the system.ai???
Didn’t Brazil just have huge protests because they tried to raise fares? When is enough going to be enough for translink? They cut back service, raise fares and property taxes, and eliminate fare savers and other options that encourage use. What a bunch of a holes. Translink needs to be done.
The presto card with all its hiccups still offers co-payment fares and reduced fares for transferring between carriers and transfers between buses/trains etc. and more systems picking it up . .. . likely the whole province of Ontario in time.
some municipalities even have an arrangement whereby people transferring from GO transit who show their Presto card board free . . .
Just a sneaky way to raise more money.. I pay cash and yet i will be expected to pay again if I get on SkyTrain as my bus transfer will be no good?
i have been debating about getting a car, translink seems to hate transit riders. Unless you live in Vancouver, Burnaby, new West or Richmond transit sucks, especially after 6:30 – 7 pm when ‘rush hour’ is over. They need to realize it is a 24/7 world and not everyone works 9-5 like what the transit system is geared for. Plus re arranging bus routes to force people to ride skytrain is another joke. The no transfer direct buses to downtown Vancouver were good now we have to go to Richmond and transfer to Canada line which is longer…
These fare gates are another scam. Sure 12 million a year in lost revenue but these machines will cost 19 million a year to maintain. Maybe get the cops, security and attendants to do their jobs instead? When my grandma was town two weeks ago rode the skytrain twice daily and never ever saw an attendant or anyone checking tickets? Wasn’t unpaid fares one of the reasons Translinks whined about to get their own private police force?
I also think transit wide only 6000 pay cash? I call bs on that. i see an awful lot of people on the bus paying cash. That 6000 is way to low.
There’s a petition http://www.change.org/en-CA/petitions/translink-ceo-ian-jarvis-stop-the-double-transit-fee
Bob Paddon and Ian Jarvis (TransLink executives) along with Jerry Dobrovolny (City of Vancouver director of transportation) epitomize the Peter Principle. They are too incompetent to continue faking it in their current positions and have done enough damage to transit in the Lower Mainland, already:
http://jobs.aol.com/articles/2010/11/22/peter-principle-promotion/
First, fire them all, better yet, send them all to jail for fraud.
Second, cancel the embarrassing 11 kilometre $1.4 billion sky train line to Coquitlam.
Third, hire some competent engineering consultants to build trams lines or road ways with electric power strips for EV buses for UBC, Coquitlam and Surrey for about $500 to $900 million.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23603751
Fourth, with the $500 to 900 million windfall purchase more electric buses for peak transit travel and replace the current diesel buses which don’t comply with the AirCare program, Motor Vehicle Act and civic noise and emission bylaws.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23634303
There, that was easy – no charge.
It seems the transfer fiasco and the pay raises have set the public alight. 52 comments on radio 1130 and 30 or so in the Sun, not to mention the petition that Jim posted.
For our out of town readers of this blog, I apologize, but the transfer fiasco is something that affects people living South of the Fraser more than those living North of the river. All Vancouver bound buses force their customers to transfer to SkyTrain or the Canada Line to continue their journey, no exceptions. Thus a casual transit user will have to pay twice for a journey to Vancouver, which is nothing more than a managerial rip-off.
If all Vancouver bound buses from the South of Fraser area force a transfer at the Skytrain or Canada Line, do all these buses transfer at the same station of small set of stations? How do they verify that someone has paid? In Ottawa on the Transitway, articulated buses allow boarding at all doors, this speeds up the boarding process but, has led to fare evasion rate that is nearly 20% on those routes. A fare inspector once told me that nearly 1/3 of high school students on articulated bus routes don’t pay at least once a week (there are no school buses for High School students in Ottawa and they are forced to ride OC Transpo everyday as a school bus). The TTC in Toronto forces people to pay or show proof of purchase at all subway and RT stations to a human in a booth. The lack of these types of safe guards with Presto Card is one of many reasons they are very reluctant to use the Presto System.
However, forcing people to pay twice is a major system design screw up and the board should be raked over the coals on this one. My guess is, the presentation for this and acceptance of this policy was at a meeting where either the Trans Link board members did not really understand what was being done or it was a running screaming match, that went on too long and out of sheer frustration was approved even knowing this would be a big problem. I can believe both. Even believing their numbers, forcing 6000+ passengers a day two double pay is more than a simple oversight. It may have been put forward as a way to force people to use the new cards. These guys are making OC Transpo look good. Even in Ottawa they didn’t allow cash passengers to over pay and spent a lot of money to try and make people understand the new card system, especially seniors. OC Transpo’s Presto Card System (really Ontario’s Presto Card system) allows you to either load a monthly pass on your card or use the E-Purse featrue where you load money on to the card in various ways and amounts. What OC Transpo does to convince you to buy a Presto Card using the E-Purse feature is to charge a higher price if you use cash instead of the Presto Card, $3.40 for cash and $2.72 using the E Purse feature per fare. Yes, our timed transfers are still allowed and will be once the LRT system opens (I hope).
Zweisystem replies: The main South Fraser points from bus to light-metro are Bridgeport (Casino Junction) in Richmond; King George and Scott Road Stations in Surrey and to a lesser extent, 22nd Ave. Station in Burnaby. I do not believe for one instant that only 6,000 passengers pay by cash, I would imagine, about 20% to 25% of TransLink’s customers pay by cash.