Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I'm surprised that this hasn't been more widely circulated, but Charlotte Agenda seems to always get first dibs on a lot of development and transit news. Read the whole story right here: https://www.charlotteagenda.com/4451...lotte-transit/
I know I'll definitely get one, always good to have some form of transit fare available, if not for daily use, at least for an emergency. Will this compel anyone else to use transit in Charlotte? Or if you already use it, how do you feel about this? Most major cities have passes like this, which essentially act like a rechargeable gift card so you don't have to carry the $2.20 in odd change it takes to ride now, or pay 88 bucks a month for a pass you may only use 3-4 times a week. You will be able to do it from your phone, and it looks as if the Blue Line, and eventually streetcar will require their use as well. Definitely will make it easier to count riders and prevent fare jumpers.
Last time I was in Charlotte and rode CATS rail uptown, I swear it looked to me like 90% of the people riding were not paying at all. I was trying to figure out at first if they had bracelets, prepaid cards or something but I just came to the conclusion that few pay to ride.
This will not only help more affluent people be more willing to ride, but will help lower income people have an easier access to fares as well, especially since smart phones are pretty much ubiquitous now that carriers sell smartphones that work with pre-paid plans.
Last time I was in Charlotte and rode CATS rail uptown, I swear it looked to me like 90% of the people riding were not paying at all. I was trying to figure out at first if they had bracelets, prepaid cards or something but I just came to the conclusion that few pay to ride.
Fare jumping is an issue, but CATS does currently have monthly passes, however they're a flat rate off 88 dollars. If I work from home and only travel Uptown for meetings or pleasure then paying that much makes no sense. A smart card allows you to put, for example, 88 dollars on it and have it last as long as you need it to. For some people commuting daily, buying the flat rate passes would still be the better idea. Some cities also offer additional credit if you deposit a large amount on to your transit card.
I'm not sure how a smart card will help things, the ticket machines have an availability of about 50%...there are days I've tried 3x of them and not one was working...I probably ride free 3 days a month...not that I'm unwilling to pay, the equipment is so poor I can't pay...
And yes, whenever they transit policy check for tickets, they have their hands full dragging people who didn't pay off the train. I'd say 85% pay a fare in the afternoons..
Sometimes I take the Kannapolis grid to Concord to get on the Katz grid to Uptown for day trips. That's around 34 miles and I only pay $3.00. I save $0.25 in gas cause I get 18.4MPG avg plus whatever the wear figure is. Probably dollars at least.
Chip&Pin will in no way effect cheater statistics or lower costs for commuters. In fact they will most likely raise costs to pay for the EMV hardware, network, and cards. It'll make card cloning harder but only if they restrict EMV modes.
They need humans at doors to process each person. No technology even facial id software can automate this. Until that happens enjoy the free-or-fascist passengers helping NC to be closer to MI.
Sometimes I take the Kannapolis grid to Concord to get on the Katz grid to Uptown for day trips. That's around 34 miles and I only pay $3.00. I save $0.25 in gas cause I get 18.4MPG avg plus whatever the wear figure is. Probably dollars at least.
Chip&Pin will in no way effect cheater statistics or lower costs for commuters. In fact they will most likely raise costs to pay for the EMV hardware, network, and cards. It'll make card cloning harder but only if they restrict EMV modes.
They need humans at doors to process each person. No technology even facial id software can automate this. Until that happens enjoy the free-or-fascist passengers helping NC to be closer to MI.
Can you share any sources or references for these statements? I don't think you're wrong, just want to know how you can state them with confidence.
Can you share any sources or references for these statements? I don't think you're wrong, just want to know how you can state them with confidence.
Everything but the EMV modes is obvious. A chip on a card doesn't keep someone from sneaking on and the hardware costs money for the hardware and the technical-labor. EMV hacking is well documented though search Youtube for "blackhat emv" or "defcon emv" or just read the wikipedia about security research. Basically you have to enforce online verification at terminals and signing to avoid hacking because there is no tech to clone the keys but there is tech to report only certain EMV handshakes and to clone enough of the data when there is no signing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.