Omnibus (haha) Port Authority thread (Pittsburgh: live, buses, moving)

[AaronPGH]

In some ways, PAT has now eclipsed some of the larger and more well known transit agencies in technology. I know that's hard to believe, but it's true. The tap system ConnectCards blow the hugely problematic MTA swipe cards out of the water. Now we just need to get more card loading machines placed around town and get everyone on board with them.

[jay5835]

Originally Posted by rr61

Like what NYC did , and I assume still does, with Metrocards. Buy 10 rides, get one free -- 11 for the price of 10.

That would be nice. IIRC, in DC you got a 10% discount when you loaded your card with $20 or more, in the early days of Metro. However, even if PAT offers no discount, riding the bus is a lot faster when people just tap their cards.

Originally Posted by rr61

Also , like NYC does with the monthly/weekly passes. Don't make them monthly/weekly. Make them be 30 or 7 full days from the initial use.

I am able to use every cent I put on my card. I don't think there's any time limitation. If there is, I guess I use it up too fast to know.

Originally Posted by AaronPGH

Now we just need to get more card loading machines placed around town and get everyone on board with them.

Let us do it online.

[Geeo]

I read an article in the paper the other day that New York wants to get rid of the swipe Metro cards, since they've had them for about 20 years and there have always been problems. However, it's going to cost million and millions for them to do it, given the size of the system.

[Der Schwabe]

Originally Posted by jay5835

Let us do it online.

This is supposedly going to be rolled out very soon.

[Blackbeauty212]

Here's a few thing I HOPE, PAT has up sleeve (i.e. Coming Soon) with regards to the Fare Structure

- A Single base fare.....Get rid of the ZONES. Makes no sense when you only have 2.
- All Fares Pay Enter, At All Times, All Routes....use Rear Doors for exiting at all times. Paying fare will go faster now that majority of riders will be using a Tap n' Go Method, this will really help in the East End with getting people to move to the back.
- Move from Calendar Based Passes (Weekly/Monthly/Annual) to Day based (1, 3, 7, 30, and 365)
- Not only Online, but Mobile....formatted Webpage to make it easy for refilling CCs from a Smartphone and/or Tablet browsers.
- Auto Refilling and Stored Payments.... Allow for Auto Refilling w/user set thresholds of both Value and Passes, and Store Payment Cards so that one doesn't need to keep entering Credit/Debit Card info at every refill.
- Incentivize using ConnectCards and Tix....Get rid of Paper Xfers, only E-Xfers. Provide Discounts for those that purchase fares in Bulk.. I.E. 10 rides at the price of 9. This way people buy in quantities of 10. Cash Payers only get 1-way rides.

[corneliuswonder]

Originally Posted by Blackbeauty212

Here's a few thing I HOPE, PAT has up sleeve (i.e. Coming Soon) with regards to the Fare Structure

- A Single base fare.....Get rid of the ZONES. Makes no sense when you only have 2.
- All Fares Pay Enter, At All Times, All Routes....use Rear Doors for exiting at all times. Paying fare will go faster now that majority of riders will be using a Tap n' Go Method, this will really help in the East End with getting people to move to the back.
- Move from Calendar Based Passes (Weekly/Monthly/Annual) to Day based (1, 3, 7, 30, and 365)
- Not only Online, but Mobile....formatted Webpage to make it easy for refilling CCs from a Smartphone and/or Tablet browsers.
- Auto Refilling and Stored Payments.... Allow for Auto Refilling w/user set thresholds of both Value and Passes, and Store Payment Cards so that one doesn't need to keep entering Credit/Debit Card info at every refill.
- Incentivize using ConnectCards and Tix....Get rid of Paper Xfers, only E-Xfers. Provide Discounts for those that purchase fares in Bulk.. I.E. 10 rides at the price of 9. This way people buy in quantities of 10. Cash Payers only get 1-way rides.

#2 on your list is the single most frustrating thing about riding the bus living in the East End. Drivers refusing to open the rear doors - even on inbound routes when riders pay as they board - jams up the process considerably.

[rr61]

Originally Posted by jay5835

I am able to use every cent I put on my card. I don't think there's any time limitation. If there is, I guess I use it up too fast to know.

What I wrote has nothing to do with putting value on a card and having the balance go down each time you ride.

I guess I didn't make clear what I wrote about 30/7 days instead of monthly/weekly passes. In Pgh , our monthly is a set price for unlimited rides in a calendar month. In NYC you pay a set price for unlimited rides for 30 consecutive days starting at the time/date of your first ride with that pass. Same for weekly vs any 7 consecutive days.

I used the 30 day ones in NY and appreciated the flexibility vs the calendar month thing. If I was on vacation in the first week of April, I could pay the equiv of a monthly and have unlimited riding from , say 4:03 pm April 9 ( time of first swipe of card) to 4:02:59 pm May 9. ( not sure if they gave a few minutes grace period - probably not )

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by rr61

What I wrote has nothing to do with putting value on a card and having the balance go down each time you ride.

I guess I didn't make clear what I wrote about 30/7 days instead of monthly/weekly passes. In Pgh , our monthly is a set price for unlimited rides in a calendar month. In NYC you pay a set price for unlimited rides for 30 consecutive days starting at the time/date of your first ride with that pass. Same for weekly vs any 7 consecutive days.

I used the 30 day ones in NY and appreciated the flexibility vs the calendar month thing. If I was on vacation in the first week of April, I could pay the equiv of a monthly and have unlimited riding from , say 4:03 pm April 9 ( time of first swipe of card) to 4:02:59 pm May 9. ( not sure if they gave a few minutes grace period - probably not )

Yes I loved that about Metrocard too.... You could buy your unlimited (what ny'ers call passes) metrocard when it was convenient for you and still get full value of your Purchase... Which is what PAT needs to do. With Paper Passes it was understandable that you were limited to Calendar based Passes...but with Connectcards PAT now has the technology in place to provide riders the convenience of "Day" based Passes.

[szug-bot]

So you can still just put a cash lump sum on the card, and use that stored value? And can you have a cash stored value, but ALSO put a monthly pass on? I've only had need to put cash value, since my use is sporadic, if not rare anymore.

[Blackbeauty212]

Originally Posted by szug-bot

So you can still just put a cash lump sum on the card, and use that stored value? And can you have a cash stored value, but ALSO put a monthly pass on? I've only had need to put cash value, since my use is sporadic, if not rare anymore.

Yes, CCs will hold 1 Current (in-use) pass, 1 Future (Pending) Pass, and $200 max Cash Value @ one time.

Cash Value never expires and your card Never Expires as long as you use it at least once a year.