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Texasian t1_ja81gj8 wrote

For what it’s worth, it seems like ALL the features won’t be out by 2024.

The only thing I care about is multi-door boarding on Green Line and buses.

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reaper527 t1_ja84d5w wrote

> For what it’s worth, it seems like ALL the features won’t be out by 2024. > > > > The only thing I care about is multi-door boarding on Green Line and buses.

i just want to be able to use my phone as my pass so i don't have to worry about my charlie card expiring for no reason. (plus being able to add value to my card without having to physically be at the station)

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Texasian t1_ja8utq8 wrote

You can technically do that, but the current interface is shit.

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hannahbay t1_ja9rt6o wrote

How?

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Texasian t1_ja9tkxq wrote

Sorry, to be clear, I meant loading a Charlie card without having to be at a station. You can do it here

Since it’s stored value, you’d still need to tap at a fare machine or subway gate… so your kinda fucked if you want the bus.

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killerdio t1_jaa2yw9 wrote

I thought you HAD to use a fare machine? Which kind of defeats the purpose of not needing to go to a fare machine...

The only use I found for it was being able to pay with my old shitty cards that have lost their magnetic strip. It also takes until the next business day to take effect, so overall a very unpleasant system.

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Ksevio t1_jab771t wrote

You just have to tap it on a networked reader like the subway gates (but not the readers on the trains or busses)

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boston_acc t1_jaahm8a wrote

Ever year—especially post-covid—this becomes more embarrassing. How many realms of life do you actually need a physical card for nowadays? Credit cards, gym cards, library cards—all of these have been outsourced to digital functionality. It really shouldn’t be that hard for transit to do the same (and it doesn’t even need to be tied to your credit card like NYC—you can just have a virtual card that can be reloaded with funds whenever you want).

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thebruns t1_jaaoftm wrote

> The only thing I care about is multi-door boarding on Green Line and buses.

There was multi-door boarding on the Green Line when Charlie was introduced.

Some people started fare evasion hysteria and it ended.

There is zero guarantee the new system wont face the same result. NYC installed readers at every bus door to allow all-door boarding and then simply never launched it because of fare evasion hysteria

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alexbaguette1 t1_jaco2nz wrote

Toronto did the same thing in 2015. The agency now estimates that they lose $80 million a year (~13% of their revenue) due to fare evasion. This is purely anecdotal, but there definitely appears to be higher crime rates on the subway system since they made this change. However, the chair of the system said that making sure everyone has paid is the first step to addressing the “lawlessness” there.

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missdingdong t1_jacwrzg wrote

Exactly where on back doors the fare mechanism will be, and how large? Space is usually a problem on MBTA vehicles with standing room only.

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hausofpurple t1_jadypb6 wrote

There’s some devices that look to be for a pilot on the silver line. If you step onto the bus at the back door, there’s a device attached to the right hand yellow pole. It’s about the size of an iPad mini I’d say? If you’d be able to fit onto the bus while boarding at the rear door, you’d be able to reach the very small tap device no problem. If you can’t reach it, there’s probably not room for you to be getting on, moot point.

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Vivecs954 t1_ja84xw5 wrote

Lmao there is definitely already multi door boarding now for the green line

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mpjjpm t1_ja8cac1 wrote

Not at street-level stops when the operator is determined to collect every fare from every rider.

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TwoforFlinching613 t1_ja8lv14 wrote

Obviously, this is anecdotal based on my experience. When I take the C/D lines (especially C), I would ballpark that all doors open about 97% of the time. It is rare that I see an operator only open the front doors.

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charons-voyage t1_ja9h9zj wrote

When I first moved here and was taking D line from Brookline, everyone would hold up their hand in the air and the driver would open all the doors and we would shuffle in. About a week later I realized they were holding their passes up and I had been riding for free lol.

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