Students get a lesson on CharlieTickets
 MBTA personnel helped students through the new turnstiles at the JFK/UMass stop on the Red Line, after a hitch with the student fare CharlieCards. (Josh Reynolds for the Boston Globe) |
School stinks. Parents are jerks. And, according to some student riders of the MBTA, this CharlieTicket thing is totally lame-o.
The numbers aren't eye popping, but some students who depend on the T to get to school have been having problems with their CharlieTickets.
Boston College High School's "Eagle Update," sent to parents on Jan. 11, said T student tickets were not working for some students.
This from the school:
"T personnel are working on the problem. Students have been notified that if their pass is not working they need to speak to a T person who is available in that station or on the bus. Each student should have his school ID along with the T pass, and the MBTA personnel have been instructed to allow the students to go through . . . Thanks for your patience; we hope that this situation is resolved soon."
Last Friday, they still weren't working.
There was conflicting information about how many students were affected. According to BCHS spokesman Doug Murphy, about 50 students said their passes failed at the gates, but the T said they were only forwarding 24 new passes at the request of the school.
Michael of Melrose said his children, who go to school elsewhere, were having problems with their student passes at Oak Grove and Back Bay on the Orange Line this month. "I have e-mailed the Orange Line, and NOTHING has been done," Michael wrote.
We sent the matter to the T. They contacted Michael and refunded him for the botched transactions, which came down to $3 and change.
So what's the problem?
It had something to do with the material used to make the faulty student tickets, T officials said, calling the stuff on the magnetic strip "nonconforming magnetic material."
For February, T officials assure us, the issue has been resolved.
No. Not true.
"I can't wait for the lines on Feb. 1, since it is not possible to have both January and February on the card's chip at once," he went on.
That's not true, either.
Steve obviously got some bad, misleading information.
In fact, T officials are encouraging folks to put their February passes on their CharlieCard now to avoid lines. You can do this for any month, beginning on the 15th of the preceding month. There's no need to wait until this Wednesday, the 31st.
If you're still confused, go to mbta.com/fares_and_passes/charlie/?id=5596 for a detailed primer about how to update your pass.
For most of this month, folks have complained about the new T fare gates not accepting their CharlieCards. The T has come back, saying the system reported few problems, and we were left with a conundrum.
Then William wrote. Maybe the problem's not with the technology, though there have been problems, but with the instructions.
The key word the T uses with its CharlieCards is "tap," which means "to strike lightly." But Williams says this doesn't work, and it never has with proximity cards.
"Never mind the marketing people," wrote William. "Can we get past the idea that CharlieCards are magic wands? It's a proximity card and reader system.
"I've been using proximity cards for 20 years -- they used to be about three times as thick as a credit card, didn't bend, and the readers were slower because computers didn't run as fast back then," added William, who appears to love his caps lock key.
"THE BEST WAY TO USE A PROXIMITY CARD IS TO HOLD IT IN PLACE OVER THE READER UNTIL THE GATE OPENS.
"If people weren't 'tapping' their cards, they wouldn't have to do it three times before the gate opened. They wouldn't be confused as to why the fare machine isn't telling them the card has been updated with new funds.
"Don't wave, don't tap, HOLD THE CARD IN PLACE ON THE READER TARGET UNTIL THE TRANSACTION IS COMPLETE."
Passengers were confused. Drivers were giving out different orders and it was taking longer to leave the bus than to get on.
Well, the MBTA saw the light. Now, after receiving numerous complaints, you pay when you get on. The change was made last Monday.
Note: If you're traveling the local and not the express route, be sure to tell the bus driver, who has been ordered to set the fare box to charge the express bus rate, not the local rate.
Three lanes of I-93 south approaching and through downtown will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday.
Exit 20B (Pike west/Albany St.) off I-93 south will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Wednesday.
The Haymarket onramp to I-93 south and the Callahan Tunnel will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Thursday.
The Storrow Drive onramp to I-93 south will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday to Saturday.
I-93 south near South Station will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
Two lanes of I-93 north from South Bay to Charlestown will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday.
Exit 26 (Storrow Drive) off I-93 north will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Wednesday.
The Essex onramp to I-93 north will close 8 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday.
The Atlantic Avenue onramp to I-93 north will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Wednesday.
The Haymarket onramp to I-93 north will close 9:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday to Friday.
The Sumner Tunnel onramp to I-93 north will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
Exit 27 (Tobin Bridge) off I-93 north will close 11:30 p.m. tomorrow to 5 a.m. Tuesday.
The Pike east between Exit 22 (Prudential/Copley) and South Boston will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday. Direct access to the Ted Williams Tunnel from Frontage Road northbound and South Boston will remain open.
One lane of the Pike east near Logan International Airport will close 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow to Friday.
One lane of the Pike east in the Ted Williams Tunnel will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday to Saturday.
The Pike west in South Boston will close 11:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday. The onramp to the Pike west from D Street will also close.
One lane of the Pike west near Logan Airport will close 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow to Friday.
The onramp from Congress Street to I-93 in South Boston, and Exit 24 (I-93) off the Pike west will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
One lane of the Pike west in the Ted Williams Tunnel will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday.
The Sumner Tunnel onramp to Storrow Drive will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Wednesday morning. Sumner Tunnel access to Haymarket will remain open.
Route 1A north near Logan Airport will close 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. tomorrow to Friday.
The Congress Street onramp to I-93 south and Pike west will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Wednesday.
The Sumner Tunnel onramp to Government Center and Haymarket will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday.
The ramp from the Tobin Bridge and Rutherford Avenue/City Square to Storrow Drive will close 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Wednesday. The ramp to I-93 south will remain open.
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