Please post summary of your obs for the first week of go mania and fixes

[ozbob]

Observations

Much unnecessary angst due to a failure to heed advice offered for the past three years.

TransLink and the Government have had a major PR disaster (all could have been avoided).

Much misinformation circulating, some even in the media.

The failure to roll out the 400,000 free go cards as the new fares rolled in is utterly inexplicable.

Comparisons of the go card with other smart card systems needs to be interpreted very carefully, most individuals making such comparisons have not even used the go card  properly, let alone the other systems.

Fixes

Step up community education campaign.  Get the public on board, not against the system.

Amnesty for new registered users for a few weeks to allow for the learning period.  This is not an invitation for fare evasion rather will help new users gain confidence knowing that should they have an issue or two, they can seek adjustment if desired.

Roll out the free go cards.

Install more equipment at rail stations and place top up facilities at the bus stations and key bus interchanges.  Make sure damaged and failed equipment is fixed within hours.

Introduce capping and periodical ticketing options for the go card (this alone will end a lot of the go grief)

Explain what the alternative will be for users unable to use the normal go card system, for what ever reason.

Clarify the policy for free travel when equipment is down.  It is NOT practical or safe for go card users to ascertain if all readers are down at a particular rail station.  If readers are not operating at platform of departure (or concourse as applicable) then users need to be clearly told they may travel in an untouched state.

Improve support for go card users, phone back service for mobile only customers, a free call number and a web based claim form for simple adjustments needs to put in place, and quickly.

----------------------

A start ..

[david]

...and a web based claim form for simple adjustments needs to put in place, and quickly.

YES PLEASE!!!!

I find that it is completely absurd that this has not been in place since the beginning. When one rings up Translink for a refund, the operator simply fills in the details on some sort of "form". Why not take the operator out of the equation and therefore, making it quicker and easier for those who know what they're doing to quickly fill in the form and get on with their day? Those who don't want/can't fill in the web based form can simply ring up and get the operator to do so.

Meanwhile, can we please add to the list of fixes this:

- More bus driver education of the go card system

I witnessed a driver the other day kindly helping out an elderly lady touch off the bus with her go card. Unfortunately, the instructions that he gave were not to "touch off" but rather to "swipe off". The elderly lady ended up waving her go card around near the reader, rather than putting it flat against the reader. Naturally, after the touch off was recognised, red lights began flashing due to the "waving" action, with the words "already touched" clearly displayed. Both driver and the lady were terribly confused, being distracted by the red lights and not reading the screen. Luckily a younger teenager kindly pointed out that the reader had already recognised her "touch off". The whole incident took up about 2 minutes, much longer than the "3 seconds" claimed by Translink.

I don't blame either party for not being in the know. Rather, I would like to see Translink implement courses for bus drivers on the go card system.

[ozbob]

I noted another letter to the editor in today's Courier Mail  David from a punter complaining about the high cost of mobile phone charges for her to chase an adjustment ...

Community education and education of operators must be a top priority I agree.

I was told by a lady this morning at Oxley that 'someone' had told her when going to town and she wants to stop at Toowong first you don't touch off because that will cost you money.  It will cost you money all right when you come back on through the gates and touch back on ...  I explained about transfers and so forth ...

[ozbob]

Media Release 9 January 2010

SEQ:  Go card, procedures for seeking reimbursement of fixed fares needs urgent improvements

RAIL Back On Track (http://backontrack.org) a web based community support group for rail and public transport and an advocate for public transport commuters first highlighted the need for a system that go card users could access from mobile phones for claiming adjustments without incurring expensive call costs in September 2008 (1).  A letter to the editor in today's Courier Mail has again highlighted the need for the costs of the go card failures to be moved from go card users.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"A lot of go card users only have mobile phones. For them to seek to have an adjustment made to their go card following an equipment or service failure is often a lot more costly in call charges than the value of the adjustment. A lot of these claims could be handled by a web based claim form, and additionally a paper form that could be downloaded and forwarded to a free postal address.  This is similar to the myki card in Melbourne (2)."

"For those claims that cannot be handled by the forms, a call back service for mobile phone users and a free call number for others should be provided."

"It is not fair for go card users to pay for the cost of go card failures. It is time TransLink showed real commuter support and moved forward with proper support for go card users"

References:

1.   6 Sep 2008: SEQ: Go card consumer concerns with refunds of fines ...   http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=1303.msg5893#msg5893

2.   http://www.myki.com.au/ArticleDocuments/170/MYKI%20023_A_Geelong%20CRM_Refund%20Form_2.pdf.aspx

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[STB]

Just a suggested fix, train the TL Call Centre (Serco) employees better in Go Card.  

Last week while I was trying to explain that my Go Card incorrectly gave me 5 transfers instead of 3, she said to me basically in these words...'Oh, don't worry, TransLink probably changed the rules without telling us'. 

[#Metro]

Serco has been running TL (and before that, TransInfo) for 15 years.
Serco is also a rail operator in its own right, it operates the franchised Liverpool/Merseyside railway system and London's Docklands light railway system. It also runs the Dubai Metro and the Gahn.

http://www.serco-ap.com.au/markets/transport/rail.html