Go Card Feedback - tell us of your Go Card experiences!!

[dwb]

Otto, should it be something like this:

I had something similar occur due to an incorrectly clock, I was really specific about what was wrong and they refunded me quickly.


10-Oct-08 03:44:12 PM Touch Off 250 Bloomfield St F/S Russell St [30265]
10-Oct-08 03:32:09 PM Touch On 250 Cleveland - Redland Bay Rd Opp F/S Beveridge Rd [11435]     

09-Oct-08 03:53:09 PM Touch Off 3053 ZONE 7 START [52673]  ** incorrect clock??
09-Oct-08 03:21:31 PM Touch On 3053 Cleveland District High School [11386]     

08-Oct-08 08:46:49 PM Touch Off 200 'Belmont School' Bridgnorth Street [BT010915]
08-Oct-08 08:25:01 PM Touch On 200 'Mater Hill' Busway Station [BT010809]     

08-Oct-08 06:48:27 PM Touch Off 200 'Mater Hill' Busway Station [BT010808]
08-Oct-08 06:24:05 PM Touch On 200 'Belmont School' Bridgnorth Street [BT010918]

[ozbob]

Feedback received:

I ran out of 10 trips a couple of weeks ago and so got a GO card and have been using it on BCC buses ever since.

The best part is the constant savings that the GO Card gives me.

I get at least 3 free trips a week because the equipment on the buses is faulty and the driver just waves me on. The best week I had was 5 free trips in one week.

So if the aim of the Go Card is to save the passengers time and money, I can definitely say that I have saved money, and it takes no time at all to get waved onto a bus for free.

[O_128]

Im a bit annoyed today i put 20$ on my gocard and i had a balnce of 1.40 before i added value  i used a debit card adn then my reciept dsiad that i only had $19.89.

Any ideas anyone?

[Otto]

dwb.. You got the trips correct !    The times are correct. There is however , a phantom trip on my post and a incorrect fare + a phantom fare eg penalty for a trip that is not possible.

[ozbob]

Hi Mario,

Im a bit annoyed today i put 20$ on my gocard and i had a balnce of 1.40 before i added value  i used a debit card adn then my reciept dsiad that i only had $19.89.

Any ideas anyone?

It might have been a transaction that took a while to come off your credit?

If you post your relevant transaction history here, someone might be able to explain it.

Regards
Bob

[ozbob]

Crikey Otto!   Whooaaaaa  major issues still ....

dwb.. You got the trips correct !    The times are correct. There is however , a phantom trip on my post and a incorrect fare + a phantom fare eg penalty for a trip that is not possible.

This is getting to be a very serious situation IMHO.

Thanks for the updates.

Regards
Bob

[yobborobbo21]

ive been hit with a penalty for a timing issue

26-Oct-08 01:06:02 PM   Touch Off   Nambour   -8.78   *
26-Oct-08 09:41:39 AM   Touch On   Robina       
26-Oct-08 09:35:59 AM   Touch On   Christine Ave App Goldwater Dr* [27524]       
26-Oct-08 05:41:08 AM   Touch Off   Robina Station Stop A [27810]   -3.00   * 

why is this constantly happening??? time for a class action against the TTA

edit: ref 144377

[ozbob]

Media Release 27 October 2008

SEQ:  Go card is a very slow card ...

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 has said that problems with the Go card have now reached a critical point. Go card users have apparently resorted to photographing malfunctioning equipment to support their claims for refunds of incorrectly debited fines. Other Go card users on the buses are reporting ever escalating numbers of free rides.  This must be impacting adversely on revenue from the buses as the ten trippers are replaced by Go cards.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back On Track has consistently highlighted the many system and equipment issues with the Go card (1).  Despite these failings we have remained steadfastly behind the Go card roll out as we believe it has the potential when working reliably to greatly improve the efficiency of our public transport, and provide accurate loading data to enable fine tuning of timetables and service frequencies."

"It is difficult to remain supportive though when there is systemic public denial of the problems by the TransLink Transit Authority, Cubic and the Government."

"Problems with non-functioning equipment on buses have now reached a crisis point. A recent new Go card user has reported that:

'I ran out of 10 trips a couple of weeks ago and so got a Go card and have been using it on BCC buses ever since. The best part is the constant savings that the Go Card gives me. I get at least 3 free trips a week because the equipment on the buses is faulty and the driver just waves me on. The best week I had was 5 free trips in one week. So if the aim of the Go Card is to save the passengers time and money, I can definitely say that I have saved money, and it takes no time at all to get waved onto a bus for free.'

Will the loss of revenue force increases in fares to cover the losses?"

"Why is it that Go card users need to photograph the faulty equipment to prove that the intermittent equipment failures are the cause of their fines?  Is it not time that Go card users are treated with some common decency and trust?"

"Other issues recently reported by RAIL Back On Track members include phantom fares; being debited for a trip they never actually took, and penalties due to clock errors on the system."

"The questions that need answers are:

1. How many users have been denied refunds?

2. What is the estimate of lost revenue due to faulty equipment on the buses and ferries?  Does the TTA have any real idea of the number of free rides?

3. Of the Go cards issued, how many are actually in use?

4. When will Go card users be treated with some respect and courtesy?  Rather than be accused of incompetence and inferred deceit when they describe intermittent failures of equipment?

5. Is the Go card system ever going to work reliably, particularly on the buses and ferries?"

6. Has the Queensland taxpayer been landed with a dud?

7. Is there any redress for the Queensland taxpayer under the Go card contract?"

Reference:

1. http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?board=27.0

Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[Sunbus610]

I've noticed that the LCD display on one of the well utilised TTA 'go card' readers at Eagle Junction railway station is starting to get these spot type marks starting to show (making it a little difficult to read). Could this perhaps be caused from the constant exposure to direct sunlight? If so, I'd hate to know what they'll be like in years to come.

[#Metro]

Go Card is fantastic, and Anna Bligh be praised...

Really. The Queensland Gov't believes that public transport should be free for all. Even me!
I'm sure it is really some benevolent conspiracy. I had two free trips this week. Woo hoo!

As for this photographs thing, pack your camera or have your mobile phone camera ready.
If they want to be flooded with lots of lovely photos of card terminals and machines, give it to them...

[K_Nikora]

I've noticed that the LCD display on one of the well utilised TTA 'go card' readers at Eagle Junction railway station is starting to get these spot type marks starting to show (making it a little difficult to read). Could this perhaps be caused from the constant exposure to direct sunlight? If so, I'd hate to know what they'll be like in years to come.

Actually, I find this to be one issue TransLink are quite quick to rectify. I have had problems with SACIDs on the Ipswich line being defaced frequently, about a week after complaint the screens are replaced... Unfortunately only to be scratched or graffitied again.
Uphill battle if you ask me.

[ozbob]

The small screens at Oxley on the touch devices are becoming hard to read as well.
It is a common problem, and further suggests that the equipment is not really 'fit for purpose'.

The beeps regularly fail or vary from their correct sounds as well when touching all over the system.

[verbatim9]

Times still out when transferring etc......The Readers charge an extra fare within the 2 hour time of travel within the same zones. The sound has disappeared from many readers thus its difficult to know if you have touched on or off. Its great when it works but annoying when it doesn't. I have given up trying to claim back what the card has over charged. Yet I have had a few free trips now and again when the readers were not in operation on the bus.

[ozbob]

Thanks for the update Otto.

We have put a further media release and I have sent an email to all Queensland MPs and BCC outlining our ongoing concerns.

Correspondence to MPs can be read here!

[Otto]

   
09-Oct-08 03:53:09 PM Touch Off 3053 ZONE 7 START [52673] -1.16 *
09-Oct-08 03:21:31 PM Touch On 3053 Cleveland District High School [11386] 
   
09-Oct-08 03:21:31 PM Touch Off 3053 Cleveland District High School [11386] -1.50 * 
08-Oct-08 08:46:49 PM Touch On 200 'Belmont School' Bridgnorth Street [BT010915]
     
08-Oct-08 08:46:49 PM Touch Off 200 'Belmont School' Bridgnorth Street [BT010915] -1.50 * 
08-Oct-08 08:25:01 PM Touch On 200 'Mater Hill' Busway Station [BT010809]     


The TL guy said he could not see anything wrong with it.. 

Surprise Surprise !!!

I checked the online statement and all the above errors have now been corrected.... ( and no one from TL ever admitted there was an error )

Corrected statement now shows

   
09-Oct-08 03:53:09 PM Touch Off 3053 ZONE 7 START [52673] -1.16 *
09-Oct-08 03:21:31 PM Touch On 3053 Cleveland District High School [11386]
       
08-Oct-08 08:46:49 PM Touch Off 200 'Belmont School' Bridgnorth Street [BT010915] -1.16 * 
08-Oct-08 08:25:01 PM Touch On 200 'Mater Hill' Busway Station [BT010809]     


EDIT... railBoT went dead before I could add this last bit of info this morning.. Had to give up as BoT went offline

Bob, feel free to delete original post at 3:50am

[ozbob]

Thanks Otto, done.  We had some problems the other day with a corrupted table, but all seems well now.

Sorry about that, but such is the way of the world wide wait!   

[dwb]

That is really interesting that your statement actually changed. I did not realise they could do this. When I reported my error they just added a credit to my account and left the incorrect trips there. I wonder about auditing if they can change the statement in the past?

[ozbob]

Feedback received, thanks.

Lots of problems! I was recently charged for a continuation when it should have been free - and actually both the machines and my online account looked like it had been charged for the continuation twice although supposedly it wasn't. The refund came through but the person I spoke to just wasn't that helpful. They just seem to take your details and you have to hope that someone halfway rational looks at it and gives you the refund. That same trip, my online account said I'd made the original trip two hours after the continuing journey (impossible).

And just this weekend, I was on the ferry and we had real problems touching off. Three of the readers were malfunctioning and were showing "power failure;" the ferry staff made an unhelpful remark that MY card was causing their readers to have power failures when none of the go-card users on the ferry were able to touch off. Luckily the fourth reader at the other end of the ferry was working and we were able to touch off.

I bought my first weekly ticket in awhile this morning and am not planning on using the Go card again, except maybe to use up the remaining credit or when I will not be in town the full week (I have some travel coming up this month). I switched to the Go card when the 10 trips were removed from sale because I thought I would no longer have to think about which ticket was the best option (daily, off-peak, individual trips) as after the first 10 trips there was a 50% discount. However, any week where I travel more than 10 trips is much cheaper with the weekly ticket anyway as I don't make many trips outside of zones 1 and 2. I haven't been lucky enough to get any free trips because of reader problems, either.

[ozbob]

Also reported on ABC 612 Brisbane (30 October 2008) that a go card user catches a train every morning from Dutton park to Corinda via Tennyson and said the go card is charging him for three zones instead of two. User said he has informed go card operators, supervisors, ticket inspectors and station attendants with no luck. User said he has spoken to supervisors at go card, who are aware of the problem but 'have no reasonable solution to offer me.'

[ozbob]

Feedback from a new go card user who has changed from ten trippers to go card.

I have done 20 trips so far.  Two times I have had free rides, and I have now had two malfunctions.  I have rang up TransLink and spent a long time on the phone about the first one. This is very expensive for mobile phone users.  I have to ring up again now, as I had another malfunction today. I travel on the 136 bus.

This is a 25% fail rate. Who continues deny there are on going issues?  TransLink?  The Minister??

Crikey, please fix it!

[ozbob]

Update from the user above:

I rang TransLink again, and I was told that I cannot get a refund because machines were operational!  However, the person said that he would resubmit it again. The second problem they said was because the driver forgot to change the go card system from Alice Street to Upper Mt Gravatt bus run or something like that. I spent another 20 minutes on the phone.  This is annoying and it is not good enough!

so said the new go user ...

[ozbob]

Some feedback from another user:

Got charged the ?fine? for concession of $1.50 because the Route 66 bus at KG Busway had a problem.  The reader flashed orange (student card) then red (seek assistance) on the right side machine.  Card was touched against the driver side machine and registered as a ?cancellation?.  So, when I got off at KGS and touched the card it registered as an ?on? rather than an ?off?.  Hopping on the 203 bus in Adelaide Street about 40min later got a message of ?already touched? but registered as a ?touch off? then ?touch on? as a new journey on the go card history.

Yes, I have called Translink for the refund.

[ozbob]

Feedback from a bus commuter colleague, go card user, part-time worker.

Four journeys this week, two of them free rides.  In fact all passengers on the bus were allowed to travel free.  Equipment not working.

route 130 5pm 4/11/2008

route 133 8.30am 6/11/2008

My colleague has had 50% free trips this week!

[Otto]

The longest and best value 1 zone fare ( thanks to a TL and cubic stuffup ) is on the Great Circle Line. Travel from Garden City (598) via Mt Gravatt, Carindale, Carina, Cannon Hill, Murrarie, Gateway Bridge, Eagle Farm, Toombul, Nundah, Wavell Heights, Chermside, Stafford Heights, McDowall, Everton Park, Brookside, Mitchelton, Gaythorne, Enoggera Station or vice versa on the 599...

The whole trip for just a 1 zone ticket.. $2.40A or 1.20C single. Whole trip in zone 3.. Hows that for value !!

We can thank GoCards and Cubic for that 

[ozbob]

We need more circle routes Otto!   

One thing I have noticed at Central and Roma St is that the number of go gates with red X on them (out of service) seems to be increasing.  The other day at Central 50% of the Edward St gates (on direction) had red X.

Anyone else noticed this too?

Cheers
Bob

[Mozz]

Yes Bob I certainly have, and reported similar 50% outages on this site - yesterday at around 4.00pm there was only one with a red X at the Edward street gates at Central.

[ozbob]

Thanks Mozz, more free rides on the buses.

Colleague reports:

Bus run 345, Rode Road at 0915am, very full bus, all free rides.  I like my go card!

[ozbob]

Another report via SMS:

Bus route 381, 12.15pm free rides for all go card users.

Comment:  Is there a meltdown on??

[ozbob]

And another ...

Just confirming that I got a free ride today. Inbound 390 from Kelvin Grove Rd (cnr Banks St, Newmarket) at around 8:05am. Not a packed bus, but most seats were full by that point so still a good number of lost fares.

[ozbob]

Some more feedback:

I had the interesting situation on the ferry the other day of touching on at Gardens Point and then having the system go down before I disembarked at New Farm Park ? not possible to touch off. Ferry crew and two transit officers on board advised me to call Translink.

I wore the 60c difference between the $3 charge and the fare, given the call and the time would have made it not worth my while.

I certainly did get the $3 charge when I touched on the bus yesterday.

[ozbob]

And:

Last week the card machine on the 381 bus died halfway to the city.  Anyone that got on after that got a free ride.  Most people got on before that though and they would have been fined since they could not touch off.

[ozbob]

And still the free rides continue ....  any rail passengers feeling left out?  LOL

Hopeless ... more feedback.

Today 6.30 am bus route 385 free for everyone (machine not working)

[ozbob]

Lucky Tuesday ...

On Tuesday the 372 into the city was free for all travellers. Thought it might have been a Melb Cup special!

[ozbob]

And yet more ...

This morning route 333 free

[ozbob]

Winners all round!   

I don't have a GoCard (pay cash), so every time the machine's not working (which happens at least once a week), I get a free ride too!  It's great!  I hope it continues!

I should add that the bus route I'm referring to is any of the following: 136 / 162 / 118

[Otto]

I must be driving the wrong buses.. I have not had any faulty ticket systems at all during the month of October and up till now...

I have this week for the first time, had a passenger board on Tuesday and another again today with a DEAD GoCard.. I informed the passenger that his GoCard was as dead as a dodo and he should contact TL to have his card replaced as I'm sure there is a warranty period on the Gocards and we should all still be within the warranty period.
He told me he did call TL and the operator told him to continue using it !! I find that to be a very strange answer indeed..

[ozbob]

Strange indeed Otto!

The free ride issue on the buses is clearly a significant issue on some routes.  The above feedback is from individuals who are all validated but for privacy reasons don't wish to post publicly.  The route numbers and times may help find out why the equipment is failing.  Also the Courier Mail blog on the 31st October also highlighted the free ride issue too.

Some go card users on buses are not reporting problems, others major issues.  One colleague who travels regularly on buses from Bardon area has said that on the express bus runs, the go card seems to be generally OK.  But on the all stoppers people seem to have more problems?  TTA must know what is going on. The Minister himself commented to union delegates on the problems for rail users on the 20th August.

Someone has made the suggestion that it might be best to scrap the GPS system and base the bus fares on distance travelled.  The system could be linked to the bus odometers.  For the ferries use the rail equipment on the ferry terminals.

We cannot ignore the considerable feedback not only on the free ride issues but all the other ongoing problems such as the bizarre refund process, the inconsistent touching, equipment not fit for purpose ( eg. readers on the ferries), the poorly designed equipment eg. the AVVMs and the screens prone to scratching and failing quality in sunlight and the associated difficulty in reading.  The software problems, clock errors, phantom trips, dummy stops, double touches and so forth. The inconsistent beeping of the system when touching.  The failures of the go gates and so forth.

For a system that has cost around $150M we are quite in order to expect a better outcome.
The TTA and Government should ensure that the contract is met.

Cheers
Bob

[Otto]

Today, as an exercise in understanding the workings of the GoCard system, I used my own GoCard to see what happens when an onroad bus swap is required during mid trip. Also to see what happens if you left a bus, then decided to reboard the same bus to continue on..

This was done on an inbound 200 service I was driving. (the bus had a faulty A/C unit)

Reading from bottom to top, A passenger (me) boards at Belmont School. He then travels to Carindale Shops and disembarks. After he disembarks, he remembers he was meant to go to Coorparoo. So he boards the same bus again and continues on with his trip.
Upon arriving at Carina Shops, The driver announces that all passengers need to change to another bus that is sitting at the stop waiting and asks all GoCard holders to touch off as they exit.
The driver gets into the change bus and then asks all Gocard holders to touch on as they enter the changed vehicle. This should be a continuation of journey. ( I checked with my own Gocard to make sure this was the case )
Passenger arrives at Coorparoo and disembarks.

I am happy to see on my statement that all went well and the total fare is correct.

08-Nov-08 08:00:51 AM Touch Off 'Coorparoo' Old Cleveland Road [BT010185] -0.40 *  
08-Nov-08 07:52:31 AM Touch On Transfer 'Carina' Old Cleveland Road [BT002556]
     
08-Nov-08 07:49:34 AM Touch Off 'Carina' Old Cleveland Road [BT002556]     
08-Nov-08 07:44:03 AM Touch On Transfer Carindale Shopping Centre - Platform A [BT006292]
     
08-Nov-08 07:42:24 AM Touch Off Carindale Shopping Centre - Platform A [BT006292] -1.92 * 
08-Nov-08 07:37:38 AM Touch On 'Belmont School' Bridgnorth Street [BT010918]

[O_128]

a go card system that had a bigger colour screen would be nicer.it could show your balance as well as where you touched on and what zone that was in.

[ozbob]

Some feedback received:

I have finally done it.  I went and bought a Go Card this morning.  Bought it from the local station.  Had to run across the road to draw money out of the teller as they do not do Go cards with eftpos. (A pain in the neck.)

I was given an envelope with all of the information in it about Go Card - conditions, registration form etc.

Did you know that according to page 2 of the user guide, I get a 50% discount on every trip taken after my sixth journey made in a seven day period from Monday to Sunday?