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

[WTN]

Caught yet another bus from the Cultural Centre with busted go card readers today.  172 outbound from about 5:30pm.  Driver had sheets of paper plastered over the front machines saying "OUT OF ORDER, Please take a seat".  Too bad I had a paper (offpeak) ticket this time.  

At least it happened on a relatively quiet service and not in peak hour as I've seen in the past.

[Gingerbeer]

Tavt,

Thanks for the advice I wasnt sure if there was a OH&S issue with ghost riding. But on the other hand I have a relevant ticket and therefore whould be able to exit where I choose. But no a huge issue for me. I have found alot of people at my work use both system of a Go - Card and paper tickets. But every one I talk to has had problems with the Go - Card.


I lived in London for 3 years 2004 - 2007 Oyster card did have problem but no where nearly as bad as the Go Card

[WTN]

TTOs with go card readers were on the 5:13pm (ex Sth Brisbane) Shorncliffe service today.  I observed a TTO checking a uni student's concession go card across the aisle from me, but I was astounded by what was said.  The TTO found only 20c left on the card, and told the passenger (and presumably his mother) that it will go negative and he won't be able to touch on next time.  And if he touched on (the red X will appear) and was found travelling with a negative balance, he'll get a $200 fine.  That's not fully correct - you can't touch on to start a new journey, but you can touch on transfer to continue a journey, assuming you still have remaining transfers.  

The TTO then continued to say that a fixed amount was deducted at touch on, and given back on touch off.  She also said that many people didn't know how to use their go cards correctly (touching on/off).  The student's mother seemed a little surprised at how complex it was.  But it also led me into thinking that the 20c readout figure was after the deduction of the fixed fare, and that passengers could be wrongly fined because they had a "negative" balance after successfully touching on!

Anyway, the student's family decided to get off at Roma St to top up, rather than waiting to get back to uni.

[Derwan]

I assume the student had 20c left when they touched on (i.e. before any "fixed fare" was deducted).  That would result in the card being in the negative after the student touched off - and the TTO was simply giving some advice (i.e. a top-up would definitely be required before the next trip).

[Otto]

Reading this just reminded my of a situation I observed on the GC train during my holidays.

TTO's checked tickets just after leaving Beenleigh heading to city. They asked the guy sitting 2 seats from me for a ticket. He replied "I don't have one". The TTO then explained about purchasing ticket before boarding and he can be fined for not having a valid ticket. The Guy said he already got fined twice this week. After a bit more talk, the TTO told him to leave at the next station, Loganlea, and purchase a ticket to board the next train. The TTO's continued checking tickets entering the next carraige and working their way along the train. The train stopped at Loganlea, then departed. This guy stayed on the train. Later on, one of the TTO's returned and saw the guy still on the train. He talked to the guy again and asked why he did not leave the train. The guy simply said he wanted to get home and did not want to wait for another train. The TTO got his book out to write a ticket. The guy said he already got fined twice and can't afford a ticket. Anyway, after some more talk, the TTO walked back down the train to his partner and the guy never got issued a ticket.

I was wondering why the TTO never wrote a ticket and why he never checked the guys ID and his story of already being fined twice.. Anyway, he got away with it and he disembarked at South Brisbane station.

In my mind, this situation made a mockery of the hard line of have a ticket or you will be fined, yet other people have been fined for trivial offences..

[WTN]

It's quite interesting to hear and see "strange" behaviour occasionally coming from TTO's.  I mean, sometimes it makes you wonder whether they're doing their job properly. 

I assume the student had 20c left when they touched on (i.e. before any "fixed fare" was deducted).  That would result in the card being in the negative after the student touched off - and the TTO was simply giving some advice (i.e. a top-up would definitely be required before the next trip).

I got a little bit confused because the student said he had $2-something on it before.  I should've asked what the readout was on my card when it was checked, then I would've known. 

But Derwan was right - the TTO was giving some good advice on a rather complex system, just that some of the misinterpretation/misinformation was a bit of a concern.  Otherwise it would be full marks to her for doing her job.  I would also give thumbs up to the student and his mother for doing the right thing (topping up ASAP) and not causing silly scuffles in front of other passengers.

[rob2144]

I went down to Mooloolah today ex Nambour and rode my bike along the old alignment to Landsborough, I tagged off at Mooloolah and tagged back on at Landsborough:

08-Jul-09 12:55:17 PM   Touch Off                   Nambour      -0.40   *
08-Jul-09 12:05:09 PM   Touch On Transfer   Landsborough       
08-Jul-09 11:33:33 AM   Touch Off                   Mooloolah      -3.04   *
08-Jul-09 10:54:26 AM   Touch On                   Nambour   

I didnt know i could do a touch on transfer in a different zone other than those dual zone stops/stations.
   

[WTN]

I didnt know i could do a touch on transfer in a different zone other than those dual zone stops/stations.

I came across the same sort of thing before without expecting it.  It even works across different modes.
Central->Milton (train, zone 1-1, fare 1.92)
Walk from Milton station to Coronation Drive along Park Road
Coronation Drive, Milton->City (bus, zone 2-1, fare 0.40)

Works as if you bought a single paper ticket to cover the journey.

[Derwan]

Perhaps they allow for this (i.e. 1 zone difference) for the stations that can be either zone.  For example, if I catch a train to Boondall, I touch off in zone 3, but if I then board the bus beside the station, I start in zone 4.

[rob2144]

The inspectors checked my card with the scanner today, first time in almost a year!

[Paul.Zenon]

I personally like the go card, I think it's great.

I like the online management facillity and the convenience of being able to manage my own account.

I do however think there are way too many read errors that occur (particularly on BCC bus services) and that often I get a free trip because the driver has no idea about the equipment.

Yes it's great to get a free ride, but in the grand scheme of things this is not good for any of us. The less money the government gets the more crazy ideas they get about ways to increase state revenue. Eg: The crazy state asset firesale!

I would like the system to work and we all pay our fare due for the ride we take, no more - no less.

And where's these incentive fares we have been hearing about for months?

[p858snake]

My Experiences:
* GoCard is ending up slightly cheaper for me when I am attending TAFE, roughly by $2 each day (round trip)
* Had a couple of "free trips", but usually not on the bus that connects me to the TAFE campus, usually from the train station to the shops where I change over.
* Been checked a grand total of twice this year whilst I've had my go card, but never on my trips to and from the TAFE campus (Once was in the hoildays to Southbank and another time coming home at like 8:30pm)
* Been several times on trains and such where the transit officer has had the reader but can't be bothered to scan cards so doesn't....
* Dislike the train stations ATM's can't do change on top ups, for example you have to put your notes full amount on, one example of this is when I only had a $20 note and wanted to put $10 on the card....
Not one of my experiences but going to say it anyway:
* Why is it such a drama when a train station looses power, you should get some portable battery powered units (eg: the translink officer ones) that can be set up and have a station id entered so you can swipe peoples cards on and off with out having to muck around with the phone calls to get it done.

Not a gocard experience but, most transit officers don't even seem to pay attention to the dates/times on the paper ticket holders other wise at least half my bus would have tickets.

[ozbob]

Feedback received:

Last week I got pinged because something went wrong my GoCard touch on at Burpengary (I am sure that I did because I remember the message telling me how much I had available).  Like most people, to contact TTA and have them tell me that either I am stupid or a liar is a complete waste of time.
This morning I wished I was using GoCard as all of the readers at Burpengary were on the blink and when it was reported to the station staff, they just said don?t worry just get on the train. I said that they should report it and tell passengers who could not touch on to not touch off at their destination or they would get a penalty.
Same old same old, the people at the coal face are kept in the dark and don?t know how to advise the customers.

[WTN]

I got visited by Transit Officers THREE times today - all on trains.  But only once was a card reader used.

1st visit: Cooroy Express, between Northgate and Petrie.  Just show and go
2nd visit: Ipswich service, south of Petrie.  No reader again
3rd visit: Cleveland service, between Central and Roma Street.  Reader was used.

I also found out the limitations of paper ticket upgrades the hard way.  There's no way to upgrade a single ticket to a daily or to cover more zones.  Has to be a weekly or more.  How inconvenient.

[Fridge]

In Maroochydore on Thursday afternoon the Bus driver (from Sunshine Coast Sunbus) let us all know how having a GoCard is a waste of money and that we all should throw it out.  His rant made all the more excitable because the GoCard reader was not working as well. 

Also today the 66 I rode between Roma Street and South Bank the GoCard reader wasn't working, it had a funky red tag sticking up from it saying that GoCards weren't working and we all got a free ride.

[STB]

Went from the Redlands to Ipswich by bus mostly today, had 2 cases where the readers were not working, first on the 11:35am 545 from Garden City to Browns Plains then again on the 523 that departed at 1:59pm from Springfield (although I suspected the GPS wasn't working and the driver just couldn't be bothered to use it, he also strangely gave a free ride to someone simply because he signed off from the system between Goodna and Goodna railway station.

Other than that, all seemed fine.

[STB]

Had to phone up for a balance adjustment yesterday after the GPS failed to work and the system thought I had touched off where I touched on even though I had indeed travelled. The driver for some reason didn't realise that it wasn't working and I ended up with a $3.00 penalty fare as I didn't touch off until after the touch off cancellation had expired.

Should be easy fix though, it's only $1.08 owed.  The guy on the phone at the TL call centre seemed that it should be fine for the refund.

I suspect that there would've been quite a few penalty fares and free trips gained before I inspected the driver console and worked out what had gone wrong, then politely informed the driver who seemed a bit embarrassed by it.

[Otto]

Now that 2009 is over,
The number of times Transit Officers have boarded my bus for 2009 is a total of 11 times.. They only checked tickets on 5 occasions, the remaining times, they only sat down the back and did nothing.

Onboard ticket (CUBIC) console faults have resulted in a total of 9 days free travel on buses I have operated. ( approx a total of 32 hours for the year )

I have now reset my sig for 2010...

Cheers and a Happy New Year !!!
Otto...

[STB]

Going through the fare gates at Fortitude Valley yesterday, I got one big X and two long beeps before the gate opened.  Unsure if I touched on successfully, wandered over to some TOs manning the open gate, had card checked and was all good.

[Strek]

Translink must ensure the gocard has the same flexibility as tickets. It seems gocard is fine if you are only using it to commute to work. But when multiple trips are performed on a single day the costs become prohibitive. For example:

Most of my work commuting is done by cycling and so the only train travel I generally do is two trips on a Sunday. Firstly I travel early Sunday morning return from Booval to Indooroopilly and then in the afternoon return from Booval to Central. In 2009 a $7.80 ticket would cover both of these trips. In 2010 with Gocard these trips cost $17.20 - a 120% increase in fares. I have estimated that to drive on a Sunday will cost me $12. I drove last Sunday and will continue to do so until Gocard offers the same flexibility as tickets. Cost increases are part of life but this is a blantant grab for cash.

Also what about travelling from Booval to Indo, going to Indo shop centre to catch a movie and then into Central. This would not be a transfer and so the lack of flexibility and grab for cash that is Gocard is again exposed.

Other problems include:
Only notes can be used to top up gocard but I usually catch my trains at 5am on Sunday. Finding places to change coins at that time is a challenge at best. I cannot see why $1 and $2 coins cannot be used.

My elderly mother visited me one Sunday late last year. She does not live in SEQ. At 3pm we decided to travel into Bris City. Easy done with a ticket but not with Gocard. Why couldn't she travel on my Gocard instead of the hassle of getting another Gocard.

As has been well documented the set up of the readers at train stations makes it too easy for people to board or alight having forgotten to touch on or off. I would suggest barriers at each station but this will make the queues during peak hours even more worse than they already are. Perhaps tickets would be a more suitable option. It almost seems as if translink has set the readers up so that people's falliabilities such as distractedness and forgetfulness, as opposed to deliberate fare evasion, are highlighted and hence a consequent money grab of $200 can easily be performed by translink.

Paul Lucas may have said that Sydney is jealous of the gocard but that is because Sydney is the only city with worse ticketing choices.

Gocard has proven to be a mess.
Thanks
Mark Wallace

[ozbob]

Welcome Strek,  thanks for your comments.

All helps to inform ours and other efforts to get better outcomes.

Cheers
Bob

[STB]

Feedback from a driver after I did a round trip to see how things are going, as follows:

DCUs are frequently having delays when inputting, ie: input a ticket and it doesn't register straight away when pressing the button.

DCUs breaking down completely has improved dramatically since when it first started, mentioned that he's only had 1 break down completely in 6 months.

Lots of people don't realise that there is an Auto Top Up function (I sat down and explained it to a passenger who overheard me talking about it).

Is concerned about the Limited Life Cards, ie: will he need to continue to cash handle which takes up time as with paper tickets.  And will Brisbane Transport buses sell Limited Life Go Cards since they don't allow top ups currently, and will that change in the future?

Would like to see a Short Term 2 hour ticket (Single Ticket) for those who only are heading one way and not doing any other trip afterwards, or at least hold onto the single paper tickets for those very infrequent users.

Said that he's seen quite a few cards fail on passengers, and cannot be read on any reader.

Would like to see Uni and School Student ID cards to double up as Go Cards, and given out for free when students enroll, with on campus top up machines or AVVMs to sell tickets to save time when boarding a bus load of students.

Thinks that the Limited Life Cards will be confusing for infrequent users if one has to touch on and touch off to make them work.

Thinks it may be possible to get rid of student concession Go Cards for School Students and give them Child Cards instead, which are valid until the child turns 14.

[WTN]

I was a bit surprised when I had the "seek assistance" message when touching off as usual on my bus today.  I was a bit confused as the person in front of me touched off okay.  Turned out my finger made a too big gap/angle for the card to be read.  Second touch was fine.

[longboi]

Would like to see Uni and School Student ID cards to double up as Go Cards, and given out for free when students enroll, with on campus top up machines or AVVMs to sell tickets to save time when boarding a bus load of students.

Totally agree with this point. If they can do it with the seniors card, they can do it with student IDs and it would greatly reduce the demand for retail Go card outlets.

[ozbob]

Feedback received, thanks.

Thank you for all your hard work exposing this ridiculous ticketing system and the so-called 'integrated' public transport system. In Brisbane our woes are added to in that there is no contact phone number to get real-time information about the non-appearance of a given bus. This is despite the translink phone number appearing on the bus stop. When I rang it they said they were only a timetabling service and were unable to tell me where my bus was which was only an hourly bus. About 50minutes later a bus turned up which was in fact the next one running early!! Don't even start me on the Go card and school travel: that involved about three different agencies in a mass on contradiction and leaves us with no viable options. . . BUT thanks again for standing up on the rail issues.

[p858snake]

Would like to see Uni and School Student ID cards to double up as Go Cards, and given out for free when students enroll, with on campus top up machines or AVVMs to sell tickets to save time when boarding a bus load of students.

Totally agree with this point. If they can do it with the seniors card, they can do it with student IDs and it would greatly reduce the demand for retail Go card outlets.

Most schools these days print their own id cards, so you want to have them pay even more to get special printers and equipment so they can print onto RFID cards and then theres the matter of programming them onto the gocard system. what about students that don't use the gocard/public transport?

[Otto]

DCUs are frequently having delays when inputting, ie: input a ticket and it doesn't register straight away when pressing the button

This is getting quite annoying.. I sometimes end up with 2 tickets as I think I missed the button the first time.

DCUs breaking down completely has improved dramatically since when it first started, mentioned that he's only had 1 break down completely in 6 months.

It has improved a fair bit since the start, But there are still too many minor problems popping up.

Is concerned about the Limited Life Cards, ie: will he need to continue to cash handle which takes up time as with paper tickets.  And will Brisbane Transport buses sell Limited Life Go Cards since they don't allow top ups currently, and will that change in the future?

BT aim to become cashless by next year, so drivers will not be handling any cash at all.

Said that he's seen quite a few cards fail on passengers, and cannot be read on any reader.

I have noticed the incidence of DEAD gocards is slowly growing. I was seeing about 1 each month , but now I am coming across at least 2 each month.. What worries me with this is that we rely on passengers to do the right thing and get it replaced as currently the passenger gets a free ride... I can see passengers thinking about keeping the card to get free travel.. We won't know how many times a passenger will have done this..

Would like to see Uni and School Student ID cards to double up as Go Cards, and given out for free when students enroll, with on campus top up machines or AVVMs to sell tickets to save time when boarding a bus load of students.

This idea certainly has merit... How could this be implemented ?

[stephenk]

I travelled into the city today (Saturday), and had a few observations:-
TOs on both services. Happy to scan Go-Cards in wallet.

They found one passenger had scanned on twice at Windsor as the passenger could not see the screen or hear a beep. The TO thankfully let the passenger off, and sympathised about the low visibility of the readers screens.

Whilst waiting at Central, I observed a lady exit into the subway using a Go-Card. She then decided she didn't want to exit the station this way, and came back onto the platform through a open gate without swiping. I advised her that if she used the main exits and swiped out, she would get a penalty fare. So she want back into the subway and came back again a few minutes later (without swiping), and asked a member of staff to pointed her to the main gates. I would bet that this lady now has a $5 penalty fare!

It seems that the Go-Card confuses some non-commuters. Maybe Translink need some more Go-Card helpers out on the weekends?

With off-peak fares, 50% frequent user, and speed shopping, I managed to make 3 journeys (Z2-Z2, Z2-Z1, Z1-Z2) for $1.22 today!

[Otto]

Some good GoCard experience today !!
This Morning, OH and myself travelled from Garden City to Roma St (arr 10:37) to view the Southern Express. Then we caught the bus from Roma St (dep 11:30) back to Garden City....
Total cost of transport there and back was $ 2.88 !!!! How good is that !!  

ps. I have a BT free travel pass... OH used my GoCard...

[somebody]

My first penalty fare due to a system problem.  Here's the history:
27-Jan-10 10:12:45 AM Touch off TW_Depot -3.00  * 
27-Jan-10 09:51:36 AM Touch on TW_Depot     

Actual trip was on the 417 from Adelaide St to Fisheries.

It's really not worth complaining about these things for 93c.

[Motto]

I hear from more and more people around me at work who are staring to take their car into the city again (it seems to be cheaper).
All we have to do now is to raise petrol prices and people will start to use the busses again.!
How about discounting pre peak hour travel  (before 6.30 or 7.00 boarding) to encourage earlier travel??

[ozbob]

Welcome Motto!  thanks for your comments.

We have long pushed for incentive early peak discounts.  It might come in time, there are some technical issues with the programming that TransLink have indicated would be sorted and the early bird discounts perhaps revisited then.

We are all very concerned that the commuters may revert back to cars as a result of the fare increases.  I am hopeful that there might be some further fare options on the go card that may reverse this trend.

Regards
Bob

[longboi]

If they are stupid enough to go back to driving, let them.

More seats on the train for the sensible ones 

[Sir Loin]

If they are stupid enough to go back to driving, let them.

More seats on the train for the sensible ones 

I've not had a seat on a train in 3-4 months

[Otto]

My first penalty fare due to a system problem.  Here's the history:
27-Jan-10 10:12:45 AM Touch off TW_Depot -3.00  *  
27-Jan-10 09:51:36 AM Touch on TW_Depot    

Actual trip was on the 417 from Adelaide St to Fisheries.

It's really not worth complaining about these things for 93c.

That penalty was possibly caused by a driver error... I would get it adjusted... It's not a penalty as such from what I see... The Driver has signed on for his morning shift at Toowong Depot and gone to the 417 terminus to commence his /her run... The driver may have forgotton to change the trip on his DCU to the 417 OR there was incorrect trip data on the DCU and the driver could not use a correct run.. If that was the case, I personally would have just shut it all down and run 'No Fares'..

Anyone who used a GoCard on that bus would have had a free ride if on the bus less than 20 minutes, or got charged the $3 fixed fare if the journey on that service was over 20 minutes.

If you call up, TL should see straight away that there was an error (driver or DCU) on that trip and they should fix it ASAP..
'Somebody', You did nothing wrong at all

[ozbob]

Feedback received, thanks.

Just to let you know the go card reader at Bethania station goes all misty eyed when it rains... no screen and a vague orangey/green light. Pathetic. All that stainless steel enclosure and electronics probably cost the taxpayer around $10K.. and it's cr%p. If the tick that designed it had thought a little more they would have put a hood on the top, that way eliminate both sunlight and rain from making the reader difficult to see. But no, they probably used the same design that was used overseas in enclosed rail stations over here in the open.

Comment:  we first raised this issue 2007, and have been raising it ever since.  I have been given some vague assurances recently that hoods might be fitted ....

[Derwan]

Yep.  Screen at Boondall unreadable this morning.

[Nightwriter]

A couple at Dinmore station also this morning.

Another commuter in front of me didn't want to take a chance (of a failed touch on) and went to find another reader that wasn't misted by water.

[awotam]

Same story at Sherwood tonight 

[ozbob]

Touched on at the reader far east Platform 3 Oxley yesterday morning, this reader is out in the weather.  Moisture completely obliterating the screen, internal and external.  Fortunately light flashes and beeps worked.  Time for the weather hoods ... for all readers out in weather.