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

[ozbob]

Media Release 30 January 2010

SEQ:  Unprotected go card readers on stations need weather hoods

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 called for weather hoods to be placed on go card readers out in the weather on railway stations.  It is often not possible to read the screens due to glare and internal and external moisture build up on the screens.  Over time the screens also degrade due to the sunlight and this also makes it difficult to read screens. This in turn confuses go card users and often leads to fixed fare penalties and then the subsequent hassles in seeking reimbursements.  There is also the risk that users may be travelling in an untouched state due to 'go confusion' and therefore could be liable for a fare evasion offence through no fault of their own.

Robert Dow, Spokesman for RAIL Back On Track said:

"RAIL Back On Track members and public feedback have reported constant issues with go card readers out in the weather since early 2008 (1).  Yesterday was a wet day in south east Queensland, we received reports of readers at Oxley, Sherwood, Boondall, Dinmore and Bethania as being unreadable (2). There is clearly a network wide problem."

"The fitting of hoods that protect the top of the go card readers would stop a lot of the external moisture and glare problems. Internal moisture would also be reduced."

"In the longer term, consideration should also be given to replacing the readers with devices that have larger screens and fonts, similar to the myki equipment in Melbourne (3). Many users struggle with the small screens and often hard to read fonts on the present go card equipment, particularly if the coloured light flashes and beeps are missing or hard to see or hear as the case may be."

References:

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

2.   http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=432.msg20510#msg20510

3.   Melbourne visit January 2010   http://backontrack.org/mbs/index.php?topic=3232.msg18950#msg18950


Contact:

Robert Dow
Administration
admin@backontrack.org

[STB]

I'd add Birkdale to that list now.  The reader at the bottom of the ramp is now on the blink, with difficult to read screen, ie: showing mostly lines than actual text.  It's directly in the sun everyday.

[Derwan]

I tried to help a first time user this morning.  She had touched on correctly but must've decided to touch again to make sure.  Of course I couldn't remember what the different displays mean.  (I don't even look at them any more!)

In the end we had to wait a couple of times to avoid the "already touched" message and I think I got her touched on despite the "Seek assistance" message.

In the process of all this, we both missed the train!  (Luckily we were at Northgate and there was another train in a few minutes.)

[ozbob]

Feedback received, thanks.

I have a 7 zone monthly ticket costing $233.60 the average price of the gocard is $220 a month which seems to be cheaper but here is the catch: If required to travel twice per day maybe two or three days per week and there is more then three hours between it, it costs $225, $230 or $235 and thats not counting the weekend.

Now this would be the costs to me, but hold on, if I would use the gocard I loose time on the gates plus if something doesn't work, I (with the least possibilities) have to proof it's not my fault. Another thing is, why does Translink needs to know where and when I go (Only hardend criminals are tacked, right?), one tick on per day should be enought and only if I go outside my zones two tick on should be required.

In short Translink and GoVia fine you fast but the customer has to work hard to get his/her rights accepted. I just have a negative experience with the last but I have proof from my accounts.

Just  to add to the above, I have a Gocard for over a year (only used on six days max) but twice I got a fine deducted, since then I used it once more to and from the Airport. I never had a problem with the paper ticket and if it's a monthly, the station you buy it from takes your details, in case it is lost or stolen. Verdict over the years only positive for the paper ticket but two negatives for six days gocard usage. Sorry the choice can't be any clearer.

By the way, Finland already has stopped that personal data is directly linked to the fares because of privacy law contravention. QLD the clever state, please wake up.

[WTN]

Today was my day off and so I went travelling around a bit.  I managed to make 4 transfers in the morning, but made 8 (yes EIGHT) in the afternoon/evening.  I deliberately broke the journey several times after the 4th transfer to see how far I could push it. 

I also had another time when the bus I was on had problems with a door sensor and the driver restarted the bus.  That rebooted all the go card readers.  It took a while to get the system back up, but fortunately people could touch off fine after the next stop. 

[ozbob]

Congratulations WTN!     You are the present winner, marvellous effort 8!!

TransLink have informed me that the normal limit of three transfers will be reapplied later this month.  It was changed to facilitate some software changes/upgrades.

[Derwan]

TransLink have informed me that the normal limit of three transfers will be reapplied later this month.  It was changed to facilitate some software changes/upgrades.

Translation: A recent software change BROKE the cap on transfers, so they have to apply a fix to get it working again.

[WTN]

Thanks Bob.  It's actually quite easy to rack up lots of transfers when you have plenty of services.  Such occurs at busway stations and rail/bus interchanges.  I did most of my voyage along the SE busway/M1 using "BUZ" routes.  My 4th transfer in the afternoon was a short trip on the Beenleigh line so I can confirm it works across both modes.  

If I have time again this week I'll embark on another voyage to break the record.

Translation: A recent software change BROKE the cap on transfers, so they have to apply a fix to get it working again.

I like the sound of that.  It was probably what happened when the fares went up.

[verbatim9]

Adelaidemetro gets smartcard
http://www.independentweekly.com.au/news/local/news/general/smartcard-the-ticket-for-adelaide-commuters/1745273.aspx

[Jon Bryant]

Translation: A recent software change BROKE the cap on transfers, so they have to apply a fix to get it working again.

I like the sound of that.  It was probably what happened when the fares went up.

I pose the question, why should a person who transfers across many services be penalised for route hopping to make a continous journey whilst a perosn on a long train ride is not.  They both used PT within a defined time period it is just one was able to use a single service but the other didn't.  This seems unfair to those who need to go across town rather than into the CBD.  I think as long as you change to a new route within a set time then you should be able to continue as a single journey.

[dwb]

I´m in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the moment.

Caught the Metro today. Borrowed my friend´s metropass, it is smart card system that was implemented about 6 months ago. Charges the same fare as other methods but is easier (ie no queue). Cards are not registered and are prepaid and rechargeable. You can also buy single use plastic cards that the gate keeps, just like the old paper magnetic cards. It is a flat fare system with validation upon entry. Closed metro system with supervised gates. All gates are one direction and entry and exit are usually a little separated. The fare is 2.80 real which is about 1.20aud irrespective of distance travelled on metro. There are machines to top up everywhere, they look like a small ATM.  I´ve had a couple of bad reads of my card, but usually trying again or another gate solves it - doesn~t seem to like working from within my wallet.

Alternatively you can get a different smart card that is issued by the state of Rio de Janeiro for use on all modes across the state (bus, ferry, rail, metro). It is registered and can be prepaid like a phone bill. There is no discount for using this.

Metro Rio consists of two lines that converge for a central section. Most of the tunnel I´ve seen is single tunnel with dual track and third rail power. Most stations have platforms on outside, however some busy stations have track between two platforms, exit platform doors open 20sec prior to entry doors, makes boarding and disembarking much smoother.

Whole system is just having a new information system installed with LCD info panels with next train information however it seems to be a frequency of about 4min during the week from about 5pm to midnight. On th eweekend the frequencyu is half, ie every 8mins and from 7am to 1130pm or so.

Expansion plans include the opening of a new station just prior to New Year~last year and another station next year with another new station to open with new route in 2014. Currently consists of about 47km of track and seems quite well patronised.

[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.

For those who are interested, I had a couple of other problems later that day, caused mostly by the driver logging out of his system at QSBS before I could touch off.

I rang up and got it all refunded except for 27c.  Seems they didn't notice that one of the trips should be off peak.

[Otto]

Thats good news !!!

[cartel_brisbane]

I've been using my GoCard since Christmas and there hasn't been a problem yet.  Which has been nice. 

However I think for people (such as the old, visitors or people who don't use public transport very often), there needs to be more information available. 

Also, there needs to be more places to get them. 

I know that the University of Queensland uses card vending machines (that are used for printing/copying) in its libraries.  It would be good if Translink could install card vending machines around the network (so they don't have to be manned). 

[Derwan]

A work colleague realised when he left work yesterday that he'd lost his Go Card.  He left it 'til this morning as he thought he might've left it at work.  He is also deaf so he couldn't have phoned TransLink anyway.

This morning when he couldn't find it, he logged on to his account to discover that someone had been using it - and that an auto top-up had even been applied.  Another colleague phoned immediately on his behalf to cancel the card.

Keep an eye on your card and if you lose it, report it immediately - especially if you have auto top-up enabled!

[cartel_brisbane]

Thats why mine isn't registered.  I just top it manually at the machines. 

[Derwan]

Thats why mine isn't registered.  I just top it manually at the machines. 

If you lose an unregistered card, the value on the card is lost!

Registering your card is a good idea, but the message is to notify TransLink ASAP if your card is lost - so your full balance can be transferred to a new card.

[cartel_brisbane]

I don't have much on it anyway, usually around 20 or so dollars.  I probably should, but hey, its one of those things.

[STB]

Feedback from a private operator driver who gave me a good ear bashing/getting off his chest half hour of the Go Card with the following points.

He's quite concerned with the Seniors, a lot of them are struggling to comprehend on how to touch on and touch off, he's tried to in the past to show them but they still do not understand it.  A lot of them seem to be scared of the techonology and wave the card around in the hope that it'll work for them, despite him showing them that they must touch the card to the reader for a second.

A lot of passengers of all ages are not paying attention to the beeps/lights and simply walking on after getting the red lights/three beeps, then touching again when exiting the bus, getting the penalty fare.

Says it's completely unfair for the Brisbane Transport drivers to be exempt from doing top ups.  He's picking up passengers in the Brisbane Transport area simply because they wish to top up.

Says that Drivers are not trained to identify a failed GPS.  Confirmed that there are quite a few drivers who are simply ignoring the errors, and ignoring passengers who do a user error.  And thus are forgetting/ignoring that they are more than just driving a bus but also provide customer service.

Says that there should be more education, especially with the seniors, and did say that TransLink aren't reaching those seniors who live by themselves and not in retirement villages.  Thinks that those types of seniors are more likely to have problems using the Go Card, than those in the retirement villages.

Says that there are a lot of school kids who continue to touch on then touch off at the same bus stop, hence cancelling their journey.  He said that as a driver he shouldn't be expected to police that.

[ozbob]

Thanks for this feedback STB. It confirms other feedback and observations.  Things are not GOing as well as some may suggest ...

[stephenk]

Came across a broken reader for the first time today. It was on a bus. I managed to touch on successfully on another reader.

Yesterday I had to make 5 journeys on public transport which would have cost $11.57 with Go-Card. I bought a paper daily for $7.80 instead, and thus saved $3.77. We need capping Translink!!!

I´m in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil at the moment.

Caught the Metro today.

The Metro is probably the safest place to be in Rio.

I travelled on the system 3.5 years ago before they had smart cards. I was impressed by the fare including a feeder bus service at the other end.

[Otto]

Feedback from a private operator driver who gave me a good ear bashing/getting off his chest half hour of the Go Card with the following points.

He's quite concerned with the Seniors, a lot of them are struggling to comprehend on how to touch on and touch off, he's tried to in the past to show them but they still do not understand it.  A lot of them seem to be scared of the techonology and wave the card around in the hope that it'll work for them, despite him showing them that they must touch the card to the reader for a second.

A lot of passengers of all ages are not paying attention to the beeps/lights and simply walking on after getting the red lights/three beeps, then touching again when exiting the bus, getting the penalty fare.

Says it's completely unfair for the Brisbane Transport drivers to be exempt from doing top ups.  He's picking up passengers in the Brisbane Transport area simply because they wish to top up.

Says that Drivers are not trained to identify a failed GPS.  Confirmed that there are quite a few drivers who are simply ignoring the errors, and ignoring passengers who do a user error.  And thus are forgetting/ignoring that they are more than just driving a bus but also provide customer service.

Says that there should be more education, especially with the seniors, and did say that TransLink aren't reaching those seniors who live by themselves and not in retirement villages.  Thinks that those types of seniors are more likely to have problems using the Go Card, than those in the retirement villages.

Says that there are a lot of school kids who continue to touch on then touch off at the same bus stop, hence cancelling their journey.  He said that as a driver he shouldn't be expected to police that.

I Concur...

Today, a senior boarded my service and said to me that she forgot to swipe of after her journey yesterday.
She said she phoned TL and spoke to a lady and explained what she did and asked how she could fix the forgotton touch off..
Now, get ready for the TL lady's answer...................................... The lady from TL told the senior to touch on twice when she boards her next bus !!!!
That bus happened to be mine.. I explained to her that the info was wrong and she cannot touch on twice... Unfortunately, she insisted on touching on again because the TL lady told her to.... No wonder they are so confused...

[ozbob]

Thanks Otto.  Not much chance for the punters with the call centre the way it is.

And the lady now has a number of fixed fares ...

[somebody]

Yesterday I had to make 5 journeys on public transport which would have cost $11.57 with Go-Card. I bought a paper daily for $7.80 instead, and thus saved $3.77. We need capping Translink!!!

5 journeys in one day!  Are you sure you wouldn't have been qualifying for the frequent user discount this week if you had used Go?

[stephenk]

Yesterday I had to make 5 journeys on public transport which would have cost $11.57 with Go-Card. I bought a paper daily for $7.80 instead, and thus saved $3.77. We need capping Translink!!!

5 journeys in one day!  Are you sure you wouldn't have been qualifying for the frequent user discount this week if you had used Go?

I will go into frequent user tomorrow (Sunday). I will calculate how much overall for the week it would have cost me buying the daily, and not buying the daily after tomorrow - I will post it in this thread.

The 5 journeys in one day was partially due to taking part in Cityraid - www.cityraid.com.au
This event can require using trains and ferries, but I didn't know how many times I was going to be using it on top of 3 journeys to/from work and back home after the event, so decided it was better to get a paper daily.

[stephenk]

Using Go-Card + paper daily ticket for 5 journey day = $22.82 + $7.80 = $30.62
Using Go-Card only would have cost = $30.11
Z1,2 Weekly Ticket = $31.20
14 journeys, but 3 Z1 only, and 7 off-peak (of which 2 were Z1 only).
5 journeys with paper daily (Z1-2peak, Z1peak, 2 x Z1off-peak, 1xZ1-2off-peak)

So in fact it would have been cheaper to have used the Go-Card and run into the 50% frequent user discount, than buy a paper daily ticket for the busy day. Still even with Go-Card, the week cost 30% more than 2009.

[somebody]

So in fact it would have been cheaper to have used the Go-Card

I suspected as much.  The beauty of the Go Card is if you end up doing a trip outside the zones of your weekly, it's not a hassle.  For instance, I used to use a zone 1-2 monthly, but a couple of times I went to Zone 3 or beyond via the city.  That meant that I needed to either break my journey on the zone 2-3 boundary, or pay for zones 1 and/or 2 as well for my other ticket.

Perhaps we should all get lives and stop talking about $1.09/week in PT ticket prices!

[ozbob]

A paper weekly you could have done even more trips for no cost. 

When I was using paper weekly tickets it was possible (and still is) to buy an extension from staffed stations when travelling out side zones, but the go card is much more convenient as no need to pre-plan I agree.  Just the thing for scooting around on the network unplanned.

[somebody]

A paper weekly you could have done even more trips for no cost. 

When I was using paper weekly tickets it was possible (and still is) to buy an extension from staffed stations when travelling out side zones, but the go card is much more convenient as no need to pre-plan I agree.  Just the thing for scooting around on the network unplanned.

Never knew that, but you still have to pay what's effectively a flagfall charge again to do so.

[ozbob]

No, only the difference for an extension.  Say  the zone 1-3 fare was $3, and the zone 1-4 fare was $3.50, then the extension only costs 50cents.  It is not like buying a zone one ticket.

It is interesting that the information relating to extension tickets disappeared from the web early last year ..  

All soon academic as paper slowly disappears into the sinking sun ...

[WTN]

I had a touch off problem this morning (in a long time).  There was one reader at the back of the bus that disabled all the readers when someone tried to touch off.  It flashed red, displayed "Please touch again" and no one could touch until the driver re-enabled the system.  Although I finally touched off it wasn't without delay and embarrassment. 

[johnnigh]

Yesterday morning my wife's automatic top-up added $50 to her card. A few hours later, while at work in the CBD, Translink left a voice-mail message on her mobile about the card being empty, or emptied, not clear quite what. No further contact, but the card did not work on journey home. Is this common?

[ozbob]

John I have not heard of that before.  Is it possible that there might have a been a problem with the account used for the top up?  I would contact TransLink and find out what it all means.  My own experience with the auto-topup has been flawless.

[Sir Loin]

Jumped on the 330 bus at RBWH yesterday afternoon and the readers were not working so a packed bus got a free trip.

At Roma Street station only two of the touch pads were working at the main entrance, so there were quite big lines to get through to the trains. There were a few angry people who were trying to run to make their trains.

[ozbob]

Yes, I noted some gate issues yesterday afternoon myself at Roma St station.  The main gates have chronic issues ...

[dwb]

On the topic of gate issues, still in Rio here, at my local station they have a large bank of gates, say 10 in a row. The ones on the left are red from the outside, in the middle green from the outside and on the right green from the outside (ie on the actual gate) but above the gate hanging from the ceiling are different instructions some saying do not enter here.... and although these gates show a green light it is not possible to tag on/in at these gates - it is very frustrating! I hope they don't end up with a similar problem in Brisbane.

Also, at a Carnaval street party the other day the station was very crowded and two brand new readers were broken - they had a guard standing there collecting the single use plastic electronic cards! I would have thought they would have been selling reloadable ones to convert passengers to the new system but it seems that they had as little foresight as back home! I would guarantee 95% of these customers will buy a single use card about 10 times over the duration of Carnaval.... all those unnecesary queues!

[stephenk]

On the topic of gate issues, still in Rio here, at my local station they have a large bank of gates, say 10 in a row. The ones on the left are red from the outside, in the middle green from the outside and on the right green from the outside (ie on the actual gate) but above the gate hanging from the ceiling are different instructions some saying do not enter here.... and although these gates show a green light it is not possible to tag on/in at these gates - it is very frustrating! I hope they don't end up with a similar problem in Brisbane.

Also, at a Carnaval street party the other day the station was very crowded and two brand new readers were broken - they had a guard standing there collecting the single use plastic electronic cards! I would have thought they would have been selling reloadable ones to convert passengers to the new system but it seems that they had as little foresight as back home! I would guarantee 95% of these customers will buy a single use card about 10 times over the duration of Carnaval.... all those unnecesary queues!

I think single use smart cards will be available in SE Queensland soon. Quite a few Asian metro systems use single use smart cards or RFID tokens for single journeys.

[Sir Loin]

Got on the 7:14am 333 at the cultural centre this morning, the Go Card touch pads were not working
Another overcrowded bus gets another free ride.

[p858snake]

A work colleague realised when he left work yesterday that he'd lost his Go Card.  He left it 'til this morning as he thought he might've left it at work.  He is also deaf so he couldn't have phoned TransLink anyway.

This morning when he couldn't find it, he logged on to his account to discover that someone had been using it - and that an auto top-up had even been applied.  Another colleague phoned immediately on his behalf to cancel the card.

Keep an eye on your card and if you lose it, report it immediately - especially if you have auto top-up enabled!

Translink has TTY services although they probably aern't much help at work:
* National Relay Service TTY (teletypewriter): phone 13 36 77 and ask for 13 12 30
* Speak and Listen (speech-to-speech relay): phone 1300 555 727 and ask for 13 12 30
 -- http://www.translink.com.au/contactus.php

[somebody]

Didn't touch on and copped a fixed fare on my second trip last week.  Seems that trip is not included in the 10 trips for the frequent user discount, but it didn't seem to reset my trip counter for the week.  Also, interestingly, did a continuation and wasn't charged extra for it.

Even though I did such a thing, I worked out I was still better off on the go card for the week than using a weekly and an extension for my one return "out of zone" trip of the week.  If the out of zone trip had occurred before I went into frequent user it would have been different though.