Article: Go card readers 'don't work underground'

[ozbob]

From Brisbanetimes click here!

Go card readers 'don't work underground'

Go card readers 'don't work underground'
Tony Moore | February 21, 2008 - 2:22PM

The GPS system that reads Translink's new "go card" does not yet read the cards underground, it has been revealed this afternoon.

The glitch could cause potential problems at the underground Queen Street Bus Station when the system goes live on Monday.

Some commuters have complained they have been forced to buy a paper ticket because bus drivers do not know how to "reset" the go card readers when the go cards don't register.

The underground Queen Street bus terminal is the main transport hub in central Brisbane, with hundreds of buses using the depot each day.

A spokesman for Transport Minister John Mickel confirmed the readers do not work underground, but said drivers simply had to press an override button on the card reader to fix the situation.

The spokesman said the problem was being rectified.

"That's a problem we knew that we had, but it's just a matter of them getting it to work further down the track," he said.

The spokesman said he did not know when the adjustment would be made.

However, he said drivers had all been trained in overcoming the difficulties and simply had to press an override button on the card readers, which are produced by private operator Cubic.

"That's when the drivers have to press the override button, right in front of them, on the device," he said.

"They have all been through this, all been through the training."

However, one bus traveller said the driver forced him to buy a paper ticket when the card reader would not register his go card.

"Earlier this week, I tried continuing a journey - transferring from a train to a bus in the city - but the go-card machine on the bus was 'out of service' because of no GPS signal in the Queen St tunnel," the commuter said.

"I was forced to buy a paper ticket when I'd already paid for the journey on my go card when I was on the train!

"Seems like a fairly major flaw in the system, given that this tunnel is where most of the buses in the city end up."

The spokesman said passengers were within their rights to ask bus drivers to reset their card readers.

[Derwan]

Some time ago, a friend of mine with a friend who was working on the then "Smart Card" project told me about how GPS would be used to determine the bus stops.  I asked him then what would happen with all the current and future tunnels, as I knew GPS doesn't work in tunnels.  He was going to ask his friend but I don't think he got 'round to it.

I would've thought this would have been thought of and worked out well in advance of the roll-out.  I think I read somewhere here about the bus drivers having to manually set the bus stops in tunnels.  Perhaps it's nothing new.  It could be a media beat-up.  (It's just dawned on the dummies in the media that GPS doesn't work in tunnels.)  Or it could be a training issue where bus drivers weren't properly informed of the need to set each stop when GPS doesn't have a fix.

Either way, it doesn't sound like it's an issue.

[Otto]

All Drivers including myself have been trained in what to do. I have not had any problems in the QSBS myself as the procedure is quite simple. I do know some drivers are having difficulty in understanding how the system works and maybe need one on one training to come to grips with it all. 

[Zoiks]

Why could they not have an RFID or some sort of gps emitter in the underground tunnels?

[Derwan]

Why could they not have an RFID or some sort of gps emitter in the underground tunnels?

Because that would involve doing something smart, which is in the same category as daily and weekly fare caps.