2008-01-17
What's going on with Tcard?
All of us who take Sydney Buses have seen the Tcard machines installed on some Buses. Generally they are installed in the nicer, "new" rigs in the fleet that actually get used in the trial routes, but I was on one of the old rattlers in 435 service yesterday, and sure enough, it had Tcard readers installed.
I'd heard the project was cancelled? So just what would have made them bother to equip a bus that was clearly nearing its end of life with the readers?
More concerning, the Tcard readers are being installed each side of the the rear door (as well as at the front), with signs reminding users to Tag-off on exit of the Bus! Oh great, I guess this means the system has been designed like SmartRider. People will forget to tag-off and some percentage of the readers will be cactus on any one day. You can bet the system will charge them the full default fee when it happens, even if dead machines are the cause. I can't wait for that disaster to happen, the public outcry will be enormous.
One wonders how the current weekly TravelPass fare structures would be supported. My understanding is that the sheer complexity of Sydney transport fare structures was one of the main killers of the project from the start.
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