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November 19th, 2006
01:25 pm - Even more sucking from the MBTA
I WAS GOING THROUGH the Glob's back Starts & Stops columns and found a question several of us had about the T's longtime tradition of letting monthly passholders bring a friend with them for free on Sundays (just flash your pass at the attendant, say "It's all right, he's with me" and hey presto, it's just like getting your pal on the guest list of an exclusive bus or train-riding nightclub!)
Eagle-eyed monthly passholders have noticed this offer no longer is written on the new Charlie Cards. Heck, the museum discounts aren't mentioned, either. Someone named Bennie wrote the Globe about it, and got this response. Keep in mind the "proposed fare increase" mentioned was subsequently voted on and approved.The answer, Bennie, is that the Sunday two-fer will end if the proposed fare increase is approved on Thursday.
Joe Pesaturo, MBTA spokesman, said the change is one of the many fare anomalies being "addressed" in the proposed fare structure. Anomaly? It was an anomaly in the eyes of management?! Not something nice, not a special bonus for monthly passholders, but an anomaly. An irregularity. Something that shouldn't be there in the first place.
How insulting.
I for one consider the current MBTA management to be an anomaly, one that should be addressed as quickly as possible.
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From the MBTA DOT COM FAQ: Sunday guest free? CharlieTicket monthly passes continue to allow passholders to take a friend for free on Sundays. At a station with our new fare collection equipment, the pass should be inserted into the ticket slot, removed from the ticket exit slot and then reinserted for your guest. On Sundays, these passback privileges will allow for 2 patrons to enter through the fare gate. This sounds good and doable, but judging from what Anomaly Joe Pesaturo said, this will go the way of the dodo once the fare increase goes into effect. Additionally, this FAQ does not address any fare increase questions, however; it still has notes saying "Effective January 2006..." and includes one question that asks "What is the Silver Line?" So, I asked about this recently while using one of the new Charlie ticket machines, and was told that it would still work, and lo, the machine took my pass twice. I guess they'll be turning off that feature? Or maybe the Globe got it wrong...? Yeah, sounds like the feature will be turned off once we start paying more to ride. I checked the Fare Increase FAQ on MBTA DORT CORM and it said nothing either way about Sunday freebie. Other fun things I noted: If you ride the bus and pay cash, not only will you pay 25 cents more than people with Charlie Cards, but you won't get a free bus transfer anymore. Something I can't figure out: If I use the new CharlieCard to pay multiple fares, do all of them get free transfers from subway to the bus, or discounted transfers from bus to subway?
NYC's MetroCard explicitly allows this, but only for a maximum of 4 passengers. ![[User Picture]](https://l-userpic.livejournal.com/45185136/1226044) | | From: |  rabswom |
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| Date: | November 20th, 2006 04:34 am (UTC) |
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I rode the green line as a guest on Drew's monthly pass just an hour ago!
I also get yelled at by the conductor because I was standing on the yellow line. I was a bad kid. I blame the beer. |
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