5 ms·

> We didn't/don't need a single payment system I disagree. I did need a single payment system. I am glad I have it. I do not need a single unified fare policy.

> We didn't/don't need a single payment system I disagree. I did need a single payment system. I am glad I have it. I do not need a single unified fare policy. I understand that you want different things. Which is fine! But it's frustrating to me that you are trying to negate my complimenting some people who worked hard and made things better just because they didn't also do the things you want. Things, I'm sure, many of them also wanted.

inferiorhuman 4y ago
But it's frustrating to me that you are trying to negate my complimenting some people who worked hard and made things better just because they didn't also do the things you want. Funding public transit is a zero-sum game. TransLink/Clipper was a bloated giveaway to military contractors that left the Bay Area with a ridiculously flawed implementation. That's money that could've been better spent elsewhere (e.g. electrifying Caltrain). It wasn't state of the art in 2006 and it's sure as shit not in 2023. My issue is that TransLink/Clipper isn't something that should be celebrated. This isn't grade school where you're congratulated for your participation, the actual results matter. Worst of all TransLink/Clipper didn't actually solve the ticket problem. You still have Muni and BART pushing their own proprietary ticketing solutions. Honestly I don't particularly care about a single fare system as the last time I did a big multi county trip was around the time TransLink was being rolled out. Yeah it was neat to be able to use an RFID card on some of the systems, but that didn't make up for huge gaps in service. TransLink/Clipper merely put a few drops of CA glue on a gaping wound. Edit: To be fair I think that electronic ticketing is a good idea, but it needs to be part of an overall simplification of Bay Area transit. On its own (the way it is now) it's a marginal benefit – and now that transit agencies have absolved themselves of any responsibility Cubic's customer support sucks.

inferiorhuman 4y ago

But it's frustrating to me that you are trying to negate my complimenting some people who worked hard and made things better just because they didn't also do the things you want. Funding public transit is a zero-sum game. TransLink/Clipper was a bloated giveaway to military contractors that left the Bay Area with a ridiculously flawed implementation. That's money that could've been better spent elsewhere (e.g. electrifying Caltrain). It wasn't state of the art in 2006 and it's sure as shit not in 2023. My issue is that TransLink/Clipper isn't something that should be celebrated. This isn't grade school where you're congratulated for your participation, the actual results matter. Worst of all TransLink/Clipper didn't actually solve the ticket problem. You still have Muni and BART pushing their own proprietary ticketing solutions. Honestly I don't particularly care about a single fare system as the last time I did a big multi county trip was around the time TransLink was being rolled out. Yeah it was neat to be able to use an RFID card on some of the systems, but that didn't make up for huge gaps in service. TransLink/Clipper merely put a few drops of CA glue on a gaping wound. Edit: To be fair I think that electronic ticketing is a good idea, but it needs to be part of an overall simplification of Bay Area transit. On its own (the way it is now) it's a marginal benefit – and now that transit agencies have absolved themselves of any responsibility Cubic's customer support sucks.