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They charge zone to zone. In order to know what to charge you they have to know your end point. How do you propose they figure this out without you telling them

They charge zone to zone. In order to know what to charge you they have to know your end point. How do you propose they figure this out without you telling them?

alxp 14y ago
And remember that a solution that requires building big BART-like stations to prevent you from just walking away without going through a gate would be a terrible solution to a nearly non-problem.
- jeffchuber 14y ago
  Getting off the BART is terrible when it's crowded. Especially at stations with only 1 exit and not very many tills (16th and Mission)
pierlux 14y ago
It does puzzle me that they also require monthly pass user to tag off. I paid for a 1-3 pass, you shouldn't need me to tag at all!
- eblume 14y ago
  It's even worse than that - if you tag off at the wrong station, your monthly pass gets locked in at that other station. You can't change it. I had a friend who traveled TO work on a shorter route than when he traveled back FROM work - so on the 1st of every month he had to drive to a farther station from his house to ride the train in, lest his card lock him in to a shorter route than he needed.
- salem 14y ago
  Monthly passes are also zone-based, so on the off chance that you are making a cash-based trip outside of those zones, you still need to tag in and out for that trip. It's been a while, but I seem to remember, if you have a monthly, you only need to tag in and out on the first trip of the month to activate it (no refunds after that).
- anigbrowl 14y ago
  If they don't, other people won't bother because they'll see all the regular travelers ignoring the tagging machines.
catch23 14y ago
It's even more annoying when you buy an 8-ride pass, but forget to scan off on one of the rides -- your 8-ride pass becomes invalid requiring you to call their customer support line to have it fixed. I've ridden trains from all over the world, yet the caltrain is the first train that requires me to call a customer support line to fix a ticketing problem.
kirillzubovsky 14y ago
I am not a CalTrain engineer and I have plenty of problems to work on which will make my users happier. But, I suggest that CalTrain engineers spend some time working on an obvious problem that so many users are having. Just because it's easier for them to require tap-off, doesn't mean it the only solution. Pissed off users means tap-off has to be not the correct solution.

They charge zone to zone. In order to know what to charge you they have to know your end point. How do you propose they figure this out without you telling them?

alxp 14y ago

And remember that a solution that requires building big BART-like stations to prevent you from just walking away without going through a gate would be a terrible solution to a nearly non-problem.

jeffchuber 14y ago
Getting off the BART is terrible when it's crowded. Especially at stations with only 1 exit and not very many tills (16th and Mission)

pierlux 14y ago

It does puzzle me that they also require monthly pass user to tag off. I paid for a 1-3 pass, you shouldn't need me to tag at all!

eblume 14y ago
It's even worse than that - if you tag off at the wrong station, your monthly pass gets locked in at that other station. You can't change it. I had a friend who traveled TO work on a shorter route than when he traveled back FROM work - so on the 1st of every month he had to drive to a farther station from his house to ride the train in, lest his card lock him in to a shorter route than he needed.
salem 14y ago
Monthly passes are also zone-based, so on the off chance that you are making a cash-based trip outside of those zones, you still need to tag in and out for that trip. It's been a while, but I seem to remember, if you have a monthly, you only need to tag in and out on the first trip of the month to activate it (no refunds after that).
anigbrowl 14y ago
If they don't, other people won't bother because they'll see all the regular travelers ignoring the tagging machines.

catch23 14y ago

It's even more annoying when you buy an 8-ride pass, but forget to scan off on one of the rides -- your 8-ride pass becomes invalid requiring you to call their customer support line to have it fixed. I've ridden trains from all over the world, yet the caltrain is the first train that requires me to call a customer support line to fix a ticketing problem.

kirillzubovsky 14y ago

I am not a CalTrain engineer and I have plenty of problems to work on which will make my users happier. But, I suggest that CalTrain engineers spend some time working on an obvious problem that so many users are having. Just because it's easier for them to require tap-off, doesn't mean it the only solution. Pissed off users means tap-off has to be not the correct solution.