Starting July 1, Muni will legalize all door boarding on buses. Thanks to Clipper, all door boarding will be a practical solution and reduce boarding times further. A 1 mph increase in Muni’s operating speed could save the SFMTA $76m a year.
Found at Montgomery station. Is BART getting complaints from cash passengers no longer getting their transfer discount?
Do you think Muni wastes taxpayer money? They have nothing on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which at a time of severe budget cuts has spent half a million of your hard-earned dollars, not to add service, not to improve the 511.org website, not even to put up more ads encouraging riders to take mass transit, but to rebrand the Translink card. Someone they paid good money to thought it would make sense to replace all of the logos and advertisements for the (finally mostly functional) card with new ones with a new name – Clipper.
Is it too late to cut this item from the regional budget and spend it on – here’s an idea – better service instead?
Update: Hey SF Appeal, you got us on this one. Apparently they reported this in the last decade – and the total’s $1 million. Still, it’s a big waste.
Update 2: SFist has a long commentary on all things Translink today.
The SFMTA’s project to upgrade Metro fare gates has received an $11 million boost from the Fed’s stimulus package. The $29 million project to replace fare gates with cashless Translink-only gates will be moved up 1 and a half years for completion in the fall of 2010.
Passengers will still be able to buy single rides by using fare machines similar to what BART uses and accept cash, debit, or credit to pay for a fare. Fast Passes will be accepted until they are phased out in favor of electronic monthly passes on Translink.
Good news on the Oyster, Octopus, SmarTrip, Suica style smartcard front: Testing of Translink on BART has been successful, and the cards will be supported “within a month.” Not coincidentally, the Translink working group recently fired the contractor responsible for many of the recent delays.
If you don’t have a Translink card, sign up now!
(Thanks to Muni Diaries for the tip.)