Keolis to scrutinize commuter-rail tickets at South Station in evening rush; says it will try to avoid gumming up the commute

These are the same conductors/fare collectors who don't count riders and who often skip collecting entirely on crowded trains? ...the same ones who rely on their memory for whom they have hit up for a ticket (it's a rare conductor who bothers with those little tags they can stick on seat slots))?

My typical commuter-line is the Fairmount. They do not make any effort to count. Many refuse the change, like the extra dime. Several just said they don't bother and two have told me it's hard enough to keep track of quarters, much less dimes and nickels.

I don't see how any form of accounting would be at all accurate, not even in telling how many riders there were. Couple that with those who flash the zone passes and ignorance grows.

Maybe here's the place to plug the obvious — handheld devices to accept Charlie Cards and Passes. I don't see how the reader cost could not be amortized quickly from increased revenue.

What could possibly go wrong?

(somewhat tempted to go and film the shit show, but I know someone else will do it for me)

See my comments here and Kaolin's response about these nonsense operations.

https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/4cguyl/were_mbta_commuter_rail_...

Also see the following e-mail to me from Ronan Coatanea at Keolis:

I am writing in response to your inquiries during our recent Reddit AMA regarding Keolis’ “Fare is Fair” initiative and following the message you also sent to Leslie Aun.

The idea behind “Fare is Fair” is simple – all passengers must pay their fare every time they ride the train. We are working towards a day when every fare is checked for every trip. We are not there yet, but this initiative is one of the approaches we are deploying to improve fare collection. There are two components on which we are working to fix fare evasion.

First, we need to ensure that conductors are collecting fares. When we hear otherwise, conductors’ management investigates the report and works with the teams to resolve the issue. On the other hand, we are also working to ensure that our passengers are aware of the correct fares and are ready to pay their way. You are absolutely right , the vast majority of our passengers do pay their fares, however there are some who deliberately seek to game the system. This creates tremendous difficulties for our conductors and a sense of inequity among paying passengers. While passengers are generally permitted to purchase their fares aboard the train, we do require fares to be paid before boarding trains during “Fare is Fair” events. Our teams of conductors, accompanied by the T Police are inviting passengers to show their tickets, activate their Mobile app and propose passengers with not ticket or tempting to travel with an invalid ticket to buy one prior to boarding the train.

“Fare is fair” is one of the ways deployed to reduce fare evasion and has proven to be effective. This initiative has been generally well-received even if following those events some passengers also got in touch with us to express, like you did their dissatisfaction. We regret that you feel you are being inconvenienced.

Thanks again for being a commuter rail passenger and for giving us this opportunity to hear your concerns regarding “Fare is Fair.”

Sincerely,

Ronan Coatanea
Customer Service Director
470, Atlantic Avenue, Boston, MA 02110 USA
Email: [email protected]

Please e-mail Mr. Coatanea at [email protected] and let the Keolis Customer Service Director know how you feel about being treated as a criminal fare evading cheat by these operations.

Ok. If the "express lane" turns into a clusterf*&k and is not moving (i.e. is gummed up) because, oh, I don't know, the majority of people that use the commuter rail probably use some sort of a pass, I am not going to wait in line so a Keolis flunky can check my pass. Screw em.

occur when the conductors don't check the tickets.

And the vast majority of why they don't is because the train is overcrowded. That happens during rush hour because the T doesn't have enough equipment. On off-peak trains, people are herded into only a couple of cars, and everyone is checked.

I don't ride the commuter rail often, and when I do it is usually on the Lowell Line. My fare is always collected. I once got a free ride on the Providence line back from Mansfield on a Sunday morning. You know, the first train around 11:45 am. Of course, that train is always crowded because THE FIRST TRAIN LEAVES PROVIDENCE AT 11:20 AM.

How is that the passenger's fault that the conductor never came by to collect the cash?

So how bad were the backups at these gates?

And how did they compensate the people who were there at the last second because of T delays, but missed their trains because of this little charade?