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CharlieCards
By adamg - 7/26/23 - 3:37 pm
The MBTA announced today it's opening a temporary CharlieCard store in the State Transportation Building at 10 Park Plaza because of intractable air-conditioning problems that forced it to shut the normal CharlieCard store in Downtown Crossing earlier this month. Read more.
$1-billion CharlieCard replacement system makes like the Green Line Extension and gets delayed again
By adamg - 2/27/23 - 2:34 pm
WCVB reports.
By adamg - 2/2/23 - 9:30 pm
The MBTA reports:
Earlier tonight, the MBTA experienced a power outage that caused a systemwide disruption to credit & debit card processing at fare vending machines. The power issue has been resolved & all fare vending machines are now functioning properly. We apologize for any inconveniences.
By adamg - 10/28/22 - 1:01 pm
Alejandro Pérez asks: "Who did it better?"
Also see this four-person Orange Line costume.
By adamg - 2/11/22 - 9:03 am
The State House News Service reports the T will be ending "passbacks" - the ability to tap a friend or relative into the system with your CharlieCard.
By adamg - 9/16/21 - 12:22 pm
Around noon, Massmikmouse photographed the scene outside the CharlieCard store in the Downtown Crossing/Park Street Corridor of Doom: Read more.
By adamg - 6/30/21 - 9:59 am
No, not this reporter, who hasn't actually been on the T in like 15 months now (shocking, we know), but WBUR's Meghna Chakrabarti, who limns her family's travails getting a CharlieCard to ride the rails. Read more.
By adamg - 4/20/21 - 12:30 pm
CommonWealth talks to MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, who says the T will likely hire 80 to 120 new employees to roam bus lines and above-ground trolleys to make sure they're paying their fares. The new system could speed up buses and trolleys by allowing people to board through both front and rear doors, but will mean a level of trust that people are boarding in the back with actual CharlieCards. The new workers will make random spot checks to make sure people are doing that.
By adamg - 11/13/20 - 3:55 pm
With a grant from the Boston Foundation, the MBTA says it will provide CharlieCards to several Boston community health centers in neighborhoods where residents might otherwise have trouble getting one of the fare cards. Read more.
By adamg - 10/28/20 - 12:02 pm
The MBTA said today it's reopening the CharlieCard store at Downtown Crossing on Tuesday, several months after it was shut due to Covid-19 concerns. Read more.
By adamg - 9/12/20 - 2:58 pm
For a brief shining moment, you could buy CharlieCard rings, if you weren't lucky enough to get a Green Lantern ring (which meant you didn't need the T, because you could fly). After six years, one person's ring finally crumbled, so, ta da: CharlieCard bracelet. No word if it can ward off bullets.
By adamg - 3/4/20 - 9:10 am
Sorry, Nia: Charlie's staying.
DigBoston reports the MBTA is spending $5.5 million on a marketing contract with a Waltham firm with ties to Charlie Baker and that the T has already put several of their ideas to humanize and promote the T into action. But the state rejected a proposal to ditch Charlie as the name of T passes in favor of a rotating set of 8 to 10 names a year, including Nia, Mike and Jose.
By adamg - 1/9/20 - 11:42 am
MassDOT says Boston-area Boys and Girls clubs have been stocked with CharlieCards for people who want to get somewhere on the T (you'll still have to put value on them yourself): Read more.
By adamg - 9/27/18 - 9:09 am
UPDATE: The T reports the machines are working again.
The MBTA reports its card vending machines are not accepting either credit or debit cards right now, although if you happen to have some Susan B. Anthony dollars ...
By adamg - 11/20/17 - 9:32 am
MassLive reports the T is on the verge of a $723-million deal to replace the current CharlieCard system with a newer system that will let riders pay by tapping their phones or credit cards rather than plastic cards. And it'll work on commuter rail, too, and let riders board buses and trolleys through the rear doors.
Oh, don't worry, there'll still be cards for the phoneless, but they'll cost $5 apiece.
By adamg - 1/26/17 - 4:18 pm
UPDATE, 5:45 p.m: MBTA says the problem is fixed. Break out that plastic and go wild with value.
Better make a run to the bank before you head to the T stop:
Service Alert: Credit/Debit Card sales are temporarily unavailable at all stations.
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