TransLink Start Date
I don't really get what the problem is with TransLink. Here's the article stating it's delayed AGAIN!
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BAGC9107UJ.DTL
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PollWould you all be happy with Configuration C or Configuration B for the new BART Cars?
1. Concept C http://bart.gov/docs/cars/interiorConepage.pdf
53%
2. Concept B http://bart.gov/docs/cars/interiorBonepage.pdf
42%
3. Concept D http://bart.gov/news/articles/2012/news20120112.aspx
5%
Total votes: 19
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TransLink Start DateI don't really get what the problem is with TransLink. Here's the article stating it's delayed AGAIN! http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/18/BAGC9107UJ.DTL |
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Two thoughts.... Thought
Two thoughts....
Thought #1
BART must have been pretty frustrated with Translink if they spent the resources to implement EZ-Rider. Paying even one engineer to work on EZ-Rider would cause an expense large enough to need someone's approval...
Thought #2
Even if Translink is enabled on BART, will it make sense to use it?
I get a 5% discount on my fare, because I use EZ-Rider, and EZ recharges $40 at a time. The discount is to replicate the discount one gets for buying a $40 or $60 BART ticket. BART gets $40, I get $42 worth of BART service.
Translink lets you recharge at any rate you want, and the value is for all transit agencies, not just BART. So, I give Translink $20, the money does not go to BART right away. If I theoretically used Translink to ride BART, I expect BART would see nothing of my money till I finished my ride, and then only the exact amount of my fare.
Translink also does passes, but BART does not do passes, because BART is based on distance traveled. I understand the discount, or, actually extra value, is to make up for the lack of a BART pass.
So, how will Translink handle the BART "discount" in a clear, easy to market way? I don't think they will.... The could set up something that functions like a mini EZ-Rider card on the Translink card, but sounds like it would be hard to market, and a horrible pain to implement. (Perhaps that is the cause of the delays...)
Lets assume BART/Translink does not implement the discount for a second. I know Translink is supposed to handle transfers, including inter-agency for you. On Muni and AC Transit, each transfer is worth 25 cents. Does the value of the transfers outweigh the value of the 5% discount? That would depend on how often you transfer between the bus and BART. I suppose you would break even if you transfered at least four times for every $40 spent on BART.
But then again, you can already get both the BART discount, and the transfers, if you use cash and paper tickets....
I wonder if the TransLink
I wonder if the TransLink developers are making extra money from these delays?
(eg they have a "time and materials" contract instead of a flat bid)
translink 1 died mid 90,s
translink 1 died mid 90,s (see avatar). Amusing waste of money.
translink 2 is probably gonna die.
I would bet money if it even gets running, it won't make it.
do a google search on the T card in australia and any other place translink tried.
Big waste of money and Translink didn't work, technological problems. And the bay area is more complicated than what they tried in australia.
The bay area transit agencies are good at throwing money at experimetal systems that were previously tried and failed other places.
Many transit systems in
Many transit systems in other parts of the world have something equivalent to TransLink, and it works pretty well for them. I think it's the BART bureaucracy that's holding it back - AC Transit has got TransLink up and running, and has registered thousands of users with no major problems since it exited the test phase.
Shrapnel
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