Someone Out There IS Thinking!
I'm not exactly Cell Phone Guy (most days I don't even carry it with me), but I think this idea is flippin' cool:
BART is beginning a four month test of near-field technology for ticket sales. If successful, it would allow people to pay for a ticket automatically as their phone passes through the gate. No more standing in line at the ticket dispenser, nor more dealing with Petition Guy as he solicits your signature in said line, Guitar Player Guy as he vies with Petition Guy for your attention, and no more paying 4.00 for that 3.40 ride.
Of course, it could guarantee a getaway for Mugger Guy who grabs your phone and sprints for the BART station . . .
Anyway, you might not be as thrilled as me [insert paranoid privacy concern here], but convince is always a selling point with me, and I hope the project works as well as planned.
BART is beginning a four month test of near-field technology for ticket sales. If successful, it would allow people to pay for a ticket automatically as their phone passes through the gate. No more standing in line at the ticket dispenser, nor more dealing with Petition Guy as he solicits your signature in said line, Guitar Player Guy as he vies with Petition Guy for your attention, and no more paying 4.00 for that 3.40 ride.
Of course, it could guarantee a getaway for Mugger Guy who grabs your phone and sprints for the BART station . . .
Anyway, you might not be as thrilled as me [insert paranoid privacy concern here], but convince is always a selling point with me, and I hope the project works as well as planned.
Labels: 0L/1L Advice
posted by Patrick Bageant at 7:47 AM
6 Comments:
why would you ever pay $4.00 for a $3.40 ticket?
I guess if you threw away a half-used card instead of adding fare or using it to buy a new card?
The tech is sort of cool, but I'm doubtful that it'll do any good. You're still going to wait on the Hopeless Tourist putting in a card in backward at the entry point. As for the problem of buying new tickets, you could also just buy a $20 ticket and reuse it for a while.
And frankly, as one of the semi-paranoid privacy people, I'm not wild about using my cell for this kind of thing.
I'd rather see an expansion of the EZ rider program, basically the same as smartcards in DC - which pretty much all commuters use. http://www.bart.gov/news/features/features20061018.asp
Confession of 1L Stumbler: My apartment is littered with 60 cent bart tickets, probably because I suck and can't find them when I need them. They're like Lexis points that way. No one but me to blame . . . but that's no reason to not demand someone else solve the problem for me!
EZ Rider (besides being a kick-ass Peter Fonda movie) sounds better. But BART will lose a fortune in my 60 cent tickets . . .
For those in Patrick's situation, a local private animal shelter would gladly take them off of your hands.
http://www.arf.net/Help/Donate/bart.html
Thanks, Ashley.
I'm surprised the Campaign for Boalt Hall hasn't hit on this gem (or maybe it has).
They have already hit me up, and hell, I only just found out my first semester (ever) law grades!
I use EZ rider and it is great. The best part is that you get the price of discount BART tickets like you can buy at the store, with the convenience of never having to buy a ticket.
The real gem will be when Translink is in fullswing, and all bay area public transit can be accessed as easily as EZ rider.
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