4 Responses to “ Caltrain proposes to eliminate 8-ride tickets and raise fares on paper tickets ”

1. #1 Michael Drury Says:
   January 15th, 2012 at 6:46 am

   This is a proposal to increase fares, pure and simple, and warrants an explanation.
   I contacted a Caltrain official for more information about the proposal to eliminate 8-rides and was told, in effect, “not enough people buy them any more”. Apparently, in Sept. 2010, Caltrain sold 17,300 8-ride tickets. In Sept. 2011, 10,600 8-ride tickets were sold. Not enough? Has anyone considered that Clipper might be the reason that the 8-ride uptake is reduced and not an underlying lack of demand?
   That’s not all; if no 8-rides, then no access to Monthly Parking permits! In effect another price increase.
   So what? Well, if one uses Caltrain frequently, just not every single day of the work week, then the 8-ride represents a handy saving over daily tickets. If you telecommute, or go out of town, on average two days per week in a month , 8-rides on Clipper are extremely convenient.

   OK, so fare increases are necessary from time to time, but let’s be clear on the anticipated yield and what Caltrain intends to use it for.

   If you are attached to using 8-rides, or are contemplating their use, please make your voice heard by either showing up at one of the public meetings this month or writing to Caltrain and the Board. Or even use 8-rides more.

2. #2 John Russell Says:
   January 21st, 2012 at 4:52 pm

   Michael Drury raises a significant point: “Has anyone considered that Clipper might be the reason that the 8-ride uptake is reduced and not an underlying lack of demand?”

   Internally, Caltrain employees have been told that one of the key reasons for eliminating the 8-ride Clipper cards is that there are so many problems with them that a lot of people end up riding for free. These problems arise, for the most part, from the tag on/tag off requirement. People forget, or the Clipper tagging machines don’t work, and Clipper ends up refunding a lot of money.

   There are fundamental technical problems with the Clipper card, but I believe that the core issues are two:

   1) The Clipper software tries (unsuccessfully, in too many cases) to try to determine whether the rider wants to use a monthly pass, an 8-ride or the cash on the card.

   2) Humans, being human, all too frequently forget to tag off. (Lots of reasons for this.)

   Rather than punish 10,600 8-ride users, a positive solution would be the introduction of single-tag Clipper cards. These cards would be dedicated to either 8-ride or monthly pass use. There would be no cash on the cards. Using one of these cards:

   Tag on in any of the zones valid for the card, and the card is validated as either a monthly pass or an 8-ride pass.

   Tag on in any of the zones NOT valid for the card, and the tag on fails.

   Passengers who want to switch between cash and passes could have 2 cards. (Much less of a burden than calling Clipper twice a month to straighten out problems with the card.)

   This would improve customer satisfaction in additional areas:

   Currently, the Clipper card software can only activate a monthly or 8-ride pass if the passenger tags on in one of the endpoint zones. If the passenger tags on in one of the valid zones between the end point zones, they are charged cash. The single tag card would allow the user to tag on anywhere. This restores the flexibility of the paper monthly passes and 8-rides (formerly 10-rides).

   Currently, if a passenger with an 8-ride or monthly pass tags on in an endpoint zone, but tags off in one of the other zones, the Clipper card software assumes that the passenger is paying cash. This normally invalidates the card, resulting in those frustrating calls to Clipper and a 24 to 72 hour wait before the card can be used again. Single tag cards eliminate this problem.

   So, single-tag Clipper cards would eliminate most of the confusion that has cause so many riders to actively hate the system, and gave Clipper an ‘F’ rating with the Better Business Bureau. (Interestingly, Clipper now has NO rating with the BBB: http://www.bbb.org/greater-san-francisco/business-reviews/transportation-services/clipper-card-in-concord-ca-203911. Evidently, a business can decide not to be rated.)

   Let’s ask to get back the usefulness and flexibility of our monthly and 8-ride passes. Ask for dedicated single-tag passes for monthly and 8-rides.

3. #3 Caltrain Fare Changes – Meetings and Issues « CalTrain Days Says:
   January 22nd, 2012 at 6:14 pm

   [...] For more information about the issues, see the Friends of Caltrain article and comments. [...]

4. #4 Eric Gilbertson Says:
   January 26th, 2012 at 8:25 am

   I am astounded that Caltrain staff would even propose elimination of this long standing (30 years?) ticket type. On the other hand it is not so surprising as it seems that operational convenience has always trumped customer satisfaction at Caltrain (just try asking them to notify Metro Traffic the next time there is a significant delay)

   Seems to me that this whole thing is an attempt to paper over the Clipper fiasco and to force frequent (but not daily) users to purchase monthly tickets. Rather than eliminating the 8-ride Caltrain should change back to the paper version (at least then one could see when the damn thing expired).