Urban Gripe: Trimet Ticket Machines
At first I thought it might just be my bad transit luck (or karma). Is it me, or are the clunky ticket machines along the MAX Line — especially the ones downtown and near Lloyd Center — broken more often than not? Turns out other people have noticed as well, including the always observant Jack Bogdanski. Jack was so ticked he even wrote the TriMet Board of Directors. And Alan Cordle had a similar experiences last week and wrote about it on his blog.
It’s becoming a regular annoyance for many of us.
My recent ticket machine sob story is this: I usually buy a monthly pass, but have been traveling a lot this summer so purchasing one doesn’t make sense right now. But one evening last week I didn’t have any change and was out of bus tickets. I had to walk from SW 10th all the way to SW 3rd to find a ticket machine that would work. And I still couldn’t find one that would take my bank card. The legions of frustrated and confused riders, and especially tourists, desperately trying to get a ticket before the MAX trains took off was amusing, but I felt their pain. I missed two trains in the time it took me to get mine.
I really hope this isn’t a trend among TriMet, or a whiff of budget cut ramifications to come. Come on TriMet, this is the “city that works” and is the envy of the country with our well regarded transit system. Broken ticket machines in heavily used and visited areas is certainly not how we want visitors to our city to experience Portland, not to mention daily riders who just want to do the right thing by paying and getting where they need to go. TriMet, if you want to discourage people not paying on MAX I would suggest you replace those machines, pronto. You can do it. If you can create one of the most useful and user friendly online transit trackers in the nation (my iPhone+transit tracker = love), then you can certainly replace a bunch of old broken machines.
And what’s up with all the dollar coin change in return? I feel like a gypsy tambourine player jingling jangling up and down the street with the $17.00+ worth of coins spit back out at me after I purchased my two-zone, two-hour pass.
You hope this isn’t a trend?
You must be new here. TriMet’s machines have been quite broken for quite some time. Nothing new.
I was walking past the PGE park station this afternoon, and noticed a large group of TriMet ticket checkers waiting for the next train. It’s the first station out of fareless square (makes no sense to me why it doesn’t extend to Goose Hollow, but that’s a whole other issue). Anyway, lots of people going to NW don’t buy the ticket. Sure enough, they had a dozen people lined up getting tickets from one train. I wouldn’t mind so much, but like you said, it’s damn near impossible to find a machine that works!
Note: if you can’t get a ticket, keep an eye on the platform where you are getting off. If you see them waiting in their bright orange vests, just get off at the next station.
Bright orange? Not bright yellow?
Good to know
I’ve had a problem on weekends downtown where the ticket machines won’t take cards because the bank connection is down, and they won’t take cash unless it’s exact change, so it takes forever to find a machine that can be used. I would really like Trimet to rethink what they’re doing with tickets and fare-collection for people who don’t ride often enough to get a pass, because (at least for me) it’s been a complete PITA.
Could we have rechargeable fare cards? A discount on buying 20 (30, 40…) tickets at a time? More shops that sell books of tickets in the first place? Something?
What really sucks is that I can’t walk to another stop from Hollywood TC in the hopes of locating a functional machine. So, I hop the train anyway cuz I’m in a hurry to get to my destination. I haven’t been stopped by fare inspectors yet (knock on wood), but it’s only a matter of time. It would be hideously embarrassing to explain my way out of trouble like some punk kid. C’mon Tri-Met, help me help you. I’m trying in earnest to fund your system!
Oh, and Food Dude’s advice is good - but sometimes fare inspectors board the train while some stay behind to check those deboarding. No way out. SOL.
Have you used Matt King’s iPhone Trimet app? It’s brilliant.
http://trimet.onmyiphone.net/
Two more gripes:
1. Often the validator machines are also broken. I’ll buy tickets, and can’t punch them. So I’ve bought a ticket and am still available to be harassed.
2. I usually buy 10 tickets at a time, and they changed the printers inside the machines to now spit out each ticket individually rather than a sheet- it takes 8 or 10 times longer to print than it used to. I’ll just watch trains go by as my tix are still printing, and those behind me in line are also thrilled. What an upgrade!
Also,
wish they had a biker fare for those getting on at Goose Hollow to go up the west hills to Sunset TC. Two stops. Shouldn’t be AllZone fare ($2.30 this September).
Update..
I take the yellow line to work downtown about 4 times a week. I enter/exit the Prescott platform, and enter/exit the Old Town Chinatown platform about 16 times a week, round trip. I rode in the winter snow the last couple of weeks, even took a bus! out to SW during the “Artic Blast”. I met pleasant drivers, officials, and security, who were all friendly, informative, and understanding of the delays. Two bus drivers refused my fare, and said it was common for drivers to do that during this weather.
I have a call log of complaints dating about 4 months back on the 503 238 7433? customer complaint line. I generally call to let them know the machines are down, or if the max is consistently full at a certain time of day. I have been informed by more than one Trimet driver that broken fare machines AND how to handle the tickets that ensue is a touchy grey area for the riders and drivers and fare inspectors. I myself have been told contradicting stories on what to do in these situations (Some say no big deal, others say you need to be prepared in advance). I HAVE been given a ticket for not having fare when the machine was down (about 1 and 1/2 years ago), and didn’t look into it to find I could fight it. I was issued a warning in April? of 2008 for not having a ticket, after having the same problem! That is when I started paying attention, and looking at theTrimet Website for more info. I soon discovered what other readers have already reported, that the riders have to go out of THEIR way to ensure they won’t be ticketed for something they wanted to comply with in the first place! I’m sorry, but I have every damn right to purchase my ticket at time of trip, and if it is not feasible for the customer to purchase their fare, then you cannot fault them for that.
NOTE: I am younger, I am female, and cannot rely on my daddy to buy me the world. I don’t have a lot of money, and I work damn hard to make sure I don’t have to ask my mother for help. I am not going to disrespect her by being a common thief and skipping on the fare. I often find myself the target of power trippers who assume I am a pushover. I’m not, I’m really a jerk. My first fault is impatience. My second is my temper.
On Saturday, January 3rd at about 3:12ish, I entered the platform and noticed the #072 machine wasn’t accepting bills. I get tips from my coffee shop job, and I had just changed all my quarters to bills. Stupid me, considering how faulty the machines are and how often I have called in to let TRIMET know. There used to be two machines on the east side (the side of the dry-cleaners), but recently they removed one. I crossed to the other side, to find out that THAT machine was STILL down from a week before (I DIDN’T GET THIS MACHINE NUMBER at the time). Not really worried, I mentioned to a customer who walks me to my stop every Saturday, “It’s not a big deal. I can call it in, and get a ticket at the Rose Quarter Stop and keep going.”
I enter the max and call the customer #, only to be gently reminded that the phone line is only operational MON thru FRI, 9am thru 5pm, or I that I could drop an email at their website. I mentioned to a Wackenhut TRIMET Security who was riding the train when I entered, that the machines were down, and asked him if it “would it be a big deal if I just bought a ticket at my last stop, instead of exiting the train and buying a ticket and waiting another 15 mins for the next?” He was young, and unsure, and told me fareless square ended at rose quarter, and he couldn’t ensure I wouldn’t be bothered.
I exited the max yellow line at the rose quarter, north bound, and ran to the machine to purchase my ticket. What do you know? That machine wasn’t accepting bills. I didn’t get the machine number in my hurry to enter the train, so I could just get the hell home already! I was fed up at that point, frustrated, cold, and wondering why I was put at the mercy of whichever Fare Inspector I ran into. It was like playing a $115 poker game, with enough cover money, but all I wanted was more time… Normally I wouldn’t have been so hasty, but it was a long week, and an even longer work day. I’m really a jerk. My first fault is impatience. My second is my temper.
I jumped on the train, almost getting caught in the doors that were closing, and walked to the back where I happened to see a Trimet Fare Inspector. I politely interrupted her at that point, and said “Excuse me, I wasn’t able to purchase my fare at the last two stops I was at, and I have money…” I trailed off, because she interrupted me and asked for my identification. After that, she continued to check fares until the next stop. It was not a far max trip away, maybe a minute at the very most, but when you are WALKING on Interstate AVE next to diesel trucks and kids racing their tinny sports cars out of the Rose Quarter hopped up on Extreme Dew Sports Crap, it’s not a pleasant jaunt. I’ve made the walk before when I was unsure of the fare dilemma. I was a bit hesitant to ask any questions as to her delaying me (at first she reminded me of an aunt), so I exited the train with her and two other max riders. We all exited the train at the Yellow line max stop, which is a single platform, and the max pulls up on either side. There are two machines there.
At this point in my story, I will stop. I may not stoop to being a common thief, but I KNOW my mother would be ashamed for what I said to the Fare Inspector who had once reminded me of an aunt. I will not go into details as to what happened from here, considering I have a court date to fight the $115 ticket I received, and I am in the process of filing a formal complaint against that specific Trimet Inspector. However, my intentions are to inform the masses of riders and readers that this is still an ongoing problem that really needs a solution, ON BOTH SIDES. My resolution this year is going to have to be “working on my temper, esp. when people provoke me to anger.” It doesn’t help MY situation to react how I did, however selfish and glass-half-empty it may seem. I’m really a jerk. My first fault is impatience. My second is my temper.
Thank you for having the guts to broach this subject, and take the heat, whatever comes…
Second update…
I took my usual ride this morning to check the machines from Prescott to Old Town/ CHinatown. Here are the results that I already reported to Trimet…
Prescott Station- single platform w/ two machines
1 machine working
(no machine #) accepting exact change, no coins accepted
Albina/Mississippi- single platform w/ two machines
1 machine working
#303 out of service
Rose Quarter- two platforms w/ 1 machine at each platform
#301 on west side not accepting bills
(no machine #) on east side not accepting bills
Old Town/China Town- two platforms w/ 1 machine at each
#072 on east side not accepting bills
#69 on west side out of service with a note stating “Temporarily out of service. Please do not use as an ashtray until further notice. Property Management”
That was this morning around 10 am. I called all the machines in, and was told they will look into it.