March 28, 2011, 8:00 am
Our smartcard name will be revealed on Thu Mar 31, 2011
You'll just tap your smartcard to validate come 2013.
Well, it’s almost here! The winning name (and the winner!) of the smartcard naming contest will be announced on the morning of Thursday, March 31, 2011.
Staff will be at stations and exchanges to share some swag and announce the new name. So keep an eye out on Thursday to find out the winner!
(For more about the smartcard project, check out the TransLink site or the Buzzer blog’s past smartcard posts.)
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By Ben K, March 28, 2011 @ 8:17 am
Alright, fellow Buzzer-ers, prepare to be collectively disappointed! :)
b
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By Sally, March 28, 2011 @ 9:58 am
The trip planner is the most stupid system I have ever seen. You enter your address in a million different ways and it always says “SORRY, DON’T RECOGNIZE THAT ADDRESS”. What a joke!
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By G, March 28, 2011 @ 10:15 am
Finally! I was beginning to think it wasn’t going to be announced at all this month. I’m mighty curious to see the chosen name, personally I’m cool with calling it either Tpass or Compass, I like the sound of both. Starfish not so much, although in retrospect it could always have been worse.
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By Dave, March 28, 2011 @ 12:16 pm
I’ve been very disappointed by the whole process of this naming contest. The 3 finalists were never on the survey, and there was no clear explanation of why they were chosen in the first place.
I hope it’s Compass, so San Diego can sue translink. Wouldn’t that be good PR? LOL
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By Nicholas, March 28, 2011 @ 10:02 pm
Irrelevant: But anyone notice that the Faresaver ticket in the picture is being inserted the wrong way?
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By Ric, March 29, 2011 @ 11:38 am
Why do we have to switch to a smartcard system?
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By Jhenifer Pabillano - Buzzer Editor, March 29, 2011 @ 3:16 pm
Nicholas: Ha, I never actually noticed that. Let’s just assume he figured it out after the photo was taken :)
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By Jhenifer Pabillano - Buzzer Editor, March 29, 2011 @ 3:17 pm
Ric: Check the smartcard FAQ for the response to your question.
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By Jhenifer Pabillano - Buzzer Editor, March 29, 2011 @ 3:23 pm
Sally: weird! Can you try capturing the formats you wrote the address in, and email them to me? I can pass it on to our trip planner team for feedback.
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By Donna (CMBC), March 29, 2011 @ 3:38 pm
Sally, here’s a tip for getting the trip planner to recognize your address: Enter in as little information as possible. For example, for the address 10277 135th St, Surrey … enter in “10277 135″ (without quotes). For cross streets, same thing. Instead of “Robson St and Granville St”, just put in “Robson and Granville” (or even “Robson @ Granville”)
The trip planner is pretty good at guessing, but the more information you give it, the less it’s able to guess as your details get more specific. At worst, if you give less information, it’ll give you a few options, and one of them should be the correct one. :)
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By Roy, March 30, 2011 @ 3:17 pm
The fact that people prefer Compass or Tpass to Starfish just proves to me that Vancouver has the most boring people in this country. London has the Oyster card, Hong Kong’s got the Octopus card..so it’s natural we should have the Starfish card, right? :)
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By Kevin, March 30, 2011 @ 3:53 pm
Choosing the name is great but how about adding turnstile into the stations? I see so many free loaders on the trains every single day.
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By Eugene T.S. Wong, March 30, 2011 @ 9:29 pm
@Kevin
Every single day? I suppose that you take the SkyTrain 7 days per week. That seems so uncommon. Perhaps you work 2 jobs.
I’m a regular rider. I’ve never figured out what a fare evader looks like. I can only tell by the people who get on my bus without showing their fare, and then don’t pay at the station.
When you get on the train, and see a non-descript rider just looking out the window, how do you tell that he has never paid? How do you know that he doesn’t share a month pass with somebody, and takes turn using it? Are you talking about young people or bottle collecters? I’d really like to know how you know.
I highly recommend sharing your technique with the SkyCops, so that they could improve their fare checks.
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By Martin Elmgren, March 31, 2011 @ 12:28 am
I like TPass. In fact, I think I even submitted that one. Kinda has a ring to it like UPass and TPass.
Anyways, I can’t wait to see if I’m getting a new IPad in the morning.
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By ;-), March 31, 2011 @ 7:14 am
The news is out….
http://www.cknw.com/Channels/Reg/NewsLocal/Story.aspx?ID=1394270
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By ;-), March 31, 2011 @ 7:16 am
Here’s more….
http://www.bclocalnews.com/richmond_southdelta/richmondreview/news/118988964.html
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By Cliff, March 31, 2011 @ 8:28 am
Eugene, as far as I know, monthly passes are transferable. The text on the back specifically says they are transferable to others who meet the requirements for that specific card. I.E. 6 year old Jimmy can share his concession monthly pass with 70 year old grandfather Steve as long as they are on separate trips (Not riding together).
Daypasses used to be as well, but since the switch to the new daypass tickets, the text on the back ought to be the same as the other faresavers, which means they’re no longer transferable. (I don’t have one handy to check, so I could be wrong about this)
28-day WCE passes are not transferable as per the text on the back as they are written on the same paper as every other WCE ticket. I’m sure that was not the intention, but that’s legalese for you.
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By Eugene T.S. Wong, March 31, 2011 @ 10:18 am
@Cliff
Thanks for the response. Yes, I realize that about the month passes. The rest is news. My point was that somebody might look like a fare evader, since he might usually pay at a station, but this time around, he might be borrowing a month pass [e.g. pay every weekday, except every other Friday].
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By Cliff, March 31, 2011 @ 1:41 pm
Then they are playing the odds and with our current system, they would eventually be caught. Using what we have now, fare checks should be made more often and during rush hours (top of escalator) to catch those gaming the system.
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By Eugene T.S. Wong, March 31, 2011 @ 2:21 pm
How could they be “caught” in this hypothetical scenario? They would have valid fare every trip.
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By Cliff, March 31, 2011 @ 6:14 pm
I don’t follow. If they’ve got their fare, then no fare evasion is taking place.
Strictly speaking, if they are not paying on the bus, the driver should merely ask (but not enforce) the passenger in question to display their fare. If they don’t, then the driver ought to call transit police and arrange to meet further along the route. (So as not to inconvenience other passengers by refusing to drive)
Of course, what generally happens, is that the driver really couldn’t care less because he’s paid to drive the bus, not badger people about fares. ‘Fair’ enough, one might say.
If they evade on the bus, but pay on SkyTrain or do so in reverse by transferring onto a bus that crosses a fare boundary to complete their trip, that says something about how broken the current zoning system is and the source of that problem should be rectified. I.E.: Braid Station is zone 2 and not 2/3? Puhleese.
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By Eugene T.S. Wong, April 1, 2011 @ 8:32 am
In my scenario, the fellow had paid with cash or he carried a month pass. Observers at stations or on trains might assume that he cheated on some days [e.g. every other Friday] when that isn’t the case. We basically agree. You just misunderstand me. All that you said about month passes is what I’m also trying say. I’m just trying to spell it out in a story form.
Another way of saying it: if Dad telecommutes every other Friday, then I can borrow his month pass; observers, like Kevin, might assume that I am cheating on those days, since he doesn’t observe me putting cash in a machine.
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