Lynx Blue Line (South Corridor)

[Andyc545]

Some people may decide it's cheaper to pay $50 once in a while and ride free for weeks.

Semi-seriously, there was a big difference in enforecement I saw between LA and San Diego's systems and that may affect people's attitudes. In San Diego I saw tickets being checked at least half the times I used it. I think maybe once (of around a dozen rides) I saw tickets checked on the LA system.

[orulz]

Regarding the $1 coins for change.

How do the fareboxes on CATS buses work? Here in the triangle, you can pay a $1 or $2 fare with a $20 bill, but rather than getting change for it in cash, you get a "change card" - which cannot be redeemed for cash, but can instead be used to pay future fares on the bus. I wonder if they would do something like that here.

[Bled_man]

Americans need to join the rest of the modern world by retiring the $1 paper bill Given it's worth these days, it should be a coin. In Japan the equivalent, 100 yen is a coin and in Britian, same for the 1 pound coin, and they are widely used because all vending machines there take them. The reason the $1 coin isn't use here, IMO, is simply because vending machines don't take them. This is why I am glad to see CATS be progressive enough to add it to their ticket machines.

Coins are much easier to use in machines than bill changers. I would even be for getting rid of the $5 note and replacing it with a coin.

[Mobuchu]

Regarding the $1 coins for change.

How do the fareboxes on CATS buses work? Here in the triangle, you can pay a $1 or $2 fare with a $20 bill, but rather than getting change for it in cash, you get a "change card" - which cannot be redeemed for cash, but can instead be used to pay future fares on the bus. I wonder if they would do something like that here.

[Commoner]

Americans need to join the rest of the modern world by retiring the $1 paper bill Given it's worth these days, it should be a coin. In Japan the equivalent, 100 yen is a coin and in Britian, same for the 1 pound coin, and they are widely used because all vending machines there take them. The reason the $1 coin isn't use here, IMO, is simply because vending machines don't take them. This is why I am glad to see CATS be progressive enough to add it to their ticket machines.

Coins are much easier to use in machines than bill changers. I would even be for getting rid of the $5 note and replacing it with a coin.

[Andyc545]

Think of the money the U.S. Mint could save by not having to retire and reprint $1 bills. Coinage must last a lot longer than paper money. It's also a lot harder to counterfeit.

[mattm]

Kinda off topic, this whole coinage thing, but consider that the $10 bills circulating until recently had a nice "modern" Model T depicted on the back as a symbol of American financial progress. It wasn't an interest in antiques as much as how old the design had gotten. At that time the largest silver coin circulating (half dollar) had roughly the same purchasing power as a $5 bill today.

To drag this back where it belongs, I want to ask if the day passes will become available on CATS buses? There is mention of day passes on the Lynx page but not the bus page, although the Lynx description says that day passes will be honored on buses. I'd like to visit via Amtrak once this is up and running but that will mean riding the bus to the transportation center initially.

[monsoon]

What they need to do is to come out with a coin with George Washington on one side, Lady Liberty on the other side, and sized properly so that silly Americans won't complain they get it confused with a quarter. This really isn't rocket science, but we have such a difficult time in this country with what should be such a simple positive practical change. They have been trying to get it right since 1979. In any case, this is why I am pleasantly surprised that CATS did at least provide the provision for using a $1 coin in their machines.

[atlrvr]

I hate the $1 coin as they are bulky....perhaps if they were similar is size to other coins of similar value in other countries....also, I can't imagine strippers would be pleased if paper money was phased out.

On the Tranist Card....many cities are going to rechargable cards....NYC was first with the MetroCard, and now Boston has the CharlieCard, and I think Atlanta is changing over as well. I know in Boston, the fair is $2 if you buy a one-time ticket, but only $1.70 if you used the rechargable card.....the card is also nice, because my employer automatically "recharges" my card each month as a monthly pass.

[monsoon]

On the Tranist Card....many cities are going to rechargable cards....NYC was first with the MetroCard, and now Boston has the CharlieCard, and I think Atlanta is changing over as well. I know in Boston, the fair is $2 if you buy a one-time ticket, but only $1.70 if you used the rechargable card.....the card is also nice, because my employer automatically "recharges" my card each month as a monthly pass.

[atlrvr]

Hmmmm....the only way the stored value card would work is if there was a card reader that would print a one-trip receipt after printing the card.....actually on the above ground LRT portion in Boston, the way it works is you tap your stored-value card to a card reader at the platform, and get no receipt, but the roaming tranist-fare-monitoring people have hand-held card-readers and they are able to audit your card remotely from the train......in other words, they walk up to you, make you tap your card to their hand-held device, and it will tell them when and what station you boarded.....I believe the hand-held device is capable of printing citations if you appear to have not paid before boarding, but I've never seen anyone cited.

[monsoon]

^I am pretty sure that CATS is going to use the same method used in places such as Dallas. That is a transit cop asks to see your paper ticket. If you don't have one, you get roughed up a bit and detained until someone can produce the fine that you incur from not paying to get on the train. Advanced portable smart card readers are not part of the process.

[wheatie]

Just to apply some matematical statistics- for the percentage of a chance that you have being checked and ticketed for not having a pass, you are much better off just paying the small fee each trip then getting away with it and finally being caught and paying 50 bucks or greater. Just incase if there are any doubts.

[monsoon]

A study just released in Vancouver found that only 1/3 of the fines issued for fare evasion have been paid. Apparently it is a challenge to collect on these fines.

[Justadude]

Is that because you prefer the $1 coin to paper currency? This system likely returns $1 change in coin form, so if you only have a $20 and plan to buy a 1-way ticket, be prepared to be lugging around a lot of weight in your pocket. I see this happen all the time in Boston, and its priceless to watch visitors faces as the machine spits out 18 $1 coins.

[wheatie]

As noted, it depends upon how it is handled. If the person is detained, the fine will be paid 100% of the time.

[orulz]

If they can't present identification I bet the transit police will detain them. With no ID there's no way they could hold the people accountable to pay the fine.

[dubone]

I skipped a fair on the tram in Holland because I had run out of guilders and it was on the way to the train station to leave the country so I didn't want to convert any more. The five other times I had ridden it with paying, I had never been asked to show for it, so I didn't think twice about jumping on for 2 stops since I was running late.

But right before my station, two conductors asked me to produce my ticket, and I physically stopped me from getting OFF the train. As I didn't have any more local currency, I couldn't pay, so they went WITH me off the train (2 stops beyond my destination) to an ATM to get the money for the fine. Of course, now I had way too many guilders, so I then easily paid the fare to get back to my station in a hurry to catch my train.

I'm not sure transit police in this country would be allowed to take people to the ATM, but I guess the alternative would have been detention or something.

Anyway, they will not easily let people get away with not paying.

[Spartan]

The Doug Smith "Next Big Thing" feature for Wednesday is up on charlotte.com and reports on the redevelopment of the former asphalt plant across the tracks from where Poindexter tees into South Boulevard. Redevelopment has long been in the works for that parcel, but this article gives more details than I had heard up to now.

I had wondered what would happen with the old silos; nice to see they will be incorporated as art. According to the article, the art on the side of the silos will be visible from the LRT.

Doug didn't mention a project website and the citiline site didn't have it up on the projects page, so I guess we'll have to wait a little longer for more details.

[Charlotte_native]

Good observation. I hadn't noticed that! I'm a big fan of the dollar coin.

[mattm]

What they need to do is to come out with a coin with George Washington on one side, Lady Liberty on the other side, and sized properly so that silly Americans won't complain they get it confused with a quarter. This really isn't rocket science, but we have such a difficult time in this country with what should be such a simple positive practical change. They have been trying to get it right since 1979. In any case, this is why I am pleasantly surprised that CATS did at least provide the provision for using a $1 coin in their machines.

[Neo]

**NOTE**

This thread's topic is regarding the CATS Lynx Blue Line (South Corridor), if you wish to discuss coins in America vs. elsewhere in the world please create a thread in the Coffee House.

[mshook]

I skipped a fair on the tram in Holland because I had run out of guilders and it was on the way to the train station to leave the country so I didn't want to convert any more. The five other times I had ridden it with paying, I had never been asked to show for it, so I didn't think twice about jumping on for 2 stops since I was running late.

But right before my station, two conductors asked me to produce my ticket, and I physically stopped me from getting OFF the train. As I didn't have any more local currency, I couldn't pay, so they went WITH me off the train (2 stops beyond my destination) to an ATM to get the money for the fine. Of course, now I had way too many guilders, so I then easily paid the fare to get back to my station in a hurry to catch my train.

I'm not sure transit police in this country would be allowed to take people to the ATM, but I guess the alternative would have been detention or something.

Anyway, they will not easily let people get away with not paying.

[Andyc545]

It appears that Reid's is offering some incentives for visitors to their store that use the LRT when it opens. They will offer "store specials" exclusively for LYNX riders (I'm assuming if you flash them your pass) and also they will be selling insulated carts for groceries that can be brought on the train. Sounds like a good idea and hopefully this will encourage people that need to go shopping to use LRT as an alternative method to driving to the store.

[mattm]

Sorry about that. Our currency is one of my pet peeves. Anyway, to get back on track, what is CATS using for bus fareboxes now? The last time I was on a CATS bus was sometime in 2003 I think, and they were using the traditional dumb boxes at the time as I recall. Are they using electronic boxes like we have in the triangle now? I'm worried that there's some mismatches between what you can use on different modes.