AT Hop App

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roobarb

705 posts

Ultimate Geek
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#1324049 13-Jun-2015 14:02

Jase2985:why does it need to be a stored value card?

You need a stored-value card for it to be a cash replacement: immediate, secure and anonymous. No account required and no online network required for bus equipment. The card also stores information about your tag-on/tag-off so you can get cheaper transfer to another bus within a time-limit and fare-capping.

There are other systems that use accounts and even contactless credit cards, but that is not what AT chose.

swine

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#1324063 13-Jun-2015 14:40

sonyxperiageek:
swine:
roobarb: Contactless payments are the fasted way to get passengers onto the busses. Bus companies would prefer plastic cards to people faffing around with SMS and typing codes in to get on and off.
Entering a 6 digit code or something takes 2 seconds. The code only gets sent to a phone thats registered to a user so they get their profile. At the moment the train system is hemoraging SO much money from people not paying. I reckon probably as much as 1/4 of passengers don't pay. And also the bus Tag On/Off has a MAJOR flaw in it. You can tag on as you enter the bus, walk down the back by the back door and tag off using the second machine. You get a free ride.

Entering a code is just a lot more complicated than just putting your card near a terminal to tag on and off. There are also a lot of questions that can be asked about this method..

If you tag on at the front then tag off at the back, does it charge you minimum fare of one stage though?

I charges nothing if you do that.

I know this because the other day I was asked by the bus driver if I could sit in the seat next to the rear Tag On/Off unit so that High School kids didn't do it...What they were doing was tagging on and then trying to time their swipe at the back with someone at the front so that the beep overlapped.
The driver said this results in a free fare...Which makes sense because to the system you travel nowhere.

I talk a bunch of porkies

swine

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#1324066 13-Jun-2015 14:44

sonyxperiageek:
swine:
gzt:
swine: Entering a 6 digit code or something takes 2 seconds. The code only gets sent to a phone thats registered to a user so they get their profile.

The time it takes for some sometimes even with the simple card system.... The drivers will be giving phone lessons all day while you wait.. and wait.. and..

Nah - You have the code already on your phone - its up to you to get it before your bus comes....The bus driver wouldn't be responsible for it. The passenger would literally JUST enter the code.

You won't believe how many people will have trouble with that...

Nah - I would and I agree that it would be less than ideal...but as I said, AT are hemorrhaging SO much money at the moment plus I'm not sure if its any more complicated than the Tag On/Off system.....IMO when a Credit Card Transaction system is offered as a payment method it should ALWAYS be immediate. If they cannot get it to work in less than 24-48 hours then they should remove it and make credit card top ups unavailable until they do get it working.

I always forget to tag off - but it doesnt make any difference because I just make sure I travel further than the penalty.

I talk a bunch of porkies

swine

40 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 3

#1324070 13-Jun-2015 14:48

roobarb: Here is an example of SMS ticketing, though it does not describe how the ticket is validated.

https://www.hsl.fi/en/tickets-and-fares/sms-ticket

It may just be shown to the driver, which would be more efficient than passengers typing codes in.

I like the part which says you get a penalty if you try and SMS a ticket while already on the vehicle.

Thats cool, thats better than what I suggested.The only problem with it is that AT would lose their passenger data. One of the main purposes of tagging on and off is that it allows the Transport company to dynamically plan services. The benefits are not being realised by AT though due to the gaping holes in their system.

The MAIN problem that is stopping the AT HOP system from progressing towards what it is supposed to be IS the transaction/billing system. Because of the constant fires they are putting out with the relationship with Telus - They never get an opportunity to actually work on the stuff it promised.

I talk a bunch of porkies

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