Would you buy a Geekzone-branded Snapper card?

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Forums › Finance and wealth management › Would you buy a Geekzone-branded Snapper card?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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#432466 28-Jan-2011 22:28

It depends on interest. So far is not looking good.

It is not a money making scheme, but there is a cost for making custom ones. If people don't want to purchase some exclusive stuff then we won't be making those.

I was offered an opportunity to make something exclusive, but it may not be worth it.

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alasta

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#432467 28-Jan-2011 22:28

sbiddle: The relality is that delays when existing a bus don't actually exist in reality except for some high use CBD stops. It takes less than 500ms to validate the card so there aren't actually any delays 99% of the time.

I assume 500ms is half a second? My experience is that it takes at least two - probably three - seconds to validate upon tagging off.

That can be a significant amount of time in the CBD where there are a large number of people disembarking and that's before you even factor in the people who have to make a second attempt due to the card failing to read on the first attempt. Yes, I know, if you hold the card steady at the reader then it should always work first time but holding it steady is easier said than done when you have your hands full with all the other stuff that you might happen to be carrying with you on the bus.

old3eyes

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#432610 29-Jan-2011 17:38

tomgeeknz:
sbiddle:
old3eyes: The only time I've ever seen this type of swipe on and swipe off is on train system as you enter and exit train stations. Buses and trams it always swipe on. Swipe on/off must be a real pain in the but when the bus is full with everyone try to get to the exit and swipe their cards and how many don't bother. Sounds like a system only a Kiwi company could come up with.. The systems I saw in Melbourne and Tauranga are way better than this stuff.

The advantage of tag on/tag off is that it allows zone based pricing. If you're only tagging on you can only charge a set fare for an entire journey, which is how many Cities operate where you pay $2 for example no matter how far the bus goes. The only way to run a zone based system without tagging off would be to ask the driver for for fare type and then use Snapper for payment which would be exceptionally slow.

That is how Christchurch's Metrocard works for journeys outside of the main urban area of Christchurch. 80% of routes are all withing the main urban area so they operate a single fare, tag on system. When you want to go further north, west or south, the driver asks for you destination and selects the correct zone out of the three options, and you tag on only, paying the fare from one of the three zones (Z1 - $2.30, Z2 - $3.30 or Z3 - $4.20 for adults).

That's exactly how the Tauranga one worked at Xmas while I was there. Tag on and say where to and out comes a ticket. 10 seconds total.

Regards,

Old3eyes

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#432613 29-Jan-2011 17:46

old3eyes:
tomgeeknz:
sbiddle:
old3eyes: The only time I've ever seen this type of swipe on and swipe off is on train system as you enter and exit train stations. Buses and trams it always swipe on. Swipe on/off must be a real pain in the but when the bus is full with everyone try to get to the exit and swipe their cards and how many don't bother. Sounds like a system only a Kiwi company could come up with.. The systems I saw in Melbourne and Tauranga are way better than this stuff.

The advantage of tag on/tag off is that it allows zone based pricing. If you're only tagging on you can only charge a set fare for an entire journey, which is how many Cities operate where you pay $2 for example no matter how far the bus goes. The only way to run a zone based system without tagging off would be to ask the driver for for fare type and then use Snapper for payment which would be exceptionally slow.

That is how Christchurch's Metrocard works for journeys outside of the main urban area of Christchurch. 80% of routes are all withing the main urban area so they operate a single fare, tag on system. When you want to go further north, west or south, the driver asks for you destination and selects the correct zone out of the three options, and you tag on only, paying the fare from one of the three zones (Z1 - $2.30, Z2 - $3.30 or Z3 - $4.20 for adults).

That's exactly how the Tauranga one worked at Xmas while I was there. Tag on and say where to and out comes a ticket. 10 seconds total.

vs 500ms to tag on and 500ms to tag off on a bus. I know what I'd far prefer - and it's not the paper ticket.

VinLew

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#432620 29-Jan-2011 18:07

old3eyes:
tomgeeknz:
sbiddle: The advantage of tag on/tag off is that it allows zone based pricing. If you're only tagging on you can only charge a set fare for an entire journey, which is how many Cities operate where you pay $2 for example no matter how far the bus goes. The only way to run a zone based system without tagging off would be to ask the driver for for fare type and then use Snapper for payment which would be exceptionally slow.

That is how Christchurch's Metrocard works for journeys outside of the main urban area of Christchurch. 80% of routes are all withing the main urban area so they operate a single fare, tag on system. When you want to go further north, west or south, the driver asks for you destination and selects the correct zone out of the three options, and you tag on only, paying the fare from one of the three zones (Z1 - $2.30, Z2 - $3.30 or Z3 - $4.20 for adults).

That's exactly how the Tauranga one worked at Xmas while I was there. Tag on and say where to and out comes a ticket. 10 seconds total.

In Dunedin you simply put your GoCard onto the reader, say where you want to go and you are charged for how ever many zones it is between where you get on and where you get off. I get on the bus for school in the morning, say I'm going into town, and I'm instantly charged for the trip based on the distance (in my case, 5 zones - I live well out of the city.) That way you don't have to scan when you get off. And anyway, if snapper is simply a smart card, then wouldn't it behave in the same way as a normal bus card in each city? I might have to swipe twice if I used my snapper in Wellington, but in Dunedin I might only have to swipe it once. Anyway, if it comes to Dunedin then I'm keen for a GZ Snapper card.

ajobbins

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#432623 29-Jan-2011 18:12

One of the advantages to me of my snapper card is that it is contactless, therefore it hides in my wallet and I just kind of throw my wallet at the reader and it works.

So I rarely even see my Snapper card so see little value, unless there are some other benefits

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SteveON

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#432780 30-Jan-2011 11:15

Humm this is a great idea... Thanks :-)

Lurch

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#433385 31-Jan-2011 20:51

After checking the snapper site no point getting one, limited places you can use it so not for me. Will stick with my eftpos card which I can have any custom picture for $5 :)

richms

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#433392 31-Jan-2011 21:08

I would pay $0 for the card with or without the geekzone branding on it. I dont see why I should pay to become a cog in snappers money making scheme that charges the retailers.

Richard rich.ms

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#433394 31-Jan-2011 21:10

richms: I would pay $0 for the card with or without the geekzone branding on it. I dont see why I should pay to become a cog in snappers money making scheme that charges the retailers.

While costs are dropping they're still not cheap to make.

richms

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#433396 31-Jan-2011 21:14

sbiddle:
richms: I would pay $0 for the card with or without the geekzone branding on it. I dont see why I should pay to become a cog in snappers money making scheme that charges the retailers.

While costs are dropping they're still not cheap to make.

Neither is the cost of gift voucher cards etc, but the purchaser of those isn't expected to pay anything to support the making of the card or the backend to support it.

As you dont get any interest in money on the snapper, cant get it back out etc, its as bad as charging for a prepay sim or similar IMO.

Richard rich.ms

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tardtasticx

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#433400 31-Jan-2011 21:15

sbiddle:
richms: I would pay $0 for the card with or without the geekzone branding on it. I dont see why I should pay to become a cog in snappers money making scheme that charges the retailers.

While costs are dropping they're still not cheap to make.

Metro cards in Christchurch were free, you only had to topup when you brought it. They're essentially the same thing as snapper.

alasta

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#433407 31-Jan-2011 21:22

tardtasticx:Metro cards in Christchurch were free, you only had to topup when you brought it. They're essentially the same thing as snapper.

They may be technologically similar, but commercially they're very different. The Metrocard was introduced many years ago by the Canterbury Regional Council with the sole aim of creating a convenience for public transport users, while Snapper is a commercial venture which started by leveraging Infratil's investment in the Wellington bus network but has ambitions well beyond that.

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#433409 31-Jan-2011 21:23

tardtasticx:
sbiddle:
richms: I would pay $0 for the card with or without the geekzone branding on it. I dont see why I should pay to become a cog in snappers money making scheme that charges the retailers.

While costs are dropping they're still not cheap to make.

Metro cards in Christchurch were free, you only had to topup when you brought it. They're essentially the same thing as snapper.

Except the cards used on the ERG system (Mifare) are pretty basic compared to the new Snapper cards and hardware. The new Snapper cards are seriously cool, 72kb JCOP! These cost significantly more to manufacture.

richms

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#433410 31-Jan-2011 21:26

alasta:
tardtasticx:Metro cards in Christchurch were free, you only had to topup when you brought it. They're essentially the same thing as snapper.?

They may be technologically similar, but commercially they're very different. The Metrocard was introduced many years ago by the Canterbury Regional Council with the sole aim of creating a convenience for public transport users, while Snapper is a commercial venture which started by leveraging Infratil's investment in the Wellington bus network but has ambitions well beyond that.

And that is all the more reason that snapper should be free, not costing. They want people to use it to make money from those people. A $10 entry barrier is huge for something that deals with small values.

Richard rich.ms

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