Of Recourse and Q-Course
Like Laurence, I'm now among the ranks of Q-card testers for Metro buses. Simple gig, really. Sign up online, wait by the mailbox, take card to the bus ... and go.
There's two big things to see here. One is the fact that this changes the nature of Metro's fare structure. Normally, it's $2 for a 24-hour pass, or a weekly, or a monthly pass at an even more discounted rate ($9 & $30, from memory). That usually beats the $1-One Way concept. Unfortunately, it's a money loser for Metro.
Not that public transit ever really makes money ...
Anyways, after my expenses going up, the second biggest "Q" (as in "Question") is how reliable the new credit-card style gizmo works. Test numero uno came today.
Running late, I opt for the 163 to take me downtown instead of the 9 (which has a shorter and safer walk to the bus stop at the expense of being about 10-15 minutes slower in arriving downtown). The express routes, which the 163 is, used to be a buck-fifty. Now, they're supposed to be a buck. I like that concept. Now I don't have to lie to the driver and say I'm not going downtown when I really am.
Only one problem ... I have no way of telling whether my Q-Card was billed for a buck or a buck-fifty. The readers on the bus are pretty low and I'm 6'2 ... but my glance at the little reader box made me think I might have seen "$1.50." Not cool.
That's the big, $64 question for Metro with this contraption ... what recourse is there with it?
If I have a paper transfer (a VVPT if you will), the driver can read it if something isn't working. No dice with my Q-card. If I'm supposedly able to transfer for free somewhere, I might very well be charged without knowing it.
Recourse ... that's all I'm asking for here, folks.
Granted, for now the card is a freebie - loaded with a mind-melting $10 of free bus fare and a more generous freebie ratio (5 rides after 15 paid) than the normal plan calls for (5 for 50). We revert to normal status once the beta period is over ... or our complaints go unheeded.
I'm not averse to a moderate net increase in my expected Metro expenses ... I've long thought the $2 round trip deal was too easy to game: get one starting at 8:30am one day, leave for work at 8am the next, get three trips for $2. But I'm on wait & see mode for how the change affects me. Not eager, mind you ... just on wait & see.