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ChineseBig Blue Bus Drops the Ball. Hard.
I’m usually a huge fan of Santa Monica’s historic bus system. They provide great service with polite drivers, a comfortable ride and easy-to-understand schedules, along with surprisingly frequent and reliable service for a community that’s debatably a suburb. They’ve also managed to provide debit-style fares, along with the other “MetroCard” systems in LA, while Metro is still using tokens, which even Boston and New York have finally given up, and at that for some bizarre purposes to this East Coast kid.
Having said that, their “modernization” of the Little Blue Card has been a Big Blue Mess.
On a trip to Santa Monica towards the end of June, my relaxed reading on the Rte. #10 was interrupted by a perplexing message that the cards need to be replaced in order to use them after July 1. Or taken to the BBB office, but the BBB office is a demonstrated Pain in the Ass to get to. Oddly, in no small part, because of the vast parking lot that stands between the sidewalk and the offices.
At any rate. So I decide that, since I’m not in Santa Monica often right now because of the lovely California Bar Exam, that I’ll just mail them the card. That was my first mistake. After a somewhat irate e-mail to them last week, I finally received it today, July 18th. After having sent it to them on June 30th. 20 day turnaround. Good thing I don’t go to Santa Monica too often, I “only” had to drop $1-2 in [disabled] fare in those 20 days. It’s only an irritation to me, but I’m sure that many folks have had their routines disrupted because of this turnaround. BBB surely has ridership numbers, it stuns me that they couldn’t make some kind of sensible estimate as to how many cards they might have to replace.
Not only that, the letter accompanying this new card says the following:
Please be aware that this new card is NOT compatible with any other Metrocard system (i.e. Culver City, Foothill Transit, Montebello etc.) as it has been in the past. The Big Blue Bus fare boxes have been upgraded with new technology and until other agencies upgrade their systems the Little Blue Card will not work with their fare box. Also please note that the new cards will no longer give a discount but will charge the standard fare of .75 cents for adults and .25 cents for Senior/Disabled.
The Little Blue Card is still a great customer convenience and means you don’t have to carry exact change to board the bus.
Irate Response from this Irate Author: No, it just means that I’m now going to have to send yet ANOTHER letter to Culver City in order to get a Metrocard for all of the other systems, complete with photocopies of my LACTOA ID, my California state ID, and probably a lock of my hair so they can DNA test it for the fun of it.
Not only that, but the new cards still say “good on all Metrocard systems” with the Metrocard logo in the top right corner.
There’s going to be a whole lot of highly confused folks in the coming months. Most folks will probably just buy new cards or exchange them in person. Do they know that their cards no longer work in Culver City, the SGV, Montebello, and all sorts of other places? I’m sure that the other Metrocard systems have a Santa Monica-induced headache right now.
Discussion
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Picked up my Metro Card in Culver City for the first time and the folks warned me of the BBB scandal but they said the reason for the incompatibility was the BBB fare increase.
But all will be better when SoCal gets the TAP card.
-P
Yeah, which will be around the time we get Universal Health Care. I’m not sure which I want more, but I’m anxious for both ;p.
I’ve e-mailed Culver City to see if I can get a card by mail. I use their system occasionally, but never to enter the heart of Culver City, so to obtain a compliant Metrocard again for me, especially at the disabled rate, is going to be a serious PITA. I’m pretty torqued at BBB right now.
In the Bay Area, I used to complain how BART, Muni, AC Transit, etc., all have different fare systems. But they were well integrated compared to this mess.
There is the regional EZ pass, which works on all the systems for a flat monthly rate. Actaully much easier than all the other options.
Bert: I live and work Downtown, and only play on the Westside. Not worth the increased cost, especially when you can put a few bucks on a Metrocard and not worry about it (except when stuff like this happens).
Wow, and I thought maybe I was being harsh at my blog. Turns out it’s even worse than I described (see the link to my blog from my name for how badly managed the transition was).
Correct me if I’m wrong, but don’t ALL these transit agencies get their money from the Coutny (which, in turn gets it from the State)?
Why, then, are they treated as indpendent principalities? Torrance, the Foothills, Los Angeles City, Long Beach, Santa Monica, Culver City… is there really a need for these agencies to operate independently? Does it serve the public to have them operate independently?
One fare, one card! What a boon it would be!
whether they operate independently or not i agree a universal “tap” card is extremely necessary sooner rather than later. any updates when that travesty is going to be up and working? or are the little tap stands just there for places to set your empty red bull can?
I think the TAP card stands and the machines that won’t take ATM cards in the subway stations have been and will always be there just to mock us.
haha, nice. yah, i just recently got pwned by the credit/debit aspect of the ticket machines. it was really great. i still hadn’t got my monthly pass and didn’t have cash on me. wonderful times.
someone was saying that the balkanization of the several transit agencies was the bd of supervisors’ way of strikeproofing the systems
JW, the municipal systems predated Metro and RTD. Culver City and Santa Monica started in 1929. The city of Montebello took over a faltering jitney association in the 1940s. The cities of Gardena, Torrance and Norwalk also initiated their own municipal systems.
The first Proposition A in 1980 created a local return that spawned dozens of other city-level lines.
Yet when the RTD/Metro strikes, it is felt countywide.