OC Transpo: Unrealistic Expectations II (With a Caveat)

[dewline]

Noting a few other things for the record...

Starting with the city's announcement of an environmental assessment as a prelude to possibly extending the Confederation Line of the O-Train network to the Canadian Tire Centre(AKA Corel Centre AKA Palladium). If this goes all the way to actually building the tracks and running the trains, there'll be a lot of happier hockey and music fans in this city. Especially out here on the eastern end, owing to the current transit times via the 4xx-series bus routes that feed that stadium on game and concert nights. And even if the Ottawa Senators do end up moving from Kanata's Palladium Drive to Lebreton Flats as many hope, the convenience will still be there for many on the western end of the line.

(Sidebar 1: And I can't see the CTC not still being useful for all manner of major public events for the next couple of decades in any case. Provided the facility is properly cared for by whoever owns it. Yes, that's a piece of advice to the owners I want to see heeded.)

(Sidebar 2: As soon as I see a link to City Hall's page(s) on the matter, I'll set that up here.)

Back to those Unrealistic Expectations held by OC Transpo management.

They're hoping to be rid of paper tickets and bus passes forever, with all regular users forced into the Presto card system. Effective next year.

Not a welcome idea. I want those physical proofs of payment, partly as souvenirs in their own right, partly as tax paperwork documentation. Because tax credits for public transit usage. And because the Presto system requires using the internet to pay the monthly fare. I don't know that I'll be able to maintain my own access to the internet until I'm physically unable to use public transit anymore (hopefully due to extreme old age). More to the point, there are many other people across this city who share such financial uncertainties for any combination of reasons. And even if we can figure that out, internet access can be denied to entire populations due to accident or malice. We've seen an example of the kinds of unexpected infrastructure issues that can pop up today with the Rideau Street Sinkhole Incident.

Better to leave transit users the option of paying for hardcopy bus passes for the long term. Much better.

Comments

[resonant.livejournal.com]

In Toronto, there are kiosks in the subway stations where you can top up your Presto card.

For tax purposes, you can log on to the Presto website and print out a receipt showing annual transit expenses. IF you have working internet and a printer, and IF you have a telephone number (mandatory field). I don`t have a telephone, and had to ask for help. They don`t have a support e-mail address, you have to type in a field which DOES NOT ACCEPT PUNCTUATION. Not even apostrophes or periods.

[dewline.livejournal.com]

Don't know why those design flaws should be tolerated.