[starfish12]

Tried to top up my leap card in the city centre last night at 8pm to be told that all the leap machines were 'doing an update' was told this by 3 separate stores, so not exactly ideal.

Completely agree on the lack of audio whilst paying, when I got the bus into town the driver told me to 'hurry the f up' (his exact words) as I had obviously stood with the card on the machine for too long, then coming home, the driver roared at me for taking it away too quickly, printed a couple of receipts which I didn't get a copy of and then told me to 'leave it on longer in future.'

As an irregular bus user, it didn't really encourage me to use it in future, esp as it was impossible to top up!

[bk]

Originally Posted by Genghis

I am required to use a ticket validator in Heuston that recognises two different smartcards, both of which in are in my wallet. What would have been a better idea is a single smartcard that houses two profiles - my annual travel pass and my leap card. The smart card should then determine which card in my wallet is appropriate to the context, i.e. when I am within date and my travel zone of my annual pass, it opens the barrier, when I am outside the zone and date of my travel pass it deducts credit and then opens the barrier.

The ability to load other tickets, Travel 90, weekly, monthly, etc. onto a single Leap card and have leap card figure out which one to use (the cheapest), is coming later this year.

Originally Posted by starfish12

Completely agree on the lack of audio whilst paying, when I got the bus into town the driver told me to 'hurry the f up' (his exact words) as I had obviously stood with the card on the machine for too long, then coming home, the driver roared at me for taking it away too quickly, printed a couple of receipts which I didn't get a copy of and then told me to 'leave it on longer in future.'

This sort of dreadful experience on the bus is what I fear will give people a bad impression of Leap.

[foggy_lad]

Originally Posted by bk

The ability to load other tickets, Travel 90, weekly, monthly, etc. onto a single Leap card and have leap card figure out which one to use (the cheapest), is coming later this.

I doubt this will happen as planned, the leap card has been in the pipeline and "coming soon" for a decade and it has only been produced in its current half hearted mess now. I think it will be several long years of it not working right and people being messed around with upgrades and updates before they are told it will never reach its promised level of service and will remain nothing more than an E-purse.

[sham69]

I started using one this week only for the bus.
It saves me having to have the exact money for the fare every single day, saves me 20c on my fare and saves my washing machine from getting clogged with bus receipts.

I only go a few stops on the way home so have to place the card on the machine at the driver and state the fare.
He then looks at me, I look at him, he looks at me, I look at him again until he says ok and then I take the card.
It takes a good 10-15 seconds, which is a lot when there are a dozen or so people behind you.
I feel like a bit of a lemon as I never know how long to leave the card on the machine...

[markpb]

Originally Posted by Genghis

The smart card should then determine which card in my wallet is appropriate to the context, i.e. when I am within date and my travel zone of my annual pass, it opens the barrier, when I am outside the zone and date of my travel pass it deducts credit and then opens the barrier.

As others have said, your annual ticket will be folded into the Leap card in the near future so you won't be carrying two cards. On the other hand, it's not possible for a contactless reader to decide which card to talk to, it's not physically possible. This isn't a limitation of Leap, all contactless cards are the same.

[Draupnir]

I had topped up online last week but the top up hadn't been made available at the LUAS stop the next time I went to board a tram. I validated and the card allowed me to go into a negative balance, so I was still able to take my tram without any issue. I was pleasantly surprised by that fact.

I don't agree with anyone who says that the online top up adds no value, that is an invalid point. I find value in being able to top up at home and not have to behave any differently on my commute in the morning. Topping up online allows me to maintain my routine and avoids me missing any trams while topping up at the main machine which I don't know need to visit.

As a purely LUAS user, the Leap card is a fantastic improvement for me over my previous mode of payment which was cash.

[Giblet]

I'm going back to the weekly card as it works out the same price for 10 journeys a week, and if I need to use it Saturday or miss a tag-off, the leap card will end up costing more. A shame they couldn't integrate the weekly or monthly into the card sooner. Until then, I'll stick to the weekly.

EDIT: I just checked the Luas site and since Jan 1st, it's cheaper to get a weekly card in all cases. Oh well, just cements my decision.

[Draupnir]

How much cheaper is it?

[Tarabuses]

Originally Posted by Draupnir

I had topped up online last week but the top up hadn't been made available at the LUAS stop the next time I went to board a tram. I validated and the card allowed me to go into a negative balance, so I was still able to take my tram without any issue. I was pleasantly surprised by that fact.

I don't agree with anyone who says that the online top up adds no value, that is an invalid point. I find value in being able to top up at home and not have to behave any differently on my commute in the morning. Topping up online allows me to maintain my routine and avoids me missing any trams while topping up at the main machine which I don't know need to visit.

As a purely LUAS user, the Leap card is a fantastic improvement for me over my previous mode of payment which was cash.

Why hadn't you obtained a LUAS Smartcard previously? You have been paying too much for years.

[AlekSmart]

Originally Posted by starfish12

Tried to top up my leap card in the city centre last night at 8pm to be told that all the leap machines were 'doing an update' was told this by 3 separate stores, so not exactly ideal.

Completely agree on the lack of audio whilst paying, when I got the bus into town the driver told me to 'hurry the f up' (his exact words) as I had obviously stood with the card on the machine for too long, then coming home, the driver roared at me for taking it away too quickly, printed a couple of receipts which I didn't get a copy of and then told me to 'leave it on longer in future.'

As an irregular bus user, it didn't really encourage me to use it in future, esp as it was impossible to top up!

Personally,on both counts I'd fire off an e-mail to customercomment@dublinbus.ie with as much detail as possible..route,time,direction of travel etc.

The print out would have been your last 5 transactions and is of no use to the Driver at all,I'd suspect this was faffing around for it's own sake on this lad's part.

I'm spending far too much time watching passengers struggling with an interface that is just FAR too complex for comfort.

However I would NEVER adopt such an attitude as neither would most of my colleagues...it's not acceptable Full Stop.

I remain bamboozled by the NTA's les than full comprehension of the Auto-Top-Up dilemma.

It's blindingly obvious tyhat the vast majority of Leap transactions will be Bus based....Ok ?

The same NTA in conjunction with the City Council,The Quality Bus Network Office,The Vatican et al are also in the midst of expanding the RTPI scheme which (SSssshhh....!) features fully functional connectivity to the Bus Network and thence after inserting 50c in the slot to the wonders of the Leap back-office.....

A small Reader-Pad,as in the Luas Taggers on each pole and voila....!

So Ted,we have some 500+ potential LeapCard Top-Up Poles which would at-a-stroke solve this very contentious issue as well as adding functionality to the greater system...

Why is it not being addressed...?

At a guess,the NTA section dealing with RTPI do not,on any regular basis,interact with the NTA section dealing with the ITS programme,who,in turn do not know where the LeapCard office is located or what exactly HP is,except perhaps on their beef n pickle sandwich at lunchtime....

It needs to be remembered that in spite of the grandiose titles of Integrated Ticketing Systems and the like,the opportunity to devise and implement "Integration" as a concept was ignored some 10 years ago at the outset of this little adventure.

This failure of comprehension at the very outset,has left the entire project with several Mount Everests to scale simultaneously,without Oxygen!!!

We need to stop thinking Oyster or Octopus here and most certainly stop looking at the TfL experience simply because the NTA,ITS and the Government looked at it and decided to kick that can far down the road...and we are still kicking it !!

[foggy_lad]

Reading about the auto top up feature which is "coming soon" like most things leap related and i cant help thinking that it will be useless for the purpose most people will want it for because it is so inflexible!

You may pick an amount to top up by either weekly or monthly afaik and that is it! you are not allowed change that amount or the frequency ever!

If you auto top up by €10 weekly and your commuting needs change you are not allowed to change your top up amount ever!

What cretins thought this up?

[markpb]

Originally Posted by Giblet

I'm going back to the weekly card as it works out the same price for 10 journeys a week, and if I need to use it Saturday or miss a tag-off, the leap card will end up costing more. A shame they couldn't integrate the weekly or monthly into the card sooner. Until then, I'll stick to the weekly.

The current card is a cash carrying card. It's not a replacement for daily, weekly, monthly, annual or 90 minute tickets. It's a way of putting cash on a card so you don't have to carry exact change for every bus trip.

Later on, you'll be able to put your DB weekly ticket on the Leap card and use cash for the Dart or Luas if you'd like. Later on, you'll be able to make whatever journeys you want and know that Leap will automatically stop charging you when you reach the same price as a weekly ticket.

Originally Posted by sham69

He then looks at me, I look at him, he looks at me, I look at him again until he says ok and then I take the card. I feel like a bit of a lemon as I never know how long to leave the card on the machine...

There's no way you could have known this but when you put the card down, it displays your balance on a single line. When the driver applies the ticket to your card, the display changes to show (I think) the amount deducted and your new balance (taking up two lines). When you see that, it's safe to remove your card.

[Giblet]

Originally Posted by Draupnir

How much cheaper is it?

Weekly is 16:40 for 2 zones on green,
2 zones on green * 10 (2 trips a day) = 17.50

[Seaswimmer]

Just to advise users that if you top up online and then dont use your card for 7 days then your credit card gets refunded with the top up. I know this is an infrequent occurence but it may catch some people out...

[starviewadams]

Would be handy if DB or NTA put up some instructional videos on Youtube or the Leap site of how to use the card on the bus,I'm getting fed up of using my card already because half the time I don't even know if my transaction at the right hand validator has gone through and I'm left standing there like a fecking eejit,usually the bus driver just confusedly waves me on.