Dublin Bus Ticket Machines.

yoyo

Got on the bus this morning, had one journey left on my 3.20 2 journey ticket, machine went beep beep (Invalid ) , I hand it to bus driver, he takes it, doesnt even look at me or say anything just throws it away and I get on, this is quite a regular occurance on the brilliant dublin bus I know and I'm just wondering is anything ever going to be done about it? I remember having a monthly bus ticket and after day one the thing never validated! But its frequently happening now with the 2 journey yokes and is annoying (Considering you pay for them and you should be entitled to having them work properly).

Any one else got this expierience? Should we not be entitled to having stuff work constantly on dublin bus (Too much to ask for i know ), because I was just thinking on the way into town today when it happened, what happened if a inspector got on, I didnt have a ticket to prove I paid, even though I did

Nick

bryanw

Yeh I know what you mean. I would normally get a monthly bus and rail ticket. The odd time it might beep but it would be ok afterwards.

But the last one I got, I think the first week, it stopped working. I think the machine must have erased the magnetic strip on it or something - didn't work for the rest of the month. Its pretty annoying. Especially in the DART station late in the evening and there might not be anyone there. The how do you get through the turnstile.

yoyo

bryanw wrote: »

Yeh I know what you mean. I would normally get a monthly bus and rail ticket. The odd time it might beep but it would be ok afterwards.

But the last one I got, I think the first week, it stopped working. I think the machine must have erased the magnetic strip on it or something - didn't work for the rest of the month. Its pretty annoying. Especially in the DART station late in the evening and there might not be anyone there. The how do you get through the turnstile.

So the Dart suffers for the same wonderful technology too More worrying you could get stuck in a dart station if theres no one around to help you through if the ticket "goes bad", making you have to hop the barrier

Nick

John R

What should be done about it is the mag stripe ticket readers having been replaced with integrated season and pay as you go smartcards...

John R

bryanw wrote: »

Yeh I know what you mean. I would normally get a monthly bus and rail ticket. The odd time it might beep but it would be ok afterwards.

But the last one I got, I think the first week, it stopped working. I think the machine must have erased the magnetic strip on it or something - didn't work for the rest of the month. Its pretty annoying. Especially in the DART station late in the evening and there might not be anyone there. The how do you get through the turnstile.

At times when stations are unstaffed the turnstiles are locked out of the reach of vandals and side gates left open so you don't need a ticket to get out.

marceldesailly

Happened me the other week after one journey on my bus and luas weekly on every single bus...very annoying indeed! Rail tickets have never been a problem for me though.

John R wrote: »

What should be done about it is the mag stripe ticket readers having been replaced with integrated season and pay as you go smartcards...

Isnt a bus and rail ticket not an integrated ticket?

WexCan

John R wrote: »

At times when stations are unstaffed the turnstiles are locked out of the reach of vandals and side gates left open so you don't need a ticket to get out.

Seems to be the case in most stations. Anywhere you need to go through a turnstile at silly o'clock there's usually someone about.

meanmachine3

in the case of a 2 journey ticket where there is only one journey left. the driver is supposed to rip the ticket in half and hand one half back to you.
i'll ask the following question to yoyo
is it possible that you could have used your 2 journeys already but on your ticket is was VISIBLY showing one as being used.
this is a very common occurance where the validator runs out of ink but a closer look will show up a mark / imprint of some sort.
alot of people dont realise this till it's pointed out to them.
it happens all the time on the route i drive.
while your on the subject of tickets, there is also a problem where a brand new one day rambler take out of a packet shows up expired. just show the driver this and in most cases he will sign the date for you.

Victor

Sometimes it is the passenger has done something to the ticket, whether its bent, been zapped by an electronic / magnetic source or some such.

WexCan wrote: »

Seems to be the case in most stations. Anywhere you need to go through a turnstile at silly o'clock there's usually someone about.

Surely you mean zero dark hundred?

steveland?

The most annoying thing that happened to me with a ticket machine was day one of using a bus and luas monthly card an inspector got on the bus and actually CLIPPED my ticket...

It left a "hanging chad" as they called them in some election which meant it got stuck in the machine every single day for the next month, even after I'd torn off the little bit hanging off. I really don't get clipping the monthly tickets because the thing clearly shows the valid to and from dates...

The best thing that happened though was one of them didn't print properly, annoying me for a long time because if the machine didn't work I'd have to point it out to the bus driver that the dates were there only very, very faint. However coincidentally near the end of that month a machine decided it was a new ticket and printed new dates on the card which completely covered up the faint dates already there. It also seemed to make the magnetic strip think it was a new ticket too and it worked for another month (hey I was a broke student )

Why don't they just get some of those swipe card things like they do at LUAS stations? Maybe start issuing cards with magnetic strips and the swipe things and only put swipes on the newer busses, eventually phasing out the magnetic strips.

Would make a lot more sense convenience wise and also people could "top-up" their tickets like they can at the moment for the LUAS

Victor

steveland? wrote: »

Why don't they just get some of those swipe card things like they do at LUAS stations? Maybe start issuing cards with magnetic strips and the swipe things and only put swipes on the newer busses, eventually phasing out the magnetic strips.

They are working on this - thats what the black box under the card reader is for.

yoyo

meanmachine3 wrote: »

in the case of a 2 journey ticket where there is only one journey left. the driver is supposed to rip the ticket in half and hand one half back to you.
i'll ask the following question to yoyo
is it possible that you could have used your 2 journeys already but on your ticket is was VISIBLY showing one as being used.
this is a very common occurance where the validator runs out of ink but a closer look will show up a mark / imprint of some sort.
alot of people dont realise this till it's pointed out to them.
it happens all the time on the route i drive.
while your on the subject of tickets, there is also a problem where a brand new one day rambler take out of a packet shows up expired. just show the driver this and in most cases he will sign the date for you.

I had bought the ticket on monday in spar on camden st and used up one journey going home, I then used it (My second journey) going in this morning where it wouldnt validate, oddly it did only have a slight ink mark on the top strip iirc, but it still 99.99% sure it had another journey left! I've come accross times where the driver will rip the card (Or if its only new the driver hand writes a date on the ticket) but the driver just taking the card happens allot too, its not the first time its happened.

About the minding tickets thing, i always keep the tickets in a plastic dublin bus official yoke I got in the SU shop and I dont bend, mess with the tickets, I only use them going on and off, Victor, I'll have to look out for a black box thing, but I think us unfortunate 16/16a peeps have the oldest of buses serving us mostly so their probably not up to date!

Nick

John R

yoyo wrote: »

Victor, I'll have to look out for a black box thing, but I think us unfortunate 16/16a peeps have the oldest of buses serving us mostly so their probably not up to date!

Every single bus in the fleet has two contactless smartcard readers on board.

One is a small black box on the same pole as the mag card reader, the other is the pad on top of the driver's ticket machine.

These have been installed and ready for almost 2 years now. They are not being used because the RPA has failed to implement the ticketing system they have spent millions of taxpayers money on developing and the DOT have refused Dublin Bus permission to issue their own bus-only smartcards to be used until the integrated scheme is ready.

yoyo

John R wrote: »

Every single bus in the fleet has two contactless smartcard readers on board.

One is a small black box on the same pole as the mag card reader, the other is the pad on top of the driver's ticket machine.

These have been installed and ready for almost 2 years now. They are not being used because the RPA has failed to implement the ticketing system they have spent millions of taxpayers money on developing and the DOT have refused Dublin Bus permission to issue their own bus-only smartcards to be used until the integrated scheme is ready.

Well, I've never noticed them, will look out tomorow . Also dont see the reason they would install a seperate smart card reader on the ticket machine, I thought the whole idea of the pre paid cards is you can board the bus without having to queue behind the people routing around for coins, but being this country I suppose its hardly supriseing.
Feel quite sorry for the bus drivers with all this stuff, the tickets should work fine to begin with, or have a alternative if the current system isnt working, I just dont understand it really...

Nick

dub_commuter

They shouldn't take the ticket off you, they should do what meanmachine does, although I hae seen what you describe often on the 38/39.

WexCan

Were the smart card reader-yokeys installed at the same time as the new ticket machines? The new machines in general must have cost an arm and a leg.

jimmycrackcorm

I've a smartcard for the circle line bus that's issued by the RPA. V. handy.

patrickc

I've an annual dub bus/luas ticket, always keep it in mydublin bus pouch, last year with 3 months to go it became unreadbale, this year on day 2 the same happened, they changed it though and working since

meanmachine3

meanmachine3 wrote: »

while your on the subject of tickets, there is also a problem where a brand new one day rambler take out of a packet shows up expired. just show the driver this and in most cases he will sign the date for you.

That happened to me with a Travel 90 last Sunday when boarding a 3. The machine reported "See Driver." He just wrote the date and time on it by hand.