Ventra - Bugs, Feedback, and Questions

[Pace831]

41 minutes ago, Busjack said:

 

That doesn't answer the question. The question is why it racked up a transfer, if there was no farecard tap on the cross platform transfer.

However, I don't think it was as verive's friend said either, as it usually doesn't take 1 hour and 31 minutes to get from Diversey to Fullerton.

Also, since he or she is on a U Pass, it doesn't matter.

If that doesn't answer the question then what does? To clarify, this is what I think happened. Verive's roommate took a trip on the Brown line from Diversey to Fullerton, then returned within two hours. For whatever reason, verive thought he made a cross platform transfer to the Red line, when in fact he left the station then tapped his card for the return trip. My previous post supports that theory, which seems to be the same as what you figured.

[Busjack]

33 minutes ago, Pace831 said:

If that doesn't answer the question then what does? To clarify, this is what I think happened. Verive's roommate took a trip on the Brown line from Diversey to Fullerton, then returned within two hours. For whatever reason, verive thought he made a cross platform transfer to the Red line, when in fact he left the station then tapped his card for the return trip. My previous post supports that theory, which seems to be the same as what you figured.

That's possible, but I don't think someone would take the train to go 4 blocks. But, in any event, verive would need to ask the roommate what happened, as a cross platform transfer doesn't seem like that, as we both seem to agree.

[verive.m]

2 hours ago, Pace831 said:

If that doesn't answer the question then what does? To clarify, this is what I think happened. Verive's roommate took a trip on the Brown line from Diversey to Fullerton, then returned within two hours. For whatever reason, verive thought he made a cross platform transfer to the Red line, when in fact he left the station then tapped his card for the return trip. My previous post supports that theory, which seems to be the same as what you figured.

That's indeed what happened - I was confused, as was he, as we didn't pay attention to the timestamps. I didn't realize that transfers had up to two hours, I thought it was closer to half an hour!

 

2 hours ago, Busjack said:

That's possible, but I don't think someone would take the train to go 4 blocks. But, in any event, verive would need to ask the roommate what happened, as a cross platform transfer doesn't seem like that, as we both seem to agree.

1. My roommate is very, very lazy at times.
2. We both like to use the U-Pass for whatever we can get out of it

[strictures]

It appears that Cubic has finally realized they're never going to find another sucker for the wretched Ventra technology & CTA will be the only system dumb enough to have bought it.

Cubic has agreed to let Transport For London use the Oyster Card technology worldwide. TFL will get a licensing fee for any city that uses Oyster.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/london-contactless-oyster-card-replace-metrocard-article-1.2711096

[Busjack]

38 minutes ago, strictures said:

It appears that Cubic has finally realized they're never going to find another sucker for the wretched Ventra technology & CTA will be the only system dumb enough to have bought it.

Cubic has agreed to let Transport For London use the Oyster Card technology worldwide. TFL will get a licensing fee for any city that uses Oyster.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/london-contactless-oyster-card-replace-metrocard-article-1.2711096

The article does not make clear what this brings to the table. Cubic's press release and the Daily News article indicate that it developed the Oyster Card, and the press release lists other cities that have Cubic technology. Note that Ventra is not a technology, but a trade name for the CTA-Cubic corroboration.

The notable thing in your link is that NY "expects to retire the MetroCard by 2022." Contrast that to CTA saying its technology was unavailable in 2011, but maybe the issue is that MTA never went to something like Chicago Card.

[jajuan]

Yesterday's Tribune mentions that the Ventra app has reached the 1 million download threshold. It says that about $110 million in fares across the transit boards have been purchased since the November 2015 launch. Plus Metra's Executive Chairman/CEO Don Orseno says that the app now accounts for almost a quarter of Metra's ticket sales. 

[artthouwill]

Recently I  had to ride Metra from the western suburbs to downtown, thinking I could pay with my Ventra card.   Just before the train arrived I found out Metra still can't  accept  Ventura cards on board.  I had to download the Ventra App on my phone.  First I entered  my Ventura Card info to pay for a mobile ticket but it wouldn't  take.  I then entered  a debit card to purchase a  mobile ticket.  I suppose to use the Ventura Card for payment  on the Ventura App it must be set up as a debit card.  Is that correct?  I thought the law was supposed to  make using Ventura on Metra  as seamless as using it on CTA  and Pace.  Not. 

[Busjack]

But, no, the only interaction is that transit value can be loaded into the app.

[MetroShadow]

Yeah. You have to pay fares from credit card to the app, not credit card to Ventra Card to tag on. They aren’t there yet. 

[artthouwill]

Pretty ironic to have a Ventura App that you can't  use a Ventura Card for.  Metra could've done  a mobile ticketing  app otself if that's the  case.

I thought  there was a law passed  that required all 3 transit boards to use a system where a passenger  could use a fare medium to pay for riders  on all 3 systems.  

[Busjack]

3 hours ago, artthouwill said:

Pretty ironic to have a Ventura App that you can't  use a Ventura Card for.  Metra could've done  a mobile ticketing  app otself if that's the  case.

I thought  there was a law passed  that required all 3 transit boards to use a system where a passenger  could use a fare medium to pay for riders  on all 3 systems.  

There was, but nothing indicated that it had to be the Ventra card. If nothing else, the argument could be made that CTA is violating the law by not using the app and the near field communication (but that wouldn't hold up because the law was written after CTA implemented the system to force Metra to do something)..

The only way a card would work is if the conductors had an electronic device to read the cards. As the Minneapolis example shows (although when last discussed, it was in connection with mag stripe cards) you would need a TVM to sell each zone of tickets, similar to what used to be on the ME, and in the Ventra case, encode on your account that you purchased a 1 ride or monthly from Zone F to Zone C (for instance, and all other combinations). Metra (based on NICTD technology) decided that your phone was your TVM, as well as a ticket.

Ventra is just a brand or service mark, sort of like how Jewel Milk became Lucerne Dairy Farms and then Jewel Milk.

[busfan2847]

On 9/20/2017 at 6:06 AM, artthouwill said:

Recently I  had to ride Metra from the western suburbs to downtown, thinking I could pay with my Ventra card.   Just before the train arrived I found out Metra still can't  accept  Ventura cards on board.  I had to download the Ventra App on my phone.  First I entered  my Ventura Card info to pay for a mobile ticket but it wouldn't  take.  I then entered  a debit card to purchase a  mobile ticket.  I suppose to use the Ventura Card for payment  on the Ventura App it must be set up as a debit card.  Is that correct?  I thought the law was supposed to  make using Ventura on Metra  as seamless as using it on CTA  and Pace.  Not. 

Ventra cards can be used to pay for Metra fares on the Ventra App from transit value. You do not need to have the Ventra card set up as a debit card. I have used mine several times.

[Busjack]

10 hours ago, busfan2847 said:

Ventra cards can be used to pay for Metra fares on the Ventra App from transit value. You do not need to have the Ventra card set up as a debit card. I have used mine several times.

True.

BTW, as has been pointed out:

• The only value the Ventra app has on CTA and Pace is that you can see your account and add transit value just as on the website. The app has the additional benefit on Metra that you can use that transit value to generate a ticket, although it also takes a credit or debit card account number. It appears that while having a Ventra account is not mandatory, it is if you want to protect your ticket.
• The last thing anyone should do (and including after a psychiatric examination) is to use the debt card portion of the Ventra card. Metra only justified it as saying that it met the law that there be a universal fare medium, but that was to buy paper tickets.

Anyway, Metra's explanation of how to use the app is here.

A couple of other things that points out:

• Buy your ticket before you board the train, because there might not be a signal along the tracks (I find that pretty unlikely, because the towers are usually on ROW).
• (As someone else mentioned) The phone has to be charged for the conductor to see the ticket.

[artthouwill]

7 hours ago, Busjack said:

True.

BTW, as has been pointed out:

• The only value the Ventra app has on CTA and Pace is that you can see your account and add transit value just as on the website. The app has the additional benefit on Metra that you can use that transit value to generate a ticket, although it also takes a credit or debit card account number. It appears that while having a Ventra account is not mandatory, it is if you want to protect your ticket.
• The last thing anyone should do (and including after a psychiatric examination) is to use the debt card portion of the Ventra card. Metra only justified it as saying that it met the law that there be a universal fare medium, but that was to buy paper tickets.

Anyway, Metra's explanation of how to use the app is here.

A couple of other things that points out:

• Buy your ticket before you board the train, because there might not be a signal along the tracks (I find that pretty unlikely, because the towers are usually on ROW).
• (As someone else mentioned) The phone has to be charged for the conductor to see the ticket.

I put the Ventura Card on the app with the intent of paying my fare with the Ventura Card but it didn't  take.  Perhaps  that was because I had to create a second account because I couldn't  remember my original info.  I guess one card can't be on 2 email accounts

[Busjack]

On 9/22/2017 at 3:51 PM, artthouwill said:

I put the Ventura Card on the app with the intent of paying my fare with the Ventura Card but it didn't  take.  Perhaps  that was because I had to create a second account because I couldn't  remember my original info.  I guess one card can't be on 2 email accounts

One, how about spelling it correctly?

Two, you are correct that a card can only be registered once. I found it out when I got a senior card, opened a Ventra account, and then tried to register it to that account, and got the message that the card was already registered (I mentioned it before). A Ventra representative had to redo the registration process. If you don't recall the account name under which you originally registered the card, you'll have to call the Ventra representative, too. 

[artthouwill]

8 minutes ago, Busjack said:

One, how about spelling it correctly?

Two, you are correct that a card can only be registered once. I found it out when I got a senior card, opened a Ventra account, and then tried to register it to that account, and got the message that the card was already registered (I mentioned it before). A Ventra representative had to redo the registration process. If you don't recall the account name under which you originally registered the card, you'll have to call the Ventra representative, too.  Since the representative's number is 1.877.NOW.VENTRA, I hope you don't have problems keying it on your phone.

My phone  thinks it's smart.  I type Ventra and sometimes it auto "corrects" to Ventura  and I need to do a better proofing before hitting submit.

[Busjack]

19 hours ago, artthouwill said:

My phone  thinks it's smart.  I type Ventra and sometimes it auto "corrects" to Ventura  and I need to do a better proofing before hitting submit.

I basically turned off all the autocomplete and autocorrect settings on my tablet. I'll let it make suggestions on the wrap on top of the keyboard, but not in the document.

[richii0909]

On the metra as I type this and it appears the Ventra app will not sync or log in. Conductor was baffled saying well there’s work must be your phone. I then told the conductor that perhaps their tickets were stored in advanced. Any hoot a lot of people having issues with Ventra. I twittered Ventra and Metra to get an official response. Here what happens... the app kicks you out completely and hangs at syncing although there is no networking issues.

[trainman8119]

I had problems. I was signed in but couldn't buy anything nor add payment info.

I eventually logged out of the app and upon logging back in, problem was solved.

For what it is worth...I hate the damn thing !!

[garmon757]

Recent posts have been moved to this topic due to two duplicate topics. Carry on. 

[Tcmetro]

Ventra says all the cards they have issued will begin to expire from 12/31/2017 to 2022. Supposedly the next round of Ventra cards will not have the Mastercard/prepaid-debit function and will have a 20 year life. 

https://www.ventrachicago.com/expires/

[Busjack]

38 minutes ago, Tcmetro said:

Ventra says all the cards they have issued will begin to expire from 12/31/2017 to 2022. Supposedly the next round of Ventra cards will not have the Mastercard/prepaid-debit function and will have a 20 year life. 

https://www.ventrachicago.com/expires/

Thing that surprises me is that CTA is giving up the big MetaBank commissions, which must mean that there weren't any.

The other warning is that if the card isn't registered, the balance doesn't carry over, and certain passes can't be purchased, so people should register their cards.

The RTA cards, while not having the debit card, currently have an expiration date.

[pudgym29]

When in Japan back in September for the Blue Note Jazz Festival, I finally took the plunge and bought a PASMO stored value card. The English-language instructions for obtaining one from a station machine were quite clear. I was able to classify it as a personalized PASMO card, for which a Japanese railway operator has my name and a valid e-mail address associated.

I'm posting this in this thread because, after putting in a cash amount for the card, each time I tapped the card to a train station wicket, it showed the remaining value on the card.

With a Ventra card, when you touch the card to the reader, it shows only "Go" or "Stop" [insufficient value]. A software update should be implemented that would reveal the remaining value on the Ventra card, so that a rider could swiftly learn how much was left. (This would also reveal when a perceived second transfer occurred beyond the two hours allocated for it.)

[Busjack]

13 minutes ago, pudgym29 said:

I'm posting this in this thread because, after putting in a cash amount for the card, each time I tapped the card to a train station wicket, it showed the remaining value on the card.

The question is whether it did it in a sufficiently private manner, as we know in Chicago that a display that would be visible to those following you will induce someone to steal your card, if it showed sufficient value left. The alternative here, of course, is to use the Ventra App to see your account balance.

[artthouwill]

10 hours ago, pudgym29 said:

When in Japan back in September for the Blue Note Jazz Festival, I finally took the plunge and bought a PASMO stored value card. The English-language instructions for obtaining one from a station machine were quite clear. I was able to classify it as a personalized PASMO card, for which a Japanese railway operator has my name and a valid e-mail address associated.

I'm posting this in this thread because, after putting in a cash amount for the card, each time I tapped the card to a train station wicket, it showed the remaining value on the card.

With a Ventra card, when you touch the card to the reader, it shows only "Go" or "Stop" [insufficient value]. A software update should be implemented that would reveal the remaining value on the Ventra card, so that a rider could swiftly learn how much was left. (This would also reveal when a perceived second transfer occurred beyond the two hours allocated for it.)

There are Ventra vending machines at each rail station.  They allow the option to check your remaining balance by choosing the Transit Account Summary option.  If you need to add value, you can do it right then and there.  

On buses you can ask the driver to check your balance BEFORE flapping the card.  He/she Will press a button on the farebox and then you can tap your card.  They will tell you your balance.

.