Ventra - Feedback and Updates

[BusHunter]

I had a first yesterday. I had a driver tell me not to touch/swipe the card again after it gave me the stop indication. That's probably what more operators need to do. All these delays in reading is making buses late.

I don't think these card read errors have to do with holding your card there until it gives a go signal. If it was thinking about it, the screen would freeze. When it wants a reswipe it would just go back to the blue screen. Once it says stop it has already decided whether it is accepting the card or not.

So jajuan, did you notice many stop indications with the processing indication? Does this solve the problem?

[Amtrak41]

"New CTA Ventra problems arise ‘every day’ — unlike live phone help"

http://www.suntimes.com/news/23480068-418/new-cta-ventra-problems-arise-every-day-unlike-live-phone-help.html

CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said “There’s never been a discussion to have call [representatives] on the weekend.”

[jajuan]

< some software programmer for Ventura may be scoping out the forum >

Programmers don't make the decision to put new or modified code into production.

In I-T, there is an elaborate "Change Manangement" process these days. It is in fact overkill, gunks up the works, and generates so much clerical work, that management is so far removed from the nitty-gritty, that we have disasterous rollouts of Ventra and Obamacare, while problems don't get solved.

Once again, this and Obamacare are apples and oranges in terms of how the solutions were being tackled.

[jajuan]

I had a first yesterday. I had a driver tell me not to touch/swipe the card again after it gave me the stop indication. That's probably what more operators need to do. All these delays in reading is making buses late.

I don't think these card read errors have to do with holding your card there until it gives a go signal. If it was thinking about it, the screen would freeze. When it wants a reswipe it would just go back to the blue screen. Once it says stop it has already decided whether it is accepting the card or not.

So jajuan, did you notice many stop indications with the processing indication? Does this solve the problem?

Actually no I didn't notice even one stop signal today. Things went relatively smoother for all Ventra riders I observed today.

[Amtrak41]

< Once again, this and Obamacare are apples and oranges in terms of how the solutions were being tackled.>

What is not apples and oranges is the complete disconnect between upper mgmt and business owners with the programmers as to what is ready for prime time. I am sure no technician in either app is the least bit surprised these systems don't work right.

[BiT]

"New CTA Ventra problems arise ‘every day’ — unlike live phone help"

http://www.suntimes.com/news/23480068-418/new-cta-ventra-problems-arise-every-day-unlike-live-phone-help.html

CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said “There’s never been a discussion to have call [representatives] on the weekend.”

That's no way to run a railroad.

[jajuan]

< Once again, this and Obamacare are apples and oranges in terms of how the solutions were being tackled.>

What is not apples and oranges is the complete disconnect between upper mgmt and business owners with the programmers as to what is ready for prime time. I am sure no technician in either app is the least bit surprised these systems don't work right.

Still apples and oranges because we're talking about a system for which the intent was to take traffic from all across the country with a more complicated set of criteria to meet and one only really meant primarily to serve one city and its surrounding suburbs. And as I mentioned before, the federal government can at least say it had contingencies in place. The state websites for the most part were working and the phone agents provided a vastly better experience for intended customers than the phone agents working the Ventra rollout. Anyway the topic at hand is Ventra not rollout of Obamacare at the federal level.

[jajuan]

One thing I forgot to add BusHunter in response to your question is that one drawback I did notice is that if the person ahead of you is still in the process of paying a cash fare or swiping a mag stripe card, the Ventra reader will keep saying processing until that other person's payment is complete before it tells you if your Ventra card went through. Before the tweak to the software, it was possible for you to tap your Ventra card and take your seat while that cash customer in front of you was still fumbling for change.

[Kevin]

The readers also now say "Tap Below" instead of "Tap Card".

https://twitter.com/240front/status/396724971004645376

Here's a shot of the new "Processing" screen.

https://twitter.com/240front/status/396725582257340416

No improvements for reliability, apparently.

https://twitter.com/240front/status/396726504651907072

[jajuan]

Hmmm I didn't even notice the screens now say "Tap below".

[Busjack]

In reading all this, it seems that the Class Action lawsuit has been forgotten: lots of gripes but no wanting to join the suit.

I'm attaching the Plaintiff's Motion. Take a quick read over it and see if anyone has experienced similar problems.Plaintiff's Motion for class certification_Pleading.pdf

Like, I'm no lawyer, but all of the stories in the Trib and Sun Times yesterday saying people were being double, triple, quadruple billed for one fare- doesn't this sort of prove the allegations?

Stuff like this takes time. It is questionable whether the defendants have been served yet. Then they get 30 days to answer.

Also, a class action is the opposite of what you think. Other aggrieved parties get notice whether they want to opt out, not that they have to join.

As I noted earlier, the Ventra records are going to be audited, either because CTA said it eventually will, or because the plaintiff's attorney is entitled to discovery of them.

[Busjack]

"New CTA Ventra problems arise ‘every day’ — unlike live phone help"

http://www.suntimes.com/news/23480068-418/new-cta-ventra-problems-arise-every-day-unlike-live-phone-help.html

CTA spokeswoman Tammy Chase said “There’s never been a discussion to have call [representatives] on the weekend.”

When the company where I used to work was taken over, the first thing they said was "we can't limit customer service to 9 to 5 Eastern time, but have to have it when the customers need it." That was over 20 years ago.

The article also raises the issue that if the call centers are in California and Tennessee (but at least not in Mumbai), there weren't any jobs created in Illinois, even though CTA urinated away $450 million on this. Pat Quinn won't be happy.

And his appointee Jackie Grimshaw is again clueless. Why is she on the CTA Board, if she didn't know about the Lincoln cutback until too late, and didn't know anything about Cubic's performance of the contract?

Finally, why hasn't Tammy Chase been fired already? Her b.s. to the media isn't helping.

[sw4400]

Ok, let's lighten the tone of this thread here for a minute... I found this great pic of two transit enthusiasts(or two people just wanting to dress up for Halloween and couldn't figure what to be) on the people of the CTA site. Anyhow, it's interesting because of the caption "Who Wins This Fight?" with one dressed as a disposable CTA Transit Card and the other as a Ventra Card. Share your thoughts. This is just a little icebreaker here. Something to lighten things a bit...

Who Wins This Fight?

[Busjack]

....

Who Wins This Fight?

Who is paying off the ref?

[jajuan]

Ok, let's lighten the tone of this thread here for a minute... I found this great pic of two transit enthusiasts(or two people just wanting to dress up for Halloween and couldn't figure what to be) on the people of the CTA site. Anyhow, it's interesting because of the caption "Who Wins This Fight?" with one dressed as a disposable CTA Transit Card and the other as a Ventra Card. Share your thoughts. This is just a little icebreaker here. Something to lighten things a bit...

Who Wins This Fight?

Apparently your post didn't work on one so far.

[owine]

Glad to see the processing overlay added to the Ventra readers. I think that will go a long way.

[owine]

Stuff like this takes time. It is questionable whether the defendants have been served yet. Then they get 30 days to answer.

Also, a class action is the opposite of what you think. Other aggrieved parties get notice whether they want to opt out, not that they have to join.

As I noted earlier, the Ventra records are going to be audited, either because CTA said it eventually will, or because the plaintiff's attorney is entitled to discovery of them.

Maybe we should wait for a judge to certify this as a class action suit?

[owine]

Ok, let's lighten the tone of this thread here for a minute... I found this great pic of two transit enthusiasts(or two people just wanting to dress up for Halloween and couldn't figure what to be) on the people of the CTA site. Anyhow, it's interesting because of the caption "Who Wins This Fight?" with one dressed as a disposable CTA Transit Card and the other as a Ventra Card. Share your thoughts. This is just a little icebreaker here. Something to lighten things a bit...

Who Wins This Fight?

If Ventra can stay in the fight until December, it will win by default. And those earrings might make the transit card top heavy and vulnerable.

[Busjack]

WGN TV news just had that "Emanuel is going to put the heat under the Ventra contractor." (earlier story). I bet they are quaking in their boots, now.

[sw4400]

I'm not going to be a Chicagoianrazzi, but I was waiting for a Brown Line train at Kedzie and noticed again, what I saw in the past.

-I noticed a male passenger quick tap his Ventra Card at the turnstile only to get the "STOP" screen. He quick tapped again... "STOP". On the third time, he tapped and held there for about three seconds... "GO". Was he double or triple-charged because of this??? Only this customer will know when he checks his account. This, to me, seems to be the biggest issue with Ventra... customers need to know how to use the card properly. It's fast, but not wave and go fast. A lot of people think that it takes a half second to one second and they're done with the card. Even a #78 Bus Operator said that many quick tap and head to the back, only to get the "STOP" screen and the Operator has to yell for them to come back up and try again. Three seconds is not that long... that's pretty fast!!! It takes about five seconds to process a Debit/Credit order on the registers and about ten to twelve seconds to process a personal check(provided info updates and issues don't arise). I wish it only took three seconds to process Credit/Debit and Check orders at the store... we'd be faster than our competition!!!

Bottom line from my observations... Ventra is only as difficult as you, the customer, make it.

[Chicagolooper]

As a follow-up to my post of 1 Nov. (#905) where I indicated that someone would be getting back to me to address my refund issue:

This morning, I did receive a call from Ventra Customer Service and the person was very polite and patient. She verified my account information and indicated that a credit would be applied to my account. I checked just now.....and there it is.

So I am happy. I will be very careful when tapping the card going forward and not so quickly move to another machine to tap.

[Busjack]

...

Bottom line from my observations... Ventra is only as difficult as you, the customer, make it.

Read above what Emanuel just said.

I'm sure Safeway didn't get away with having that attitude of its customers. Ask about the 8000 about to be laid off.

[sw4400]

Read above what Emanuel just said.

I'm sure Safeway didn't get away with having that attitude of its customers. Ask about the 8000 about to be laid off.

Local 881 is working on this. Three stores are slated to become Jewel or Jewel-Osco. Those employees in those three stores will be changed over from Dominick's to Jewel... like the one employee said "I'll get a different shirt to wear." The others that will be closed down(btw, before Christmas, so there's a nice present for those affected), I'm sure they'll find places for them in the three stores being transformed, move them to other Jewel stores, or another buyer will transfer them over to their employees. There's three possibilities. I don't think it'll just be "severance package and have a nice life."

[Busjack]

Local 881 is working on this. Three stores are slated to become Jewel or Jewel-Osco. Those employees in those three stores will be changed over from Dominick's to Jewel... like the one employee said "I'll get a different shirt to wear." The others that will be closed down(btw, before Christmas, so there's a nice present for those affected), I'm sure they'll find places for them in the three stores being transformed, move them to other Jewel stores, or another buyer will transfer them over to their employees. There's three possibilities. I don't think it'll just be "severance package and have a nice life."

That is OT, but I have a neighborhood Dominick's store (I knew that was in trouble when it became a subject of a Walmart attack ad), that I don't think anyone is going to buy. The usual subjects already have stores in the area. I wonder if anyone picked up the closed Jewel store across from the Walmart on Golf Rd.

But my point was...if you assume it is the customers' fault, you go out of business...that is unless your customers are stuck with CTA as their only alternative. Then Tammy Chase and Brian Steele think it is o.k. to be stuck on the phone for a half hour, but apparently their ultimate boss doesn't think so.

[Rippler]

I'm not going to be a Chicagoianrazzi, but I was waiting for a Brown Line train at Kedzie and noticed again, what I saw in the past.

-I noticed a male passenger quick tap his Ventra Card at the turnstile only to get the "STOP" screen. He quick tapped again... "STOP". On the third time, he tapped and held there for about three seconds... "GO". Was he double or triple-charged because of this??? Only this customer will know when he checks his account. This, to me, seems to be the biggest issue with Ventra... customers need to know how to use the card properly. It's fast, but not wave and go fast. A lot of people think that it takes a half second to one second and they're done with the card. Even a #78 Bus Operator said that many quick tap and head to the back, only to get the "STOP" screen and the Operator has to yell for them to come back up and try again. Three seconds is not that long... that's pretty fast!!! It takes about five seconds to process a Debit/Credit order on the registers and about ten to twelve seconds to process a personal check(provided info updates and issues don't arise). I wish it only took three seconds to process Credit/Debit and Check orders at the store... we'd be faster than our competition!!!

Bottom line from my observations... Ventra is only as difficult as you, the customer, make it.

Would anyone expect a "new and improved" system to be slower than what they've been using for many years with the current Chicago Cards/Plus? I sure wouldn't. Using my old card triggered a near instantaneous green "enter" when I quickly touched my card to the front of the turnstyle and kept moving, you didn't even have to stop for it, just keep walking through the turnstyle while you touched the card to the front.

Now apparently you need to stand there for a few seconds holding the card in position. It doesn't make sense why it would be slower. And if they don't give you those specific instructions when they send or sell you a card, why would anyone expect the use of the card to be any different than before?

We should be able to do a quick tap, get a quick response, and go.