marty Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Is it correct that the New Flyer 1000-series is the only bus with the transit card reader on the left side of the farebox? More specifically: where is the transit card reader located on the Nova and Nabi? I'm estimating the dwell time on these three buses and the New Flyer is about half a second faster to process transit cards than the other two buses. A more accessible location of the transit card reader could explain this result. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted August 1, 2007 Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 The 1000-series New Flyers and 500-series Optimas have the transit card reader on the left of the farebox. All older buses have the reader on the right. Additionally, the 6400-series Novas, 7500-series NABIs, and 1000-series New Flyers feature "Go Lanes" which relocate the smart card touch pad opposite the driver side to theoretically improve boarding times. (For clarity, the 800-series New Flyer hybrids have the exact same farebox configuration of the 1000-series diesels.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marty Posted August 1, 2007 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2007 Thanks, that answers my question! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusExpert32 Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Seriously, what is up with the transit card reader on the left side of the farebox on the 1000 New Flyers and 500 Optimas? For so many years it has been on the right side and now this sudden change, what for? I've even encountered a situation at Navy Pier on the #124 when a blind man got on and was sticking his transit card on the right side of the fare box of a New Flyer. The bus driver had to direct his hand into the correct position on the left. I even heard him say this has happened to him many times before. I felt so sorry for this poor guy in his embarrassing and tough situation. Then I stopped and thought about the CTA's stupid ideas. They didn't even make an announcement about the farebox change last year when the New Flyers came into the fleet. Wouldn't this be a problem for one who is blind? Yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geneking7320 Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Seriously, what is up with the transit card reader on the left side of the farebox on the 1000 New Flyers and 500 Optimas? For so many years it has been on the right side and now this sudden change, what for? I've even encountered a situation at Navy Pier on the #124 when a blind man got on and was sticking his transit card on the right side of the fare box of a New Flyer. The bus driver had to direct his hand into the correct position on the left. I even heard him say this has happened to him many times before. I felt so sorry for this poor guy in his embarrassing and tough situation. Then I stopped and thought about the CTA's stupid ideas. They didn't even make an announcement about the farebox change last year when the New Flyers came into the fleet. Wouldn't this be a problem for one who is blind? Yes! Don't shoot me but maybe the CTA should have changed to a different farebox model commencing with the New Flyers [1000's]. How about a farebox with a built in slot for passes. Gene King Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pace2322 Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 Just becasue cta gets new buses doent mean there going to get new farboxes. The ones in the new Flyers are the ones out of the flx or tmc that are going bye bye. Just think if u get 1000 buses and see how much more thta wolud coast cta. I know the boxes at pace and cta are about 20 years old. Also i do think that we need new ones at pace. But that will be a long long time before we see that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted August 27, 2007 Report Share Posted August 27, 2007 As the Auditor General's report stated, CTA has had proposals out for new fareboxes for several years, but never pulled the trigger. CTA now says that with increase in card usage, because of killing cash transfers and raising cash fares, it now doesn't need them. Pace piggy-backed on CTA's response, and now doesn't have the capital money to buy fareboxes. So, pace2322 is correct about that. CTA reused the fareboxes, but just moved the card reader to the other side, supposedly to speed boarding (like moving the Chicago Card readers to the Go Lane). I guess they didn't think about the blind, but maybe did think about the wheelchair riders. The original fareboxes do have a card slot across the top, but apparently the Cubic fare card system requires the slot to dip your card. As far as fare boxes are concerned, if I were to design a solution, it would be something like every bus having a mini-Fare Card vending machine, and the only thing near the driver would be the reader. However, I haven't worked out the kinks in that idea, as, for instance, it would still be necessary to empty the cash from the buses. It would also kill the idea of not issuing transfers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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