Special Control Group
I'm currently part of the beta test for Smartrider, which is the replacement for the antequated multirider system. I just got my card today, so of course I went for a ride to test it.
What can I say? It works. In fact it seems to work well. I like it. I did encounter one possible bug however. My ride home cost me $1.11, which is a little odd. On the old system it would cost me $2 if paying cash or a maginally reduced amount if using a multirider. Now, it is possible that the $1.11 fare is correct. It may not be bogus. The Smartrider literature says that the system will automagically calculate the cheapest fare for the journey. Most of my trip home was through the free transit zone so it may not have counted that. Even if it isn't bogus it's still a very odd amount.
Anyway, I expect I'll be travelling around quite a bit over the next couple of weeks of the trial. Lots of long journeys. See, while the card cost me $10 and I had to put at least another $10 on the card it all gets refunded at the end of the trial. So, I'm riding for free. Proving that I am a very smart rider indeed. Your tax dollars at work.
UPDATE: As Azza-bazoo correctly points out in the comments the $1.11 comes from a 2 section ticket at a 15% discount. Subsequent testing has confirmed that the fare for riding over that distance remains consistent. So, it's all good so far.
1 comment:
Not sure if this explains your fare, but from what I'm told:
1. SR will give you the cheapest fare you can get away with. For example if you take a three zone journey but change buses/trains in the second zone, it'll only charge you for two zones because the longest distance you've travelled in any one step is two zones.
2. If you're entitled to the 25% or 15% discount, it'll be deducted as you go rather than before or after a bunch of trips.
So if all of your trip(s) were less than a zone, it might have charged you a two-section ticket, and ...
standard two section - 15% = 1.105
Ways to tell I should be doing more important stuff, number 435: writing hundred-word speculative essays about bus fares ;-)
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