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Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

iliana.fyi

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Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#121

Post by BHSPitMonkey »

k8svet wrote: post #4

Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…

The reason they replaced all the Orca card terminals last year (and issued a new generation of cards) was, in part, to support NFC through the wallet apps. It's been a multi-year migration.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#122

Post by seanmcdirmid »

k8svet wrote: post #4

Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…

This, really this. Since Washington state doesn’t have an E driver license yet (like say Utah), I carry around three cards in my iPhone (orca, DL, a backup credit card just in case NFC isn’t supported). I dream of the day when orca actually supports a phone based IC card, and a phone based DL is accepted as well.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#123

Post by seanmcdirmid »

ghaff wrote: post #67
skykooler wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This sort of system is really nice for visitors, tourists etc., though.

For a city you don't visit often--especially if you're going to a bunch of cities on the trip--dealing with transit apps/cards/etc. that are specific to the city is a royal pain. I'm fine if it's a city I visit regularly--I have an Oyster card for London that I've had for a number of years. In general, though, I'd rather default to using a credit card.

In Japan at least, IC cards seem to be accepted at most cities in the country. Eg you can get a suica card (on your phone) and use it in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Not to mention at 7-11 and most vending machines.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#124

Post by Kye »

themadturk wrote: post #115
Kye wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you point to where you found this measurement? This is the first I've heard of it.

Seattle got rid of its downtown core free ride area in part because of disruptive and illegal behavior by riders.

Analemma_'s comment made it sound like some broad and well-studied thing. All I've seen is mention of a single city. This is not remotely enough to support the claim.

My claim was based on skimming an article that said fares ranged from about 10 to 50% of funding and I speculated that most probably tended toward 10% since most are small, and small ones depend on federal funding, special purpose taxes (Georgia has a lot of SPLOST[0] projects), and partnerships.

Smaller systems suffer from low ridership and might see more benefit from dropping fares. A full bus and an empty bus cost about as much to run, but a system of full buses is easier to bolster and improve because more people will support it.

And I don't see why this would be connected to behavior on buses and trains. Where is this research? At least for Seattle since everyone wants to focus on it for some reason. News articles for a single city are not research.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special-purpose_local-option_s...

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#125

Post by seanmcdirmid »

konaraddi wrote: post #47
k8svet wrote: post #4

Oooh, now do Orca cards next. Seattle is one of the tech capitals of the United States, and on top of the metro system just being not great, it's also technically inferior to nearly every single other major city that I've used public transit. Pick any European city, CDMX, Denver. They're all light years ahead of Seattle. Denver might have been my favorite. Fun fact, one of the orgs that runs Orca actually wrote a blo…

https://info.myorca.com/news/can-i-use-my-phone-to-pay-for-a... Tap to pay coming to orca in 2023, they’ve got ~2 months left for it to be true I’m optimistic because google recently put out a post that google wallet will support ORCA soon (as shared by another commenter)

Seattle government and area transit agencies is pretty bad at this kind of thing. If they say 2023, they probably mean 2025 or later.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#126

Post by pests »

snazz wrote: post #34
organsnyder wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My local transit system just added tap-to-pay that works with any credit card (or Apple/Google Pay etc.). As long as you use the same card it handles transfers, multi-day passes, etc. seamlessly as well—it will automatically ensure you're getting the correct rate (e.g. no charge for passes or rides after a certain number within a certain period).

This is how it works in London and I think New York as well now. Big upgrade over loading money on a card.

Yep this was how it was in New York City. I was there a few months ago and remember the subway being free or reduced after 10 trips per week - tracked by the credit card number used.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#127

Post by Kye »

bobthepanda wrote: post #40
Kye wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how much it costs to maintain a system to collect fares compared the small portion of funding most transit systems would lose from going fare free.

Depending on the agency it’s not very small. New York MTA has a farebox recovery of about 40-50% in any given year, and few people or organizations could stomach a pay cut of half without serious damage.

It seems like a city with a ~$2 trillion economy could afford to fund the transit system that enables it without fare boxes.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#128

Post by ghaff »

seanmcdirmid wrote: post #123
ghaff wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For a city you don't visit often--especially if you're going to a bunch of cities on the trip--dealing with transit apps/cards/etc. that are specific to the city is a royal pain. I'm fine if it's a city I visit regularly--I have an Oyster card for London that I've had for a number of years. In general, though, I'd rather default to using a credit card.

In Japan at least, IC cards seem to be accepted at most cities in the country. Eg you can get a suica card (on your phone) and use it in Tokyo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Not to mention at 7-11 and most vending machines.

I’ve used them but have mostly been in Tokyo for a while. US is very fragmented though as is Europe, especially as a whole.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#129

Post by themadturk »

Kye wrote: post #124
themadturk wrote: post #115

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seattle got rid of its downtown core free ride area in part because of disruptive and illegal behavior by riders.

Analemma_'s comment made it sound like some broad and well-studied thing. All I've seen is mention of a single city. This is not remotely enough to support the claim. My claim was based on skimming an article that said fares ranged from about 10 to 50% of funding and I speculated that most probably tended toward 10% since most are small, and small ones depend on federal funding, special purpose taxes (Georgia has a l…

I'm just stating that was the reason given by Metro and was the public perception at the time. I was among the public affected by it, and my anecdotal experience is that problems on the routes starting in Seattle and ending in the suburbs were fewer after the free fare zone was eliminated. It certainly doesn't consitute reasarch.

Re: Getting my library cards onto my phone the hard way

#130

Post by doublerabbit »

afavour wrote: post #104
monksy wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This system really sucks because you can't just slide your wallet over the reader. It'll pick up your cc before your transit pass. The move to do tap based transit with cc s is pretty stupid as that cc s get replace far more frequently than transit cards. The only person this really benefits is new users to the system that haven't figured out how to get a transit card yet.

> The only person this really benefits is new users to the system that haven't figured out how to get a transit card yet. Nah. The end game here (as seen in NYC and London) is just getting rid of the transit card entirely. Which is a very positive thing, it’s an unnecessary extra layer of administration to keep track of the balance, top them up, etc etc. Certainly as a New Yorker I’m very glad to be rid of my Metroca…

> Which is a very positive thing, it’s an unnecessary extra layer of administration to keep track of the balance, top them up, etc etc.

While true, the negative side of this is that you lose your anonymity.

It allows you be tracked via your card, and if you look at this with an dystopian viewpoint could enable you to become targeted by specific advertising based on your purchases while riding the escalators for example.

Rather than a transit card which isn't associated to any name. At least not on the London Underground

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