are you on verizon? i will totally send you pix all day.

can you do a story on how cute my dog is?

So...because you temporarily can't obtain a ticket via credit card, you should therefore be allowed to ride MAX for free?

What is it with people who don't carry any cash these days?

I think TriMet should accept credit/debit, but pass the costs along to those who use those cards.

If Trimet says they accept plastic, then they should fucking accept plastic. When every machine at the station is broken, it's their fault. They haven't lived up to what they've promised.

Sure, you could argue that portlanders should know better than to expect a working machine-- but what about out-of-towners? And talk about low expectations. Trimet practically requires you to poach a free ride and then treats you like a criminal. What a joke. It's increasingly clear that they don't care about you, the riders-- just bureaucracy, politics and bottom line. Portland can do better.

Is that where the nine were standing? That platform is for westbound trains, not airport/eastbound trains.

There is also an additional ticket machine or two on the eastbound platform.

That aside, I fully agree that that the ticket machine situation is a mess. I've seen occasions where none of the machines at that station were functional at all, and other times where the cash-only machines WOULDN'T ACTUALLY ACCEPT CASH in the form of quarters.

RFWFTF (post 4),
sadly it is clear that we cant expect better from our government. this is another bi-product of living in the most conservative liberal city in America. we have facists that run our transport system. they raise the fair when and how they feel, and then cant provide basic services.
how long till they go the way of Rose City Transport or whatever Tri-Met's predecesor was called?

To quote the great John Bender - "the world is an imperfect place." From reading the post, it appears that only the credit/debit-enabled machines were not working - there was a cash machine that was working. Off the top of my head, I can think of three ATM machines all within a five minute walk of that MAX station. If you're too lazy to get cash in that situation, don't expect a lot of sympathy from me.

Apparently nine security guards are cheaper than one repairman.

Apparently nine security guards are cheaper than one repairman.

Am I mistaken or does Tri-Met not own most of the land that their trains run on?

It is so strange that a "private corporation" has publicly funded officials (police) to enforce Tri-Met fare policy (private corporate policies) and public officials (judges) to arbitrate penalties for violation of those policies.

But then again I guess the transit system is not that bad in this city compared to the education system. But that's something 20 somethings like my self don't need to think about.

so, matt, are you on verizon or what? can i keep sending you fotos of my dog?

Yes, and yes. Your dog is super cute.

I'm confused about the comment suggesting that Tri-Met is a private corporation. Snipped from their Web site:

"TriMet is a municipal corporation of the State of Oregon. It is a public body. It has broad powers to provide mass transportation on behalf of the district. It can issue general obligation bonds (vote) and revenue bonds. TriMet also has an employer payroll tax."

(Emphasis mine).

I don't want to digress into the fare hikes of recent except to wonder why everyone is so surprised. It's not like Tri-Met is "sticking it to us," they're not a for-profit deal, and their motivations are likely not to bilk the public for the hell of it.

But anyway, the topic at hand. I get pretty irate when the machines don't work. Call me a fascist or a yuppie or whatever, but I don't deal in cash. If I carry it, I tend to spend it willy-nilly, so my "savings plan" as it were is to perform as many necessary transactions with plastic. Tri-Met's ticket machines claim to take credit/debit cards, and so they should. And this goes beyond plastic issues--I have many times happened upon stations where both ticket machines are blinking piteously (meaning "help me, fix me") and won't even accept coins.

I don't think Tri-Met is purposely trying to entrap riders. But I do think an improved focus on ticket machine maintenance would be nice.

Maybe they could hire folks to serve both as sadly much-needed security guards AND as machine-fixers/restockers. I'm being sort of facetious, but anyway.

I cannot begin to tell you how many times those exact machines have been broken (and I mean ALL of them on both sides). Fix the machines and install gates. Turn the fare checkers into drivers on additional routes since every bus and MAX is overcrowded these days. Sheesh.

^ Not to mention cum filled.

INAPPROPRIATE!!!!!

Alan -

The problem with installing gates is that stations then have to be attended full-time so that a staff person can catch gate-hoppers, allow disabled persons to pass gates, correct for fare cards which aren't being read, etc. Adding gates multiplies the problems of ticket machines, unless the station is attended.

It would be a far better solution (if you're going to spend the money on gates and gate staff) to put simple "last chance" ticket machines on each train and to have an inspector on each train. (There are fewer trains in motion at any given time than there are stations in existence.) This way, all fares would be checked eventually, there would be visible staff on every train, and if you can point to a malfunctioning ticket machine right there on-board the train, it's pretty clear that you can ride for free.

Personally I'm not advocating for inspectors on every train, but it would be cheaper than fully gating all the stations.

What I'm advocating for is more staff presence on the trains, and for replacement/upgrading of the ticket machines and vastly increasing the number of ticket machines.

We now have two models of parking meters in this town which have proven reasonably reliably taking debit/credit and coins (but not bills) which would make equally fine ticket machines selling a limited variety of one-ticket fares. These can take the load away from the existing machines which accept bills/coins/credit and can sell multiple tickets, etc.

Finally, all the ticket machines on a particular platform should be networked and should report status to a central system. If a person without a ticket (due to malfunctioning machines at a station) is caught by a fare inspector, the inspector should be able to query this system and see if the machine was indeed offline or only operating on a subset of payment methods.

Personally I've suggested to people (but after warning that I'm not a legal expert and don't know for sure this would work) to call the TriMet line and leave a voicemail on the extension for broken ticket machines (there is an extension for this) carefully noting the time, place, ticket machine ID, nature of the failure, and the payment methods they tried to use. Make a note for yourself too. This information could theoretically be used to appeal a fine, or might be sufficient to dissuade a fare inspector from writing a ticket in the first place.

TriMet's official policy, as stated to me numerous times, is that riders at stops with broken ticket machines may board but must get off at the next stop and use the machines there, and wait for another train. I think this policy is, to put it politely, bunk. If TriMet wastes 5 opportunities to sell me a valid fare (such as five failed machines at two platforms and a closed ticket office in Pioneer Courthouse Square, as happened to me once), it is not my burden to be further delayed another 15 minutes just to _risk_ the chance that the machines at the next station _might_ be working.

"I cannot begin to tell you how many times those exact machines have been broken (and I mean ALL of them on both sides). Fix the machines and install gates. Turn the fare checkers into drivers on additional routes since every bus and MAX is overcrowded these days. Sheesh."

I cannot improve on this comment, BINGO!

I don't buy all this hyperbole about "all of the machines are broken." I have never had that experience. It is an urban myth, pushed by people too cheap, too lazy or too broke to pay.

Reporting such a thing on The Mercury's blog is bogus. You really should have somewhat higher standards.

As a side note, all transit should be fareless.

Are we going to take global warming seriously or are we going to build the Columbia River Sprawl Bridge and harass transit users?

Ugh.

did anyone notice that about the only words the Tri-Met copsters could utter were "duh!...duh!" and all else was just unintelligible? what a riot and a kick in the pants! does it get any better than this?

MM-

It really does sound like hyperbole doesn't it? But the reality is that it's not! I use tickets that I buy in advance and I can't tell you how many times I've tried to stick it in the validator and it can't even give me a little time stamp! Seriously, then I run off at the next stop if I think I have enough time to get back on the train but I'm not about missing my train because I have to walk to the other side of the tracks to get a stamp that will never be checked. No way.

Machine Man -

It's not hyperbole. I did a video project with Al on this a few months ago and found numerous stations with problems.

See this video:
http://portlandtransport.com/archives/2008/03/the_latenight_m.html

On the night we did the video, we visited 15 station platforms. Of those 15 platforms, 7 had ticket machine problems. 3 of those would have rejected one form or another of payment (coins, bills, or cards) but would have worked for another form (if you were lucky enough to have the right form on you), and 4 of those were COMPLETEY FAILED -- no combination of payment methods or machines would have resulted in a fare.

Now, in some cases, where platforms are close together, it may only mean crossing an intersection or two, or walking around the block, to find a working machine. But that can also mean missing your train, walking where you don't feel comfortable at night, crossing wide arterial streets, etc. Is that something we should be demanding of transit riders on a routine basis?

Our household uses transit reasonably frequently, a couple of times a week. But we're not quite at the break-even point for buying a pass, so we prefer to buy individual fares. In these times of high gas prices, with new people trying out the system for occasional trips, they are going to be single-ticket buyers, too. If they have a bad experience with fare payment (or worse, get issued a fine), they aren't going to become new regular transit riders.