Nice ladies on the bus

[dragon_wings]

Background: Roomie and I have Charm Cards, reloadable bus passes we can use for public transit in Baltimore. Mine has a monthly pass, roomie just had money on it usable for single ride fare or day passes. /end background

The other day we get on the bus, I tap my Charm Card (smart technology/chipped I believe) and go to find a seat. Roomie goes to tap hers and it makes a noise. She taps it a few more times. The bus driver tells us it's empty. Cue us freaking out (we were broke. Like $14 for a weeks worth of groceries broke). A lady at the front of the bus pipes up 'Do you just need $1.60?' (single ride fare). I respond in the affirmative. So one lady digs out a dollar bill and another grabs a handful of change for me to grab the coinage from and we were able to pay roomie's fare.

When we got home we registered the card online (which we should of done weeks ago). Roomie's card had $.20 left on it. We didn't think she'd use it that fast. (we put $20 in it when we got it)

[Slayer]

That was super nice of them!

Bus fares can add up quickly when it's single rides. Can get scary ;_; lol

Unasked for info:
Here, it's $3.20 for a regular single ride. Our cards are called Opus Cards (love the name Charm Cards) and when you tap them (chip technology), it shows the balance left (# of tickets) on the screen above the tap area. Very useful screen. With the card, you can only buy tickets or monthly passes (cheaper to buy those than to pay cash).

I just looked up the site for the Charm Card and omg the image ads are awesome. Very flamboyant!

[telecom_goddess]

Wow I feel like we are so far behind in this bus card technology. We have paper tickets, you can buy a single ticket or a monthly pass, but it's not a permanent card you can refill. No tap technology.

I'm amazed anyone takes cash anymore.

[Jetfire]

Hehe, when I first moved to Freddy 7 years ago, they didn't have monthly passes. You either paid cash, or got a 10 ride card which the bus driver would use a hole punch to punch out a ride credit on.

A year or two later, they finally started having monthly passes, and a 10 ride set of perforated tickets you can buy. (I think the government tax discount on monthly+ passes spurred them to bringing in that option). That's our current set up with no signs of any further changes any time soon.

[Lachrymose]

Wow...it always surprises me when people are nice in Lawltimore.

[dragon_wings]

@telecom_goddess: plenty of people still use cash here. But more and more are using the Charm Cards. Since they added the one for Seniors that allows for the discount fare you see more older folks using them.
@Lachrymose: you're telling me. :P

[Pagan]

How sweet! Little things like that restore some of your hope in humanity!

Our cards are called Opus Cards

Please tell me they have a picture of Opus the Penguin on them!

Wow I feel like we are so far behind in this bus card technology. We have paper tickets, you can buy a single ticket or a monthly pass, but it's not a permanent card you can refill. No tap technology.

I'm amazed anyone takes cash anymore.

You're amazed? We don't even have a well-functioning bus system here to begin with!

[MoonCat]

It really is nice when people help you out that way.

We have cards but you have to slide them through a slot on the farebox. I like the idea of reloadable cards. We have to buy new ones every month. They also still take cash or you can buy a day pass and ride the whole bus/rail system all day for $4.00.

OTOH, they are proposing a lot of service cuts for the spring, due to not having enough money coming in. This, after a poll showed riders would rather they raise the rates a little to make up for the shortfall. And of course I'm convinced they will raise the fare anyway even if they cut service.

[retailsweetie]

I have a similar card for DC's busses and trains. Luckily, I've never run out of money, but I know that people are really nice about making sure everyone's taken care of as long as they're polite to the driver. I've never experienced Baltimore's system (almost did when we went to the Hippodrome the other night) but it's good to know there are still decent people in the world.

[BlaqueKatt]

OTOH, they are proposing a lot of service cuts for the spring, due to not having enough money coming in. This, after a poll showed riders would rather they raise the rates a little to make up for the shortfall. And of course I'm convinced they will raise the fare anyway even if they cut service.

they will, it's what they did here, and we have pretty horrible bus service....unless you go to local college-then you get a "free"(included in tuition costs somehow) bus pass for a year, as does faculty and any state workers(everyone else pays $60/month), and buses every 8 minutes that run empty most of the time, while the other routes only run every 30-6- minutes and some only run during "peak time" for 2 hours, and only run every 60-120 minutes on weekends.