Re: Yarra Trams Article in Sunday Age

[amorton@mudguard.ee.mu.oz.au (Anthony Morton)]

Railvic  <railvic@primus.com.au> wrote:

>One thing that commuters did not know is that in the old days, most
>station staff would pre-dated (pre-punched) tickets and all credit card
>payments are processed manually.  Such practice maybe required because
>Met tickets were not widely available like today.  Not to mention large
>number of unsold tickets get cancelled and then pulped (such a waste of
>money).  Some stations have cancelled so many tickets that I'm sure
>those tree-loving (greenies) would go mad!

Come on, they were little scraps of paper.  Cost a fraction of a cent each
to print, and could be shredded and recycled when no longer useful.  (Would
I be right in guessing that Metcards with their magnetic stripe, once
cancelled, are no use even for recycling?)

Metcards are no improvement on paper tickets for causing a litter problem
once expired, in fact they're probably worse because there's more material
in each one and they're less biodegradable.

>As I have stated many times before, transport operators cannot force
>customers to purchase tickets in advance.  However, if customers choose
>not to take this advantage, then they must be prepared to queue up. 
>And, if you missed your train, don't blame the staff, but those queued
>before you!!

It's this kind of customer-hating attitude that drives people away from
public transport.

Tony M.